Glossary

Cluny (adjective: Cluniac)

The reformed house of Cluny, Burgundy, was a product of the tenth-century monastic reform movement and came to dominate monasticism in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Cluny founded new houses and also reformed existing Benedictine communities; it effectively formed a separate order within the Benedictine Order (i.e. it functioned as a sub-set of the Benedictines). The Golden Age of Cluny faded during the eleventh century, when it was criticised for its excessive liturgy and for amassing excessive wealth. The Cistercians, who emerged at this time, stood against the indulgences and excesses of Cluny; a war of polemics developed between the White Monks and the Black Monks of Cluny.