Cluny and the 10th Century Reform Movement

Benedictine Monasteries Confront Early Medieval Corruption

Apr 19, 2009

The dissolution of Charlemagne's empire and the death of Pope Nicholas the Great contributed to growing anarchy and corruption, addressed in 910 by the Cluniac reforms.

The dissolution of Charlemagne’s empire upon his death in AD 814 impacted the relationship between Church and state. Frequently, unscrupulous secular lords forged close alliances with local bishops, some of whom owed their positions to political rather than spiritual prerogatives. In the midst of these realignments of mutual benefit, papal leadership declined, most notably after the reign of Pope Nicholas the Great, who managed to assert strong leadership and preserve the role of Pontiff as the Vicar of Christ.

Following the death of Pope Nicholas I, the Christian church was, as one historian described it, a “squalid state of corruption.” Kings and emperors appointed bishops and abbots, often without regard to spiritual qualification. This practice, known as simony, referred to the selling of ecclesiastical offices. Additionally, clerical marriage and concubinage, called Nicolaitanism, undermined priestly celibacy.

The papacy itself was thrown into turmoil as a succession of popes were elected and controlled by prominent aristocratic families in Rome. By AD 955, Pope John XII, a thoroughly immoral man, caused the intervention of Emperor Otto I who proceeded to depose John and redirect that leadership of the papacy by appointing his own choice for pope.

Otto, a sincerely religious leader, had done much to expand the Church in the Holy Roman Empire, establishing new bishoprics on the frontiers and appointing good men as bishops and abbots. He established the archbishopric at Magdeburg to further missionary activity in eastern Europe. But by deposing the pope, Otto began a movement among Emperors that control of the papacy was a part of imperial prerogative.

Tenth Century Reform Movements

The reform monastery at Cluny was founded in AD 910 as a self-governing entity directly under the authority of the pope. Its abbots would be elected by the monks themselves and there would be no political alliances with secular lords. Above all, Cluny represented a new direction for the Rule of St. Benedict, promoting a strict asceticism yet fostering more corporate liturgical worship.

Gifts to the monastery were only accepted as free-will alms; there would be no quid pro quo in terms of political or other favors. According to Church Historian Williston Walker, “Its aim was a monastic reformation by example and influence.” (199) Further, Cluny would not hold any lands in return for the tradition feudal obligations common at the time.

Rejecting simony and Nicolaitanism, the Cluny movement attempted to reinvigorate Christianity with a disciplined example of piety. Cluny abbots were partially successful in implementing the “Truce of God,” an effort to stop wars during Holy Week. Cluny was so successful that other monasteries either adopted similar patterns of governance and asceticism, such as at Monte Cassino – where Benedict had started the Benedictine movement, or sought to ally themselves with Cluny.

Through the Cluniac reform movement, key church leaders would reassert papal primacy, fight the practice of simony, and in the 11th Century, attack lay investiture (secular rulers “investing” bishops with the symbols of Episcopal power). The most prominent example of this was the power struggle between the Holy Roman Emperor IV and Hildebrand who became pope in AD 1073 as Gregory VII.

Challenging Royal Authority

The Cluny movement, though not intentional, challenged royal authority by refocusing on church governance and spirituality. Toward that end, secular intrusion into church institutions was threatened. Church leaders like Nicholas I, Leo IX, and Gregory VII, despite their orthodox agendas, endangering a status quo that was taken for granted by kings and emperors seeking to consolidate power and viewing church institutions as subordinate to imperial control and authority.

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