CLUNY

CLUNY – C. and its sphere of influence (10th–25th centuries): 1) C. 2) The Quinque filiae. 3) Principal Cluniac centres. 4) Cluniac priories founded or abbeys reformed by the abbots Bernone, 910–24 (B.), Oddone 924–42 (Od.), Maiolo 954 [964]–04 (M.), Odilone 994–1048 (O.), Ugo 1049–1109 (U.). The selection has been very restricted. 5) Centres influenced by C. 6) Parallel reforms independent of C. 7) New monastic orders: Carthusians (1084), La Grande-Chartreuse, Cistercians (1098), Cîteaux and Clairvaux; and centres of canonical reform: Regular Canons, S. Frediano at Lucca (late 11th century), Prémontré (1121). 8) Neo-Cluniac priory of Aosta. 9) Inhabited centres.

of the diocese of C.-G., established for the Eastern faithful by Pope Pio IX with a bull dated 19 December 1853.

Area: 14,000 sq km; inhabitants: 600,000 (Catholics 421,652); parishes: 463.

CLUNY (Cluniacum, CLUNI). - A town in the Rhône region, department of Saône-et-Loire, diocese of Mâcon, with remains of the eponymous Benedictine abbey, called the "second Rome," and the ideal center of reformist tendencies in the late Middle Ages.

SUMMARY:

I. History of the Abbey

II. Organization of the Congregation

III. Spiritual Characteristics

IV. Extent of the Reform

V. Methods of Expansion

VI. Causes of the Rise and Decline

VII. Customs of the Cluniacs

VIII. Importance

IX. Restoration of C

X. Art of C.

I. HISTORY OF THE ABBEY

The founding charter of 11 September 910 (reproduced in A. Bruel, pl. 1) designates Cluny as a "free monastery" under the protection of Rome. Its founders were Guglielmo, Duke of Aquitaine (d. 918), and the blessed abbot Bernone of Baume (d. 927). The classical age of Cluny (910-1156) is marked by its influence and administration by capable and saintly abbots. St. Oddone (927-42, or 948) concluded in 931 the highly significant union with Rome (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 3854). The holy abbots Maiolo (954-94), Odilone (994-1048), and Ugo (1049-1109) established Cluniac religious supremacy over Europe. After the failure of Ponzio (resigned in 1122, excommunicated in 1126), Cluny reached the apex of its power under Pietro the Venerable (400 monks at Cluny, maximum expansion of the Congregation; in 1131, the basilica of Ugo, a magnificent five-naved edifice, was completed). The period of internal reforms (1156-1621) revealed a weakening of its expansionary capacity; it led to numerous attempts at internal reform and to the cession of its right to independence to the French Crown (1258), whereby it became a royal commendam and suffered significant losses (fire of 1157, the Hundred Years' War, the sacking of the library's treasures during the Huguenot uprising [1562], the loss of foreign communities due to the 16th-century Reformation). The period of decline (1621-1790) began with the splitting of the Congregation into two groups—reformed and unreformed—under Abbot Giacomo di Veny d'Arbouze (1621-29). Cardinal Richelieu, as commendatory abbot, united (1629-42) Cluny with the Maurists for ten years. His successor, Cardinal Mazzarino, united Cluny with the Congregation of St-Vanne (1654-61), a union that dissolved in 1661. Under the last commendatory abbot, Cardinal Domenico de la Rochefoucauld (1757-90), only 40 monks remained at Cluny. The execution of the state decree of suppression on 19 February and 20 March 1790 was completed by July 1791. The last conventual Mass in Ugo's basilica was celebrated on 25 October 1791. On 21 April 1798, the lands were sold to private individuals for two million four hundred thousand francs. The destruction of the abbatial buildings began in September 1801. In June-July 1811, the nave of the church was blown up to make way for a road, for which the inhabitants of Cluny were rebuked by Napoleon I with the harsh words: «Allez, vous êtes des vandales!».

liati, addetti e servi. Nella Congregazione di C. non si conobbe invece il « procuratore civile » (advocatus). La struttura della Congregazione cluniacense si fonda su tre principi costitutivi: il principio feudale della traditio, l'idea aniana dell'unione sotto controllo, e lo schema, già noto dal tempo di Gregorio Magno, di monastero principale e monastero affiliato. La Congregazione così costituita si articolava in cinque gruppi ineguali: a) gruppo dei priorati immediatamente sottoposti (le cosiddette « Quinque Filiae » di C., Leves in Inghilterra, La-Charité-sur-Loire, St-Martin-des-Champs [Parigi], Souvigny, Sauxillanges, alle quali si devono in certo qual modo aggiungere alcune abbazie che ritennero il titolo abbaziale come Camprodon, S. Benedetto in Polirone, ecc.); b) i priorati mediatamente sottoposti (cioè i monasteri sottoposti alle « Quinque Filiae »); c) il gruppo delle abbazie incorporate; d) le abbazie poste solo sotto diretta sorveglianza e non incorporate nelle quali C. dirige o convalida l'elezione dell'abate (Vézelay, Moissac, St-Martial di Limoges, ecc.); e) le abbazie affidate temporaneamente per la riforma (Fleury, St-Maur-des-Fossés, Marmoutier). Il capo della Congregazione era il « prior abbas » (Marrier, p. 1406), la cui potestà all'inizio del sec. XIII, era già condivisa con 10 capi provinciali (camerarii); Gregorio IX (28 luglio 1231) la limitò ancora per mezzo del Capitolo generale e dei definitori (4, poi 15). Le rendite dell'abate provenivano da beni stabili, dalle entrate di cancelleria e da imposte. Il complesso fiscale del 1377 ascese a 16.122 libbre.

(da E. Ricard, C. et les environs, 2e ed., Nancy s. d., t. av. I)

CLUNY - Plan of the abbey prior to its suppression (1790) and destruction (September 1801-July 1811). The parts drawn in black are those still existing today.

(from E. Ricard, C. et les c. de S. ed., Nancy s. d., tex. f)
CLUNY - Ricostruzione del complesso monumentale di C., prima della distruzione (sett. 1801-luglio 1811); A. Entrata; B. Edifici claustrali (sec. xvii); C. Facciata del palazzo cosiddetto di papa Gelasio (principio sec. xiv con modifiche di Richelieu, sec. xvii); D. Palazzo di Giacomo d'Amboise (principio sec. xvi); E. Palazzo di Giovanni di Borbone (seconda metà sec. xv); F. Scuderia di S. Ugo; H. Rimesse e abitazione dei domestici; I. Prigione; K. Torre Fabri (sec. xiv); L. Torre rotonda (sec. xii); M. Torre del mulino (sec. x); N. Torre dei formaggi (sec. xi), basilica (sec. xii); a. Torre degli archivi; b. Torre della giustizia; c. Nartece; d. Navata maggiore; e. Campanile del coro; f. Campanile di S. Caterina; g. Campanile dell'acqua benedetta, superstite; h. Campanile delle lampade; i. Campanile dell'orologio.

III. SPIRITUAL CHARACTERISTICS

The aspiration toward integral monasticism imprinted evident characteristics upon Cluny, such that its type distinctly differs from that of noble, royal, and imperial abbeys. These are:

a) The liturgical ideal, later transformed into a kind of ritualism, consisting in the prolongation of the Opus Dei through the Oratio Trina; votive offices; special psalms; and lengthy processional rites. The choir office replaced manual labor and study (Petrus Ven., Statutum, 67, in M. Marrier, p. 1272);

b) The ideals of freedom, contained in the founding Charter of 910, for which the Cluniacs fought against oppression stemming from the feudalistic system of noble churches. The need for freedom gave rise to Cluny’s priory system (emancipation of the lower French Church in the 11th century from lay hands), and the recent institution of conversi (Charité-sur-Loire) drove Cluny to establish large monasteries and eradicate "civil procurators" (reform of Hirsau); it ultimately led Cluny to extend these ideas to the higher Church through Gregorianism;

c) Union with Rome. From 910 to 1258, Cluny used Rome as a counterweight to lay feudalism but above all to episcopal feudalism. The ideal of freedom, culminating in the 10th century in exemption, led

Cluniac circles of the 11th–12th centuries to a certain psychosis of emancipation with alternating successes. Distant echoes of these struggles are canons 615–18 of the current CIC;

d) Will to reform. The abbots of the classical period (915–1156) made this legacy of Benedict of Aniane, through tireless labor (desudati labores, says the Vita Odilonis, in M. Marrier, p. 1814), a characteristic of Cluny;

e) Centralism. The accomplished reform had to be guaranteed by union in a Congregation (Hugh the Great in the case of Lézat [Bruel, Recueil, IV, p. 563, n. 3454 of 5 Nov. 1073]). In this way, a feudal hierarchy grew from 929 onward, directed by a central authority which, despite anti-feudal resentments, was ultimately rooted, after all, in the idea of the noble church.

The characteristic points of Cluny’s centralist ideal are: the tendency toward stable law in ordinatio, the aforementioned priory system, the visitation right of the major abbot, and, curiously, the continual opposition within the Congregation itself against the centralist system.

reformed monasteries and those annexed to the Congregation. The monasteries annexed to the Congregation of Cluny had reached the number of 17 by 937. In 994, they were 37; by 1048, 65; and under Peter the Venerable, reportedly 2000 (M. Marrier, p. 600). The most recent examination of the question for the 12th–14th centuries yielded 1174 and 1450 houses, respectively (G. de Valous, II, pp. 179-271; Schmitz, I, p. 138). According to an early and provisional statistic, the reformed houses amount to 1629. The overall extent of Cluniac influence from the 11th to the 14th century thus encompasses at least 2795 and, respectively, 3079 communities.

Statistics by country of the reforming influence:

a) France. The Cluniac Congregation (from 929) with 960 dependent houses in the French-speaking territory. The early reform of southern France (from 929), not aggregated to Cluny: Aurillac alone had 65 dependent houses. To these must be added: Tulle, St-Jean-d'Angély, St-Pons-de-Thomières, Genouillac, and others. The Fleury group (from 930) with over 20 communities. The Marmoutier group (from 982) with 8 houses. The Dijon movement (from 990) with over 60 houses in the French-speaking territory. The Le Bec group, near Rouen, with 18 houses (second half of the 11th century).

b) Italy. The reform of Oddo (936-41) with about a dozen communities in central and southern Italy. The Dijon-Fruttuaria group (from 1003) with ca. 39 houses in northern Italy. The union of Farfa (beginning of the 11th century) with the 683 churches existing in its temporal domain. The union of La Cava (from 1079) with 77 abbeys, 100 priories, and 33 obedientiaries. The Italian union of Cluny (from the end of the 10th century) with ca. 54 houses.

c) Germany. The Alemannic Cluniac union (from 1050) with ca. 22 houses in German-speaking territory. The reform group of St. Blasien (from 1068-72) with ca. 36 houses in northern and southern Germany. The Siegburg group (from 1070) with 19 communities of the Fruttuaria type. The Hirsau movement (from 1077-79) with ca. 100 communities of the Cluniac type. The Anchin group, at Pas-de-Calais (from 1087), with ca. 40 houses in Belgium and Flanders.

d) Spain. The group of S. Juan de la Peña in Aragon (from 1020) with 65 houses. The group of S. Vittoriano de Asán in Aragon (Orma, Taberna, Ovarra, etc.). The group of Oña in Castile (from 1032) with 73 dependent houses. The group of S. Pedro de Cardeña in Castile (from 1035) with 5 reformed houses. The group of Silos in Castile (from 1041) with 15 dependent houses. The group of Sahagún (from 1079) with 138 dependent houses. The group of Arlanza near Burgos in Castile (end of the 11th century) with 30 reformed houses. The priory union of Cluny from 1045 with 27 houses (center: S. Zoilo de Carrión) and the union of Moissac affiliated to Cluny (from 1073-78) with 4 dependent abbeys and a certain number of priories.

e) England. The reform of William the Conqueror (from 1066), who in the 36 existing abbeys successively called 29 abbots from the Dijon movement (Jumièges, Fécamp, Bernay, Cérisy), 15 from the Bec movement, 3 from Cluny itself, and 2 from Marmoutier. The English priory union of Cluny (1077) with 43 communities still counted 35 houses at the time of the suppression in 1536.

f) The East. Under Peter the Venerable (1122-56), there existed a Cluniac colony in Civitot near Byzantium, a house in Patras, and two abbeys in Palestine (Mount Tabor and S. Maria in the valley of Josaphat).

g) Poland and Hungary. These countries also show Cluniac influences in the 11th century.

VIII. IMPORTANCE OF CLUNY — 1. For the West. — a) Its social thought, of international scope, manifested itself in the care for the poor and the transit routes for pilgrims, in the colonization of vast lands, and above all in the propagation of the peace movement (Truce of God). With its critical stance toward the feudal world order, Cluny largely anticipated the social ideas of its time (A. Schulte).

b) In the cultural sphere, it did not reach the scientific heights of other monasteries, despite intense scribal activity (the library of Cluny in the 12th century counted 570 manuscripts; cf. L. Delisle, pp. 259-81), the far-reaching influence of its scriptorium (H. Fichtenau, Mensch und Schrift, Vienna 1946, pp. 158-76), and the broad political horizon of Cluniac historiography (Spörl). The cultural importance of Cluny lies rather in the architectural influences that spread from the basilica of St. Peter, built in 981 and 1131, throughout Burgundy, the Empire, and along the route to Santiago de Compostela (achievement of the victory of vaulted construction over the flat basilical ceiling, emphasis on grandeur and monumental sculpture, adoption of Hispano-Arab influences, reduction of the crypt, etc.).

c) Its political will conceived, already in the days of Odilo, the European ideal (Schreiber, p. 418). Long before Gregory VII and 30 years before 1096, Cluny mobilized the reconquista and saved Spain for Europe (Schmitz, I, p. 146; Chagny, p. 247). European unity, the rapprochement of peoples in trade and customs, mediation among princes and particularly between the sacerdotium and the imperium (Canossa, 1077) revealed Cluny as a personification of medieval universalism. It is worth noting, however, that through the ancient monastic idea of libertas, transposed by the Cluniac branch of Dijon onto the plane of international politics, Cluny became the ferment of the West’s division (Humbert of Moyenmoutier).

2. For the Papacy. — The Cluniac communities were at one point a school of popes (Gregory VII, Urban II, Paschal II); they were the unconditional representatives of universal episcopacy, the natural allies in the struggle against the system of tribal churches, promoters of reform synods even before Gregory VII, active supporters of Gregorian ideas, and strongholds of the same. The position of Cluny as a great power was first felt by Gregory VII as an irksome competition, and its reform program was significantly restricted after 1080.

3. For Monasticism. — a) Cluny fulfilled the historical mission of Benedict of Aniane within the monastic sphere (ritualism, reform, establishment of a "community under control," anti-feudalism). With the realization of the anti-feudal ideal, its innovations, and its aggressive politics, Cluny opened a deep rift between itself and the reformed monasticism of Gorze (K. Hallinger, chaps. 1-5).

b) In the monastic-legal sphere, Cluny emphasized the opposition between "corporation and lordship" (the absorptive effect of the Cluniac priory system), with the reconstruction of ecclesiastical patronages tending toward capitalism. In reaction, Cluny became a negative premise for the more developed communities of Cîteaux and Prémontré, thus paving the way for medieval corporations (G. Schreiber, pp. 135-37, 429-32). The legal influence of Cluny stands out most clearly through its anti-feudal stance, that is, from the demand for freedom contained in the founding act (910), the self-investiture of the newly elected superior, the step against the "civil procurator," and the tendency toward exemption (K. Hallinger, pp. 360-92).

c) Cluny exerted its influence in the field of piety and liturgy. The classical age of Cluny (especially the homiletic and hagiographic writings of the great abbots) lived within the ideas of Gregory the Great, Bede, and the Anian reform. However, only Anselm of Bec-Canterbury (d. 1109) and John the Little of Fécamp (1028-78) contributed dogmatic-mystical works. The "Temporale" of the Cluniac liturgy contains only the great Mysteries of Redemption. The richer "Sanctorale" includes as specific elements the memoria and translation of the great abbots of Cluny, of SS. Florencia and Consortia (20 and 22 June), of St. Abbot Lautentius (2 Nov.), the commemoration of the dead (2 Nov.), etc., and the days of the basilica’s dedication on 15 Feb. and 25 Oct. (for liturgical manuscripts, cf. A. Wilmart, Manuscrits liturgiques de C., in DACL, III, II, cols. 2074-92; for the calendar, cf. V. JALABERT, LOUIS, Les Bréviaires mss. des bibliothèques publiques de France, I, Paris 1934, pp. CIV-CVII). On the division of the Psalms, votive Masses, etc., cf. G. de Valous, I, p. 414 ff. Characteristic signs of piety in Cluny’s classical age are: solemnity, display, long duration of services, love of the Psalms, but above all the "piety of the Mysteries" in the Opus Dei and its annual cycle. Particular devotions (Holy Cross, Most Holy Mary, All Souls’ Day) burst forth impetuously. In contrast, St. Bernard initiated the movement opposed to these forms of piety, counterposing to "Cluniac decorum" the "affective impulse." Cluny and mainstream monasticism thus elaborated in their customs the common foundation of Benedict of Aniane’s liturgical prescriptions in opposite ways (cf. on this K. Hallinger, chap. 5, pp. 632-716).

BIBL. GENERALE: Fonti: 1. Narrative: Giovanni di Salerno, Vita Odonis: Pl. 133, 43-89; cf. E. Sackur, in Neues Archiv., 15 (1889-90), pp. 105-16; Odilo, Vita Maioli, in Acta SS. Mai, II, Parigi 1866, pp. 683-88; Nalgod, Vita Maioli, ibid., pp. 657-683; cf. E. Sackur, in Neues Archiv., 12 (1886-87), pp. 503-516; id., ibid., 16 (1890-91), pp. 180-81; W. Schultze, ibid., 14 (1888-89), pp. 545-64; L. Traube, ibid., 17 (1891-92), pp. 402-407; Jotsaldus, Vita Odilonis: Pl. 142, 897-940; cf. E. Sackur, in Neues Archiv., 15 (1889-90), pp. 117-26; id., ibid., 24 (1898-99), pp. 728-35; Gilo, Vita Hugonis, ed. A. L'Huillier, Vie de s. Hugues, Solesmes 1888, pp. 565-618.

2. Diplomatiche: M. Marrier, Bibliotheca Cluniacensis, Parigi 1614; P. Simon, Bullarium Ordinis Clus., Lione 1680; G. Duckett, Charters and records of C., 2 voll., Lewes 1890; [A. Bernard]-A. Bruel, Recueil des Chartes de l'abbaye de C., 6 voll., Parigi 1876-1904; B. Albers, Consuetudines monasticae, 5 voll.; I. Stoccarda 1900; II-V, Montecassino 1903-12.

Per la biblioteca e l'archivio, cf. L. Niepce, Bibliothèque de l'aurienne abbaye de C., in Revue Lyon, 1881, p. 215 sgg.; L. Delisle, Le cabinet des mrs. de la bibliothèque Nationale, II, Parigi 1874, pp. 458-85; A. Bénet-J. Bazin, Archives de C., Mâcon 1884.

Letteratura: R. Bauerreiss, in LThK, II, pp. 993-97; E. Sackur, Die Cluniacener in ihrer kirchlichen und allgemeingeschichtlichen Wirksamkeit, 2 voll., Halle 1893-94; D. Besunier, Recueil historique des archevêchés, évêchés, abbayes et prierés de France, Parigi 1726, ed. riveduta dai benedettini di Ligugé (Archives de la France monastique, 4), Ligugé 1906, pp. 1-39; Académie de Mâcon, Millénaire de C., 2 voll., Mâcon 1910; Fr. L. Bruel, C. Album historique, ivi 1910; U. Berlière, L'ordre monastique des origines au XIIe siècle, Maredsous 1924, pp. 219-261; J. Virey, L'abbaye de C., Parigi 1924; L. M. Smith, C. in the XI and XII centuries, Londra 1930; L. H. Champly, Histoire de l'abbaye de C., 3e ed., Parigi 1930; J. Evans, Monastie life at C., Oxford 1931; G. de Valous, Le monachisme clunais des origines au XIVe siècle, I-II (Archives de la France monastique, 39-40), Ligugé 1935 (cf. la recensione di L. Kern, in Humanisme et Renaissance, 5 [1938], pp. 467-71); Cottineau, I, pp. 816-25; B. Mahn, L'Ordre cistercien et son gouvernement, Parigi 1945; Ph. Schmitz, Histoire de l'Ordre de S. Benoît, 4 voll., Maredsous 1942-48 (l'opera completa conserra di 6 voll.) e trad. tedesca di L. Râber, 2 voll., Einsiedeln 1947; K. Hallinger, Garze-Kluny, Studien zu den monastischen Lebensformen und Gegensätzen im Hochmittelalter, Roma 1948; A. Chagny, C. et son empire, 4e ed., Parigi 1949. Cassio Hallinger

IX. RESTORATION OF C

This attempt at restoration is due to the Benedictine scholar Dom Maiolo (secular name Carlo Arturo) Lamey, born in Strasbourg on 17 March 1842, died in Aosta on 15 June 1903. Ordained a priest in Flavigny, diocese of Dijon, on 24 September 1870, he professed on 14 October 1878 in Delle (Alsace), the exiled novitiate of the Helvetian Benedictine abbey of Mariastein. At the beginning of 1879, he gathered his companions in the ancient Benedictine priory of Grignon (Côte-d'Or, diocese of Dijon); they were to dedicate themselves principally to the study of the sciences, especially astronomy, and of natural philosophy. Having obtained from Mons. A. L. Perraud, bishop of Autun, the canonical establishment of the new C. on 24 July 1888, part of the community from Grignon settled in a small house located on the site of the glorious abbey of C. (11 September 1888). The other part of the community later left Grignon and took up residence (31 December 1893) in the ancient Cluniac priory

(from E. Ricard, C. et tra environs, 2nd ed., Nancy n.d., pl. 26)
CLUNY - Bell Tower of Holy Water (12th century), located on the south-eastern side of the great transept, the only surviving part of the basilica begun in 1089 by Abbot Hugh.

of SS. Maiolus and Odilo at Souvigny (Allier). However, the sectarian action of the French government against religious Orders forced, in 1901, Dom Lamey and his associates to abandon the two priories and seek refuge in Aosta, where they revived the Benedictine priory of St. Benignus from the 11th century. The war of 1914-18 and the scarce recruitment of new members, certainly influenced also by the overly narrow and specialized nature of scientific studies, gradually diminished the promising neo-Cluniac community, so much so that today it consists of only one monk. By virtue of the Ius postliminii, Dom Lamey claimed for his community, despite strong opposition, the Cluniac privileges, including that of the ancient liturgy.

At the time, the scientific work of Dom Lamey and his associates was highly appreciated, especially by the Académie des Sciences of France. The results of their scientific and historical research are mainly recorded in the following periodicals: Proslogium [from issue VIII, 1903; Cluniacense], Bulletin de l'Observatoire de Grignon [from issue VIII, 1903; Des observatoires et laboratoires des Bénédictins de l'Observance de C.] pour l'avancement des sciences et de la philosophie de la nature (9 issues, 1887-1909); Monologium Cluniacense, Bulletin d'histoire, de philosophie, et de théologie des Bénédictins de l'Observance de C., pour le développement de l'intelligence de la Foi et de la Sapience divine (1 vol. of 68 issues, 1891-1903); Echos de C., published to commemorate the 9th centenary of the institution of the Commemoration of the Dead by Odilo (1 vol. of 170 pp., 1898-1901).

CLUNY - Apse of the chapel of the Hôtel de Cluny, former residence of the abbots of Cluny, rebuilt by Abbot Giacomo d'Amboise (1498), Paris.

X. ART OF CLUNY

### 1. The Basilica and Sacred Buildings.

The abbey church of Cluny was, without doubt, due to the imposing scale of its structure, the beauty and grandeur of its forms, one of the highest architectural achievements of the Middle Ages. It consisted of two clearly distinct parts: a large five-aisled church founded by Abbot Hugh in 1089 according to the designs of Canon Hézelon, who had come to Cluny to join the community of its monks, and a sort of vestibule, with three aisles, called the narthex, begun in 1220 by Abbot Roland of Hainault. A monumental complex of which the plan published here gives a very clear idea. The original church, that of Abbot Hugh, was a great basilica 140 metres long and 35 metres wide, with five aisles and two transepts. The vault of the main aisle rose to a height of 35 metres from the ground, those of the two adjacent aisles to 18 metres, and those of the other two smaller aisles to 12 metres.

The presbyteral area, which together with the double transept was the most characteristic part of the entire construction, culminated in an apse supported by eight gigantic pillars, beyond which ran an ambulatory where five radiating chapels opened. The choir contained 250 stalls, and there were 20 altars in the church.

A characteristic feature of the ancient abbey church of Cluny were its four gigantic bell towers. The largest, square in shape, stood at the crossing of the great nave with the first transept. It had imposing structures and housed 18 large bells in its belfry. At the extremities of the same transept stood two other towers, each with four bells, octagonal in shape, known respectively as St. Catherine’s and the Holy Water Tower. The latter still stands at the entrance to the Bourbon Chapel.

The fourth tower, called the Lamp Tower, stood at the crossing of the smaller transept and was also octagonal.

The portal of the ancient church, 6 metres high and 3 metres wide, was adorned with magnificent sculptures, as were the capitals of the eight columns supporting the apse.

This church, having become insufficient for the needs of worship and the great ceremonies held there, was extended at the beginning of the 13th century with a three-aisled structure 35 metres long, divided into five bays: a sort of new church added to the original one, itself preceded by a façade flanked by two square towers, of which only the ground-level structures remain, with a grand portal over 8 metres high and adorned with a rose window 10 metres in diameter.

The plan clearly reveals how little remains of this gigantic church: only the lower structures of the two towers flanking the entrance to the narthex, the Holy Water Tower, the 15th-century Bourbon Chapel, and the adjacent chapels of St. Stephen and St. Martial, along with a few other spaces built against the great right transept. Very little indeed, and the regret is somehow deepened by contemplating the precious remains of the original construction, especially the admirable capitals of the eight gigantic columns of the choir, fragments of friezes, columns, and altars from the Romanesque period, and a notable series of tombstones, reliefs, and sculptures bearing the emblems of Cluny’s craftsmen. These remains, to be considered among the cornerstones of French Romanesque sculpture, are now housed in the museum located in the former wing of the abbatial palace built by Jean de Bourbon, while the other wing, due to Abbot Jacques d’Amboise, serves as the town hall.

The two buildings still preserve their original character, belonging respectively to the second half of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th. Abbot d’Amboise was also responsible for the complete renovation of the Hôtel de Cluny (late 15th century), the Parisian residence of the abbots of Cluny, which since 1849 has housed the Museum of Medieval Antiquities.

Another ancient building adjacent to the remains of the abbey church is the so-called Palace of Pope Gelasius, who died in Cluny in 1119 in a structure later transformed by the addition of an elegant Gothic façade by Abbot Bertrand de Colombier (1295–1308). The palace, which had undergone modifications in the time of Cardinal Richelieu, was reconstructed in the 19th century with a Gothic-style façade.

The abbey church of Cluny was also one of the most important painting centres of the Romanesque period in France, and its decorations, of which little more than a memory remains, were widely imitated in other churches of the Order (v. ARTE) and especially in those of Auvergne and Burgundy. During the 11th century and in subsequent periods, manuscripts were also written and illuminated in the monastery of Cluny, reflecting the artistic splendour of the environment in which they were created. This is attested by a precious 11th-century lectionary (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, ms. lat. 2246), decorated with beautiful miniatures, as well as other illuminated manuscripts modelled on Cluny’s examples in the abbey of Dijon and other monasteries of the Order, particularly in Limoges, Moissac, Figeac, etc.

Impressive for their grandeur and harmony of structure are also the great abbatial buildings erected in the 18th century by Abbot Jacques Dathoze, but left unfinished due to the Revolution. Of particular interest are the beautiful façade with its unfinished pediments and the spacious galleries and porticoes of the cloister, harmonious in their proportions, extending in total for a length of 700 metres. The building, meticulously designed in every detail, featured wrought-iron stair railings that can be considered among the finest examples of that craft. The gardens, too, were immense, with centuries-old lime trees, among which is famous the one that, according to legend, offered the shade of its branches even to the monk Abelard.

The town of Cluny, despite the destruction wrought by men and time, preserves, in addition to the abbatial buildings just mentioned, a series of interesting structures that give it a distinctive character. Of the three ancient parish churches, that of St. Maiolus, whose origins date back to the 10th century, is completely in ruins, but the other two—St. Marcellus, built around 1159, still retains a fine Romanesque bell tower, and Notre-Dame, begun in the Romanesque period and continued in the Gothic style during the 13th century—remain evident in their character. Also worth mentioning are the chapel of the hospice of St. Blaise (15th century), reserved for foreigners, the Pont de la Levée, and numerous houses that still display the characteristics of the Romanesque period.

### 2. Architecture of Cluny

During the period of the Cluniacs’ greatest splendour, while the mother church of the Order was being renewed (in 1095, Urban II consecrated its high altar), abbeys arose in the principal European countries attesting to its diffusion (in France, that of Moissac; in Italy, those of S. Antimo near Siena and Cava dei Tirreni; in Spain, particularly in Navarre).

It remains a matter of debate whether the vast building activity of the Order gave rise to particular architectural forms: Rivoira denies this, limiting the work of the Cluniacs to the reworking of schemes derived from the Lombards; Michel and Bertaux, however, assert it, emphasizing its importance. Between these two tendencies, Toesca acknowledges that this movement did indeed bring its own elements to architecture. These are to be sought particularly in the arrangement assumed by certain parts in the Order’s churches, where one sometimes notes the existence of a narthex, and where the development of an ambulatory around the choir is characteristic, from which deep radial chapels project; and also in the decoration, richer and of unusual forms, especially in the capitals.

These new elements and characteristics also influenced contemporary religious buildings, including the cathedrals of Acerenza and Aversa, St-Sernin in Toulouse, St. Martial in Limoges, and the sanctuary of St. James of Compostela. The Cluniac architectural current, however, had a brief duration before the rise of the new Cistercian forms, which would mark the decisive transition to the Gothic. - Vedi Tav. CXXII.