How a Benedictine Abbey’s Charter Changed Monasticism
Cluny Abbey’s original charters contained some remarkable provisions
Humble origins don’t preclude the accumulation of power, especially if accompanied by safeguards. The founding of Cluny Abbey in France proves this. It grew to become one of medieval Europe’s most influential religious institutions.
St. Berno of Cluny was born to a wealthy noble family in Burgundy, France, around 850. He became a Benedictine monk, and about 886, he was assigned to restore Baume Abbey near the Swiss border. Four years later, he became the abbot at a Benedictine monastery at Gigny in north-central France, which was established, at least in part, with his own funds.
Berno became acquainted with William I, the Duke of Aquitaine from 893 to 918. Known as William the Pious, he wanted to found a monastery and asked for Berno’s advice, according to The Early History of the Monastery of Cluny by Oxford historian Lucy Margaret Smith. When Berno picked William’s favorite hunting lodge near Cluny in Burgundy as the prime site, William was disconcerted. When William told Berno he kept his pack of hunting dogs here, the monk suggested relocating them. Smith wrote,
“’Impossible,’ William replied, ‘I cannot have my dogs removed.’ Jocularly the abbot answered…
