medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (11. May) is the feast day of a record 31 saints in the
listings of the Benedictine book of saints. The highlights are
decidedly Cluniac:
Evellius (d. c. 66?) The subject of what appears to be a later pious
myth, Evellius was alleged to be a counsellor of Nero, so impressed
by the martyrs Nero created that he himself converted and was
martyred.
Gangulf of Varennes (d. 760) Gangulf was a Burgundian noble who,
according to legend, went off and became a hermit when he discovered
that his wife was committing adultery. His wife's lover hunted him
down to his retreat and killed him. He was venerated as a martyr.
Odo of Cluny (d. 942) Odo was a noble of Maine, educated at Tours
before becoming a monk at Baume. He became abbot of Baume in 924 and
second abbot of Cluny in 927. It was Odo who won Cluny liberty from
secular control, thus fixing a dominant current of the reform
movement it fostered. Odo was invited to reform a large number of
monasteries in France and Italy, establishing also the Cluniac custom
of keeping multiple religious houses under the control of a single
abbot of Cluny.
Majolus of Cluny (d. 994) Majolus was the fourth abbot of Cluny. He
was a native of Avignon and spent time as archdeacon of Macon before
becoming a monk at Cluny. He soon became coadjutor to the blind
Abbot Aimardus and succeeded him in 965. This was a period in which
the Cluniac confederation spread widely. M. was offered the papacy
by his imperial friends, but I expect he knew full well that he had
much more real power at Cluny.
Odilo of Cluny (d. 1049) Odilo was fifth abbot of Cluny, succeeding
Majolus in 994. He was apparently a great organizer, and his
institution of the feast of All Souls' Day was rightly regarded as a
great gift to the Christian world.
Peter the Venerable (d. 1156) The last great abbot of Cluny, Peter
became a monk there in 1109 and abbot in 1122. He was a poet and
theologian and even had the Qur'an translated into Latin---but he
doesn't seem to have had much luck with the monastic finances
(perhaps accounting for the virulence of his treatise against the
Jews.
Gualfard (Wolfhard) (d. 1127) Gualfard was a native of Augsburg, a
saddle-maker who migrated to Verona. The citizens decided he was a
holy man; he, annoyed, fled and became a hermit. When he was
discovered he became a recluse at the Camaldolese monastery of San
Salvatore.
Vivald (d. 1300) Vivald (aka Ubaldo or Gualdo) was a disciple of Bl.
Bartholomew Buonpedoni who nursed his leprous mentor for twenty
years. After that, V became a hermit living in a hollow chestnut
tree in Tuscany. His cult was approved in 1908.
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