Cluniac Order

The Order of Cluny (or Cluniac order) was a monastic order of the Catholic Church following the Rule of Saint Benedict. It was founded in the 10th century and suppressed at the end of the 18th century.

At the beginning of the 10th century, a desire to reform monasticism arose within the Catholic Church. This restoration was based on the Rule of Saint Benedict, which governed monastic life down to its smallest details. The rule, created by Saint Benedict of Nursia in the 6th century, underwent significant development, notably through the work of Benedict of Aniane three centuries later. Its application was nevertheless limited by the traditions that became established in the abbeys, as well as by ignorance of the rule itself. Cluny Abbey then rose to prominence, with the support of the papacy, the nobility and the Holy Roman Empire, gathering under its direction a growing number of priories and abbeys, thus becoming the centre of the most important monastic order of the Middle Ages, whose influence extended over much of Western Europe.

Cluny Abbey in the 10th century

The foundation

The Order of Cluny was a very large Benedictine order. It was created by William I of Aquitaine, Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Mâcon, by a deed drawn up at Bourges on 11 September 909 (or 910) donating the estate of Cluny "to the apostles Peter and Paul" — that is, to the Roman Church — in order to found there a monastery. The monastery was situated in the Mâconnais.