Carolingian Monastic Reform and the Plan of St. Gall: Part I, The Reform
By the time Charlemagne was crowned Emperor in 800 CE, the Christian monastic movement already possessed a tradition over half a millennium old. In that time it evolved from disorganized, counterculture, desert dwelling, Egyptian superhermits, to an established force of missionary monks deeply involved in the political and theological tensions of the rapidly emerging "New Europe." In spite of its status and importance in the development of early Medieval Europe, and its basic unity of doctrine and purpose1, monasticism had not developed a clearly defined or uniform system of observance. Although the monastic rule attributed to St. Benedict of Nursia was quickly becoming dominant by the late eighth century, it still gave broad powers to the local abbot.2 The Carolingian desire for imperial unity combined in the mid-eighth century with ecclesiastical reform movements to attempt a remedy of this situation.3
The Carolingians used a variety of methods to achieve the desired unity of monastic observance. These ranged from royal endowments and foundations to lay abbacies and charters granting certain rights to community members.4 The critical element, however, unifying monastic life in the Carolingian period was the reform lead by Benedict of Aniane (750-821).
Born into an aristocratic family in southern Gaul, Benedict (then Witiza) was educated in the royal court and served in the military. On a campaign with Charlemagne in Lombardy, he narrowly escaped drowning. This experience lead him to embrace the monastic life at St. Seine, near Dijon in 774. Dissatisfied with the observance at St. Seine, he departed to establish his own house on the Aniane river, taking the name Benedict and the Roman rule associated with the earlier saint. The new foundation was placed under the direct supervision of Charlemagne in 782 and soon Benedict was busy reforming and founding houses throughout southern Gaul.5
In 814 Charlemagne's son, Louis the Pious, ascended the throne and quickly established a monastery for Benedict at Inde, near Aachen. He also made Benedict responsible for the reform and organization of all monasteries in the Empire.6 Benedict's reforms were encapsulated in the Capitulare monasticum, Codex regularum, and Concordia regularum.7 The first of these, intended to systematize monastic life throughout the Empire, is associated with the deliberations of a synod held at Aachen in 816. Because of the resistance to Benedict's reform, another synod in 817 reiterated his policy, although with some modifications.8
The Aachen synods of 816 and 817 produced two principle documents regulating monastic life; the Statuta Murbacensia9 of 816, and the Capitulare monasticum of 817.10 The earlier synod required all monks to live according to the Rule of St. Benedict and established guidelines for the liturgical observances of the community. The almost contemporary commentary on the Statuta Murbacensis by Bishop Haito of Basel provides insight into the tensions at the council, especially on the subject of the abbot's house and bathing.11 The second synod softens some of the more severe policies of the 816 synod and makes more precise regulations concerning community structure.
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