Hugh of Cluny

Saint Hugh of Cluny
Born 1024
Semur-en-Brionnais, Brionnais (now Saône-et-Loire), France
Died 28 April 1109
Cluny, Brionnais (now Saône-et-Loire), France
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Canonized 6 January 1120 by Pope Callixtus II
Feast 29 April
Patronage Against fever

Hugh of Cluny (May 13, 1024 – April 28, 1109) was an Abbot of Cluny, who is sometimes referred to as "Hugh the Great" or "Hugh of Semur". He was one of the most influential leaders of the monastic orders from the Middle Ages. He is a patron against fever.

Biography

The interior of the abbey of Cluny

The son of Count Dalmatius of Semur and Aremberge of Vergy,[1] his father wanted him to be a knight and a secular leader. At the age of fifteen, he took his monastic vows, and later became an abbot.[2] Abbot Hugh built the third abbey church at Cluny, the largest structure in Europe for many centuries, with funds provided by Ferdinand I of León. He was the driving force behind the Cluniac monastic movement during the last quarter of the 11th century, which had priories throughout Southern France and northern Spain.

Political influence

Hugh's relationship to Ferdinand I and Alphonso VI of León and Castile, including the release of Alphonso from his brother, Sancho's prison.[3] His influence upon Pope Urban II, who had been prior at Cluny under Hugh, made Hugh one of the most powerful and influential figures of the late 11th century.

As the godfather of the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV, he also played a role as a mediator during the conflict between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV, though he was not successful. Additionally, he was an active diplomat to Germany and Hungary on behalf of the church. He died the 28th of April, 1109. Many of his relics were pillaged or destroyed by the Huguenots in 1575.

After Clementia of Burgundy was married, she gifted Hugh the Flemish monastery of St. Bertin.[4] This act spread the Cluniac order north of the Loire and initiated monastic reform in Flanders.[4]

His feast day is April 29.

References

  1. ↑ Iogna-Prat 2002, p. 90.
  2. ↑ Bouchard 1987, p. 49.
  3. ↑ Bouchard 1987, p. 145.
  4. 1 2 Bouchard 1987, p. 146.

Sources

  • Bouchard, Constance Brittain (1987). Sword, Miter, and Cloister:Nobility and Church in Burgundy, 980-1198. Cornell University Press.
  • Iogna-Prat, Dominique (2002). Order & Exclusion: Cluny and Christendom Face Heresy, Judaism, and Islam. Cornell University Press.


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