Cluny: In Search of God's Lost Empire [Paperback]

Edwin Mullins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2008

One thousand years ago, the French abbey of Cluny was the hub of one of the most powerful empires of the Middle Ages and the spiritual heart of Europe. Cluny was a Benedictine monastery in Burgundy, its church a breathtaking structure of towers, roofs, walls, and windows almost 600 feet long and 100 feet high—a true wonder of the world. Reconstructing the lives, beliefs, and ambitions of Cluny's countless monks and legendary abbots, such as Hugh the Great and Peter the Venerable, this book discusses the abbey and its network of 1,500 dependent monasteries in the context of medieval European history. Exploring a monastery like no other, this historical account investigates Cluny's enduring legacy through the great cultural innovations that the abbey sponsored, from the famous medieval pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela to some of the most magnificent churches in all of France and England.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

During the Middle Ages, the abbey at Cluny, in southern France, towered over every other church in Christendom, both physically and spiritually. An architectural marvel, the abbey also served as the headquarters for a steadily growing monastic movement directed by the Rule of Benedict of Nursia. By the end of the 12th century, however, the abbey's fortunes had begun to decline, thanks to external challenges to the authority of the church and internal conflicts about Cluny's mismanagement of financial resources. By turns prosaic and lively, this loving paean to Cluny by Mullins, a former art correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, traces the abbey's history from its inception in 910 to its ultimate destruction in the late 18th century. In particular, Mullins provides an intimate portrait of Hugh the Great, whose administrative and political skills as well as his theological sensibilities fostered the dramatic rise of Cluny. At his death, close to 1,500 Cluniac monasteries and 10,000 monks could be found scattered throughout England, France, Spain and Germany. During Hugh's tenure, Cluny provided money and spiritual support for the First Crusade. By the time Peter the Venerable succeeded Hugh, the abbey had begun its decline because of divisiveness among the monks and financial losses. Mullins's affection and admiration for Cluny provide a glimpse into a mostly forgotten medieval abbey. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

The Benedictine monastery of Cluny in Burgundy, France, was born of the darkness and desperation of life in the early Middle Ages, when few could read and most feared the coming millennium would bring hellfire and damnation upon humble and not-so-humble sinners alike. The abbey matured to gain and hold tremendous sway with powerful leaders in religious and political circles, only to fall prey in its declining years to early modern-era scavengers and revolutionaries who reduced it to a ghost of its former magnificence. Its power and influence attracted the money for expanding its real estate holdings almost unimaginably and creating innovative religious architecture. Mullins so vividly depicts its life that it's easy to forget that Cluny is an institution, not a person. It was a phenomenon that could have emerged only during a specific time with specific needs, and a succession of colorful abbots, as much as anything else, shaped its personality and destiny. Cluny's rich cultural and architectural legacy assures that its story is superb reading. Donna Chavez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Bluebridge (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933346175
• ISBN-13: 978-1933346175
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #517,150 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent read, December 27, 2006

By 

A. Brockhaus - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cluny: In Search of God's Lost Empire (Hardcover)

This book is well written and worth reading. As it explores the Cluny monastery, it covers a number of other subjects including politics, life styles, art, and of course religion. The prose is creative and accessible, and I especially liked the focus on architecture and art. The book really shines when the author rhapsodizes about tympanums, columns and sculptures found in the medieval churches. This book is even more valuable because so little of Cluny remains today, making this an essential read if you're interested in understanding more about medieval life and religion. My only quibble is that there aren't more images of churches, art etc. There are a few pencil drawings, but not nearly enough. I made up for it by googling the images as I read, and surprisingly many of them can be found online. In any case, it's only a small problem. I'd have given this book 4 1/2 stars rather than 5 because of it if the rating system would have allowed it.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good material marred by factual errors and lack of perspective, December 30, 2007

By 

Geoff - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cluny: In Search of God's Lost Empire (Hardcover)

The story is fascinating and worthy of a five star book. This isn't that book.

Why not?

One star off for factual errors. Even little things add up. For example, Mullins at one point calls Cluny an ally of the Vatican. Politically and religiously, that may be true--but the Holy See was run out of the Lateran Palace, not the Vatican, until the 14th century. A minor point, to be sure, but it's far from the only such lapse. And inattention to little details I know about makes me wonder how much I can trust details I don't know about.

One star off for lack of perspective. One need not be a medieval Catholic to write about Cluny. But it helps, considerably, to have thought more about the medieval era and its perspective than Mullins seems to have done. What we are given is the reflexive prejudices of the early 21st century, and only lip service to the idea that religious faith and love of God may have had as much--or more--to do with goings-on at Cluny than money, power, misogyny, and a "morbid fear of death." Every author brings his views to his books. A good author should at least make an attempt to understand his subject's views as well, and I didn't see much evidence of that here.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Filling the Gap, February 12, 2007

By 

Billy Tucker "Perpetual Student" (St. Louis, Missouri) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cluny: In Search of God's Lost Empire (Hardcover)

In other historical works I've occasionally found reference to "Cluny" and brief mention of its significance in medieval Europe. The abbey at Cluny played a dynamic role in the function of the church in Western Europe, and this book paints a clear, "readable" picture of that role. The author avoids rehashing material found abundantly in other works on medieval monastic life and focuses on the political and religious influence of this particular institution and its leaders. If this book has an obvious weakness it is its insufficient use of illustrations.