Cluniac monasteries
I can explain how Cluniac monasteries differed from Benedictine monasteries.
Cluniac monasteries
I can explain how Cluniac monasteries differed from Benedictine monasteries.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Cluny Abbey was founded in 910 by the Duke of Aquitaine (a region in France), as a Benedictine monastery.
- Cluny Abbey was largely independent and returned to strictly following the Rule of St Benedict.
- The Cluniac order developed a much longer and more complex liturgy, in the aim of providing perpetual prayer.
- The Cluniac order spent so much time praying that they relied on local employees to do all their manual work.
- Cluniac priories were brought to England by the Normans, but remained under the strict control of Cluny Abbey.
Keywords
Cluniac - an order of monks which focused on prayer and reflection
Abbey - the building occupied by a community of monks or nuns
Benedictine - following the rule of St Benedict, a 6th century monk who wrote guidelines for how monks and nuns should live
Priory - a monastery or nunnery under the control of an abbey and run by a prior
Common misconception
That all reform in monasteries came from the Cluniac order.
In fact, some Benedictine monasteries also introduced reform, and monasteries were reforming in 10th century Anglo-Saxon England well before the Cluniac order arrived in England.
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
Exit quiz
6 Questions
an order of monks which focused on prayer and reflection
the building occupied by a community of monks or nuns
following the rule of St Benedict, who wrote guidelines for monks
a monastery under the control of an abbey and run by a prior