Medieval France
(961–1049). One of the long-lived abbots of Cluny who helped establish the monastery’s authority and prestige (r. 994–1049), Odilo was from a noble family of Auvergne, son of a couple named Berald and Gerberge. Odilo’s brother Berald became provost of Le Puy. Odilo himself had been a canon at Brioude, in Auvergne, before coming to Cluny. As prior of Cluny, he governed the house during the final years of his predecessor, Maiolus.
In the final years of Odilo’s own life, his prior and eventual successor, Hugues, similarly governed for him.
Under Odilo, Cluny reformed a number of monasteries to a regular life, especially in Burgundy. Some, like Paray-le-Monial, became Cluniac priories; others, like SaintGermain of Auxerre and Saint-Bénigne of Dijon, retained their own abbots while following Cluniac customs.
Constance B.Bouchard
[See also: CLUNIAC ORDER; ODO]
Jotsaldus. Vita Odilonis. PL 142.897–940.
Bouchard, Constance B. Sword, Miter, and Cloister: Nobility and the Church in Burgundy, 980–1198. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1987.
Hourlier, Jacques. Saint Odilon, abbé de Cluny. Louvain: Bibliothèque de l’Université, 1964.
Rosenwein, Barbara H. To Be the Neighbor of Saint Peter: The Social Meaning of Cluny’s Property, 909–1049. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1989.
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