Berno of Baume (910-926) built the first church at Cluny. Odo (926-944) was given the authority to subordinate other monasteries to the abbot of Cluny - thus allowing the spirit and independence of Cluny to be spread throughout Europe. The second church (known simply as Cluny II) was built by Abbot Majolus (954-994) who was a friend of Emperor Otto the Great (II).
The advent of the Second Millennium saw the rise of Cluny's two greatest and longest lived abbots. Abbot Odilo presided over the house for fifty-five years from 994 to 1049. He expanded the monastic buildings and laid a marble cloister that was the envy of many a noble. Hugh the Great (1049-1109) lead the house through the heady days of the Gregorian Reform, the initiation of the Crusades, the Spanish Reconquest and Cluny's period of greatest growth. Seventy-three monks were in residence in 1064. Shortly after Hugh's death the number had risen to more than 300. Emperor Henry II bequeathed the Imperial Orb to the community during this time, and it was Hugh who laid the cornerstone for one of the greatest churches in history when construction began in 1088 on Cluny III. It was the last of the great Cluniac saint-abbots, Peter the Venerable (1122-1156) who brought the church to basic completion.
Cluny's artistic and architectural influence was not limited to its own house, grand as it was. The workshop at Cluny, influenced by the workshop at Monte Cassino, ultimately influenced workshops throughout northern Europe and helped spread the Romanesque style. Ghislebertus, famous for his sculpture at Autun and Vezaley, was a member of the Cluny shop, as were many others. Even Bernard of Clairvaux, a contemporary of Peter the Venerable and one of the great critics of Cluniac lavishness, gives grudging admiration to the artistic and architectural achievements of the Order.
Though Cluny began to decline after the twelfth century for a variety of political, religious and social reasons, its legacy continues to this day. Since 1999 is the 1090th anniversary of this great house's foundation, I will devote my next few articles to discussing the art, architecture and further influence of Cluny.
