“Cluny: In Search of God’s Lost Empire”, by Edwin Mullins

256 pages, BlueBridge, ISBN-13: 978-1933346007

Cluny: In Search of God’s Lost Empire is Edwin Mullins chronicle of the rise and fall of this most important centre of Christian life and culture. At crucial times in the history of Christendom monasteries have served as vital centers of renewal, reorganization and even protection from invaders. In the 10^th Century, amidst the chaos which followed the collapse of Charlemagne’s empire, Duke William of Aquitaine founded the Abbey of Cluny and appointed Berno its first abbot. Critical to this monastery’s success was its independence from local bishops and its responsibility solely to the bishop of Rome, a privilege repeatedly reaffirmed by several popes through the ensuing centuries. This independence, while it aroused jealousy amongst the nearby bishops, gave her and most especially her abbots a great amount of political influence. Along with the pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, the abbot assisted in making and negotiating some of the most important decisions of the day, often finding himself in the role of mediator between pope and emperor, who were frequently at loggerheads with each other. This clout also made it easier to find significant patrons for the monastery, among whom were King Alfonso VI of Spain and King Henry II of England.

Mullins shows how along with this power came a vast network of monasteries which were subject to Cluny’s authority and her reforming ideals. From small beginnings, Cluny eventually found herself in charge of nearly 1500 monasteries, many of which, having been established after Spain was freed from the Moors, offered shelter and safety along the yet dangerous road to Compostella, the legendary burial place of St. James the Greater and one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in the Middle Ages. These monasteries, and many other local churches besides, benefited from the artistic richness of Cluny. Such power required strong leadership, a need for which Providence provided over the course of several centuries. Stability was the operative word (St. Odilo and St. Hugh the Great ruled for an astonishing combined 115 years). These are the men who built and sustained this monastery during its glory days and who were among her greatest abbots, along with Peter the Venerable, who defended the ornate practices of Cluny against the acerbic attacks conducted by his friend St. Bernard of Clairvaux in the early 12^th Century.

Alas, by this time Cluny had already had her best days. St. Bernard’s Cistercian Order was on the rise and soon eclipsed Cluny’s influence on the papacy. In sometimes tragic detail, Mullins describes this long, slow decline as one of the saddest stories in the history of Christendom. The rise of urban centers of culture and learning, as well as the growing sense that Christianity was no longer threatened certainly contributed to the abbey’s downfall; add to these the declining discipline amongst the monks and newfound instability in the leadership as, after Peter the Venerable, there were nine abbots in the span of 50 years. Later on Cluny was attacked and damaged by Protestants in the 16^th Century, and over time she became dependent upon the French monarchy which surely aggravated the animus against her amidst the anti-Catholic climate of the French Revolution, at which time the end of Cluny seems to have become imminent. Thereafter all but a few portions of the abbey church were carted away in pieces, the stone having been sold for use in other local buildings by shameless opportunists.

Mullins’ book does a fascinating job of exposing what Cluny provided to a strong Europe (and perhaps what is now needed in Europe’s current climate in which there is much chaos, ecclesiastical and otherwise, and in which Christianity is on the defensive). Unfortunately, it seems questionable whether the author would agree with this assessment, as one of the few drawbacks of this book is a seeming anti-Catholic outlook which shows through in a few passages. Mullins seems eager to point out instances of supposed ecclesiastical tyranny and misogyny while at the same time using “scare quotes” in discussing the liberation (or, as he writes, “liberation”) of Spain from the Muslims as if this were somehow an unfortunate turn of events. Another issue the complete absence of footnotes, eliminated perhaps to facilitate reading by a wider audience, but the absence of thorough citation makes this book nearly useless in serious research, even though an impressive bibliography is included. In spite of these few misgivings, however, Edwin Mullins is to be congratulated for this fine book – Sts. Odilo and Hugh, pray for us.