first abbot. His successor, Odo, was the reformer not only of the Benedictine monasteries in general, but of the whole monastic system.
Already, in 937, there were seventeen associate monasteries under Cluny's charge, and its influence spread not only over France, but also over other countries. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries three popes, Gregory VII., Urban II., and Paschal II., went forth from its fold.
The glory of the monastery falls in the first three centuries of its existence. At the beginning of the twelfth century there were 460 monks in Cluny itself, and 314 monasteries subordinate to it. The order later fell a victim to misrule and demoralization, but lingered on until the French Revolution gave it its coup de grâce. Its chief building was afterwards turned into a musuem.
No. V., the summons of pope Eugene III. to a crusade, is particularly interesting, as showing the extent of papal interference in the private money affairs of Christians and in the relationships of lords and vassals. Eugene declares that debtors may put off the payment of their obligations until their return, paying no interest whatever for the time of their absence. Moreover, vassals whose lords would not advance money for their journey, might, of their own accord, pledge their estates to the church or to pious laymen.
The crusades, although the direct object for which all this blood and money was expended, was never realized, helped immeasurably to raise the prestige of the papacy. During two centuries the eyes of Europe were fixed upon the pope as the champion of the faith. The people wanted a leader, and the popes wanted to lead. And the church became richer and richer, as one crusader after another died without redeeming the lands that he had pledged.
No. VI. is a decree of the Lateran Council of 1179, declaring a two-thirds majority in the college of cardinals
