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Cluniac Nunneries
The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began within the Benedictine order at Cluny Abbey, founded in 910 by William I, Duke of Aquitaine (875–918). The reforms were largely carried out by Saint Odo (c. 878 – 942) and spread throughout France (Burgundy, Provence, Auvergne, Poitou), into England (the English Benedictine Reform), and through much of Italy and Spain. Background In the early 10th century, Western monasticism, which had flourished several centuries earlier with St Benedict of Nursia, was experiencing a severe decline due to unstable political and social conditions resulting from the nearly continuous Viking raids, widespread poverty and, especially, the dependence of abbeys on the local nobles who controlled all that belonged to the territories under their jurisdictio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christian Monasticism
Christian monasticism is the devotional practice of Christians who live ascetic and typically cloistered lives that are dedicated to Christian worship. It began to develop early in the history of the Christian Church, modeled upon scriptural examples and ideals, including those in the Old Testament, but not mandated as an institution in the scriptures. It has come to be regulated by religious rules (e. g. the Rule of Saint Augustine, Anthony the Great, St Pachomius, the Rule of St Basil, the Rule of St Benedict,) and, in modern times, the Canon law of the respective Christian denominations that have forms of monastic living. Those living the monastic life are known by the generic terms monks (men) and nuns (women). The word ''monk'' originated from the Greek (, 'monk'), itself from () meaning 'alone'. Christian monks did not live in monasteries at first, rather, they began by living alone as solitaries, as the word might suggest. As more people took on the lives of monks, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feudal
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring society around relationships that were derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour. Although it is derived from the Latin word ''feodum'' or ''feudum'' (fief), which was used during the Medieval period, the term ''feudalism'' and the system which it describes were not conceived of as a formal political system by the people who lived during the Middle Ages. The classic definition, by François Louis Ganshof (1944),François Louis Ganshof (1944). ''Qu'est-ce que la féodalité''. Translated into English by Philip Grierson as ''Feudalism'', with a foreword by F. M. Stenton, 1st ed.: New York and London, 1952; 2nd ed: 1961; 3rd ed.: 1976. describes a set of reciprocal legal and Medieval warfare, military ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polyphony
Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, homophony. Within the context of the Western musical tradition, the term ''polyphony'' is usually used to refer to music of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. Baroque forms such as fugue, which might be called polyphonic, are usually described instead as contrapuntal. Also, as opposed to the ''species'' terminology of counterpoint, polyphony was generally either "pitch-against-pitch" / "point-against-point" or "sustained-pitch" in one part with melismas of varying lengths in another. In all cases the conception was probably what Margaret Bent (1999) calls "dyadic counterpoint", with each part being written generally against one other part, with all parts modified if needed in the end. This point-against-point conception is opposed to " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stained Glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensional structures and sculpture. Modern vernacular usage has often extended the term "stained glass" to include domestic lead light and ''objets d'art'' created from foil glasswork exemplified in the famous lamps of Louis Comfort Tiffany. As a material ''stained glass'' is glass that has been coloured by adding metallic salts during its manufacture, and usually then further decorating it in various ways. The coloured glass is crafted into ''stained glass windows'' in which small pieces of glass are arranged to form patterns or pictures, held together (traditionally) by strips of lead and supported by a rigid frame. Painte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Altar (Catholicism)
The altar in the Catholic Church is used for the celebration of the Sacrifice of the Mass. The altar, typically centrally located in the sanctuary, is to be the focus of attention in the church. At the beginning of the Roman Rite of Mass, the priest first of all reverences the altar with a kiss and only after that goes to the chair at which he presides over the Introductory Rites and the Liturgy of the Word. Except in Solemn Mass, a priest celebrating Tridentine Mass remains at the altar the whole time after saying the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar. The rite of ''Dedication of a church and of the altar'' points out that the celebration of the Eucharist is "the principal and the most ancient part of the whole rite, because the celebration of the eucharist is in the closest harmony with the rite of the dedication of a church", and "the eucharist, which sanctifies the hearts of those who receive it, in a sense consecrates the altar and the place of celebration, as the ancient Fat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peace And Truce Of God
The Peace and Truce of God ( lat, Pax et treuga Dei) was a movement in the Middle Ages led by the Catholic Church and one of the most influential mass peace movements in history. The goal of both the ''Pax Dei'' and the ''Treuga Dei'' was to limit the violence of feuding endemic to the western half of the former Carolingian Empire – following its collapse in the middle of the 9th century – using the threat of spiritual sanctions. The eastern half of the former Carolingian Empire did not experience the same collapse of central authority, and neither did England. The Peace of God was first proclaimed in 989, at the Council of Charroux. It sought to protect ecclesiastical property, agricultural resources and unarmed clerics. The Truce of God, first proclaimed in 1027 at the Council of Toulouges, attempted to limit the days of the week and times of year that the nobility engaged in violence. The movement survived in some form until the thirteenth century. Other strategies to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via local synods. The church has no central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous to the head of the Roman Catholic Church—the Pope—but the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is recognized by them as '' primus inter pares'' ("first among equals"), which may be explained as a representative of the church. As one of the oldest surviving religious institutions in the world, the Eastern Orthodox Church has played a prominent role in the history and culture of Eastern and Southeastern Europe. The Eastern Orthodox Church officially calls itself the Orthodox Catholic Church. Eastern Orthodox theology is based on holy tradition, which incorporates the dogmatic decrees of the seven ecumenical councils, the Scriptures, and the teachin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Of Verdun
Richard of Verdun (970–1046) was the abbot of the influential northeastern French Monastery of St. Vanne from 1004 to 1046.Geary, Patrick "Furta Sacra: Thefts of Relics in The Central Middle Ages." Princeton University Press,1990, p. 65 Life Richard was born to a noble family of Bantheville, the son of Walter and Theodrada. As a child, he was enrolled in the cathedral school of Rheims under Archbishop Adalbero and was eventually ordained a priest. It was at Rheims that he first met Frederick, son of Godfrey I, Count of Verdun. Richard entered the monastery of St. Vanne as a young man, and upon his arrival he was shocked and dismayed by the relatively poor state of the monastery. So great were his feelings that he had attempted to be transferred from St. Vanne, but was eventually talked out of it by Odilo of Cluny.Geary 1990, pp. 65-66 Through the influence of Bishop Haimo of Verdun, Richard was elected to succeed Fergenius as abbot of St. Vanne in October 1004. Due to his in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lambert Of Hersfeld
Lambert of Hersfeld (also called Lampert; – 1082/85) was a medieval chronicler. His work represents a major source for the history of the German kingdom of Henry IV and the incipient Investiture Controversy in the eleventh century. Life What little is known of his life is revealed in scattered details from his own historical writings. Probably a Franconian by birth, of good family, he prepared for an ecclesiastical career at the cathedral school in Bamberg, where he received tuition by Anno of Steusslingen, the later Archbishop of Cologne. On 15 March 1058 Lambert entered the Benedictine abbey of Hersfeld as a monk. On September 16, he was also ordained as a priest in Aschaffenburg and therefore sometimes called Lampert of Aschaffenburg. After his elevation to the priesthood, he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Back in Hersfeld in October 1059, Lambert worked in the cloister library and taught at the monastery school. In 1071 he visited the Benedictine abbeys of Siegburg an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pope Urban II
Pope Urban II ( la, Urbanus II; – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening the Council of Clermont which served as the catalyst for the Crusades. Pope Urban was a native of France, and was a descendant of a noble family from the French commune of Châtillon-sur-Marne. Reims was the nearby cathedral school where he began his studies in 1050. Before his papacy, Urban was the grand prior of Cluny and bishop of Ostia. As pope, he dealt with Antipope Clement III, infighting of various Christian nations, and the Muslim incursions into Europe. In 1095 he started preaching the First Crusade (1096–99). He promised forgiveness and pardon for all of the past sins of those who would fight to reclaim the holy land from Muslims and free the eastern churches. This pardon would also apply to those that would fight the Muslims ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baume Abbey
Baume Abbey, in its village of Baume-les-Messieurs, Jura, France, was founded as a Benedictine abbey not far from the still-travelled Roman road linking Besançon and Lyon. It stands near the source of the Dard. Around it the village of Baume-les-Messieurs is congregated. The abbey is known for its sixteenth-century retable. Early history Jean Mabillon followed an early tradition that the abbey had been founded by Saint Columbanus, which would place the foundation in the late sixth century. Bernard Prost says that in 732 Saracen raiders destroyed the obscure community of monks, along with neighboring Château-Châlon and the village of Lons-le-Saunier. It was refounded during the reign of Louis the Pious in the early ninth century by Saint Eutice, probably a disciple of Benedict of Aniane, who was revitalizing and reordering the Benedictine communities of the Gauls. In 817, when Emperor Louis at Aachen divided the monasteries in his lands into three categories, ''monasterium B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berno Of Cluny
Saint Berno of Cluny (French: ''Bernon'') or Berno of Baume (c. 850 – 13 January 927) was the first abbot of Cluny from its foundation in 909 until he died in 927. He began the tradition of the Cluniac reforms which his successors spread across Europe. Berno was first a monk at St. Martin's Abbey, Autun, and then at Baume Abbey about 886. In 890, he founded the monastery of Gigny on his own estates, and others at Bourg-Dieu and Massay. In 910, William I of Aquitaine, founder of Cluny, nominated him abbot of the new foundation. Berno placed the monastery under the Benedictine rule (founded by Benedict of Nursia and reformed by Benedict of Aniane). He resigned as abbot in 925, his abbeys being divided between his relative Vido and his disciple Odo of Cluny. He is regarded as a saint, with his feast day on 13 January. Background St Benedict of Nursia had founded his famous monastery at Monte Cassino in the 5th century, and from it, his ideas and his Rule would come to i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
