A European network

The network of Cluniac sites was officially distinguished with the title “Great European Cultural Itinerary” during a ceremony held at the motherhouse of Cluny, in France, on 16 June. By this title the Council of Europe, promoter of the event, intends to commemorate the great influence exerted by the order of Cluny on Europe and reflected in the building of 1200 Cluniac monasteries in France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, the UK and Belgium. The Benedictine abbey promoted values that have lost none of their relevance today: peace, social cohesion, art and culture. The programme of the great European cultural itineraries was born in 1987 with the aim of showing, in a visible way, that the heritage of the various European countries constitutes a common European cultural heritage. The Federation of Cluniac Sites met for its 2006 general assembly on 17-18 June, coinciding with the ceremony for the handing over of the diploma of “Great European Cultural Itinerary”. A GREAT HERITAGE. The Abbey of Cluny was founded by the duke of Aquitaine and count of Auvergne, William I, the Pious, in the little town of the same name in Saône-et-Loire in 909. He placed it under the direct authority of Pope Sergius III. Over the centuries and down to its suppression during the French Revolution, when it was sold and used as a quarry, Cluny exerted a profound spiritual, artistic and political influence, thanks also to its constellation of daughter-houses. Various factors determined its importance: first of all, its independence from temporal and spiritual power, subject as it was to the Pope alone; second, its faithful adherence to a reformed Benedictine Rule promoted by Benedict of Aniane; and last but not least the culture, preparation and personality of its first abbots, many of whom became internationally famous statesmen. DISPERSED IN HUNDREDS OF PLACES. The monastery of Cluny differed in two important respects from other Benedictine centres and confederations: in its organization and in its liturgy as form of work. In contrast to other independent but informally associated Benedictine monasteries, Cluny created a great federation in which the administrators of minor sites served as “delegates” of the abbot of Cluny, on whom they were wholly dependent. Many Benedictine monasteries recognized Cluny as their own guide. And when in 1016 Pope Benedict VIII decreed that the privileges of Cluny should also extend to its minor sites, there was a further incentive for the Benedictine communities to join the Clunac order. It is estimated that some 10,000 monks divided into 1200 monasteries formed part of the order of Cluny. In the fragmented Europe of the 10th and 11th century, the Cluniac network expanded its reforming influence, and as a result made a decisive contribution to the christianization of the continent. Cluny was also an ideal place for the growth and formation of Catholic prelates: four monks of Cluny became popes (Gregory VII, Urban II, Paschal II and Urban V). THE FEDERATION. The Federation of Cluniac Sites, founded in 1994, now brings together those sites that are linked to the tradition of the abbey of Cluny and that contributed to its development and irradiation. Its aim is to promote Cluny’s heritage and history at the cultural level. By Cluniac site, explains the Federation’s website (a target=’_blanck’ href=http://fsc.cluny.free.fr)http://fsc.cluny.free.fr) is meant a sum of structures or places that have cultivated relations with Cluny. They include those monasteries and priories founded directly by Cluny, those reformed by the abbey itself and those that had particular and privileged links with it. At the present time there are eight itineraries (covering France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Spain and England) that enable visitors to discover the great areas in which the Cluniac influence was particularly strong. The eight itineraries in question have obtained the accolade of “Great Itinerary of the Council of Europe”. Topographical and biographical details are furnished for each of these itineraries. The 1st itinerary, for example, offers visitors the chance to rediscover Burgundy, cradle of the Cluniac period and homeland of an emblematic person of the time, St. Hugo of Semur. From French-speaking Burgundy we pass to Italian-speaking Lombardy where many Cluniac houses were established (4th itinerary). We can then pass to Spanish-speaking Aragon (7th itinerary) and finally arrive in England (8th itinerary). is meant a sum of structures or places that have cultivated relations with Cluny. They include those monasteries and priories founded directly by Cluny, those reformed by the abbey itself and those that had particular and privileged links with it. At the present time there are eight itineraries (covering France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Spain and England) that enable visitors to discover the great areas in which the Cluniac influence was particularly strong. The eight itineraries in question have obtained the accolade of “Great Itinerary of the Council of Europe”. Topographical and biographical details are furnished for each of these itineraries. The 1st itinerary, for example, offers visitors the chance to rediscover Burgundy, cradle of the Cluniac period and homeland of an emblematic person of the time, St. Hugo of Semur. From French-speaking Burgundy we pass to Italian-speaking Lombardy where many Cluniac houses were established (4th itinerary). We can then pass to Spanish-speaking Aragon (7th itinerary) and finally arrive in England (8th itinerary). THE SYMBOL. The itineraries comprise places, persons and routes that criss-cross Europe and that the Federation has gathered together under the symbol of the “rose window”, an architectural feature especially in use in the Romanesque style. Formed of ten petals recalling the ten provinces of the Order, it has a circular form that expresses the idea of unity and contains two keys and a sword, recalling Saints Peter and Paul, under whose protection the abbey was placed.