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Cluny: In Search of God's Lost Empire Hardcover – September 1, 2006

by Edwin Mullins (Author)

15 customer reviews

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A monastery like no other, this is Cluny’s story from humble beginnings in the early Middle Ages, through centuries of immense wealth and sacred glory, to its decline, destroyed by the French Revolution. Much of Cluny’s enduring legacy lies in great cultural innovations sponsored by the abbey.

Cluny: In Search of God's Lost Empire

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Product Details

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: BlueBridge (September 1, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1933346000
ISBN-13: 978-1933346007
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,773,076 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #474 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Worship & Devotion > Monasticism & Asceticism
- #6140 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > History
- #11253 in Books > History > World > Religious > Christianity

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Customer Reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars

5 star		60%
4 star		27%
3 star		13%
2 star		0%
1 star		0%

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Top Customer Reviews

Good material marred by factual errors and lack of perspective

By Geoff on December 30, 2007

Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

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.

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An excellent read

By A. Brockhaus on December 27, 2006

Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

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.

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An Unaffetionate Overview of Cluny

By Christopher Orr on September 29, 2008

Format: Paperback

Mullins shows his colors as more of an art and architecture writer than a historian. He also shows an amazing lack of respect for the faith and practices of the men of the Benedictine monastery of Cluny in France. The text is littered with rather antagonistic language regarding the Christianity and monasticism of Cluny, especially its celibacy, obedience, and supposed 'misogyny' - in essence, the reason for being of all that made Cluny what it was. It is hard to imagine a man with so little affection for the faith and life of the Cluniac monks writing a book on them that was published.

I was originally interested by Cluny through a reference in the 'Church in History' series (SVS Press) edited by Andrew Louth. Cluny was described as the mechanism whereby the Roman papacy 'learned' how to be a universal organization since Cluny's ability to administer its dependencies across most of Western Europe and into the Levant helped to turn the idea of a universal papacy with an active, immediate and local jurisdiction a reality. The lay investiture crisis between Pope and Holy Roman Emperor that Abbot Hugh of Cluny sought to defuse was also given, in Louth, as an example of clashing worldviews: Germanic (Frankish) law understood ownership as having to do with land alone - there was understanding of 'corporate personality' that would allow for a transnational, non-geographic organization such as the Church or a monastic Order to own and have authority over anything apart from the local landowner, lord or bishop.Read more ›

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These were the dark ages? ...Hardly.

By Richard F. Grantges on March 18, 2007

Format: Hardcover

Very well written and fascinating story of what was the greatest church in the world before St. Peters and the order that ran it and much of Europe. It really fills in a definite blank spot in history as far as I am concerned. By "greatest" I mean largest and most important. Until tbe construction of St. Peters, Cluny played at least as major a role in Christendom as did Rome. As far as Europe is concerned, Cluny and its clergy were probably more influential among all but the ruling class.

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Filling the Gap

By Billy Tucker on February 12, 2007

Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

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.

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A truly inspiring book

By lusso on October 25, 2014

Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

This book was wonderful. My reason for ordering it was that my wife and I had just visited Cluny and saw that it had been an amazing place. We were intrigued enough to want to learn more about it. The author of this book is a very good writer with much insight into the Medieval Period, having done extensive research and using wonderful turn of phrase in order to illustrate facts presented. Cluny itself was a very significant part of Church history, and one wonders why we simply don't hear much about it these days. The book shows that the tenth through the thirteenth centuries spanned a time when orthodox religion was paramount in people's minds, unlike today when novelties of the modern world tend to drown it out.
This book has caused us to actually want to return to Burgundy, both to Cluny itself and to see other sites which Cluny had inspired during this period in history. I recommend it whole-heartedly.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

An excellent starting point for gaining an understanding of that...

An excellent starting point for gaining an understanding of that period in Western Civilization known as the Medieval Christian period. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Thomas Hart

Five Stars

Excellent book.

Published 15 months ago by Candi Roberts

In Search of God's Lost Empire

Edwin Mullins' enthralling prose captures the essence of the rise and fall of the most important centre of Christian life and culture.

Published 19 months ago by Brother Cadfael

Pretty Thin

Some nince info, but a very light-weight, barely historical thing. I did find a few useful things such as when the Abbey was actually dismantled (well after 1794 and indeed well... Read more

Published on March 22, 2013 by Peter Hickman

Monastic history and politics

The book contains history, monasticism, 10-12 centuries, abbots and church related political history of the times. There's a chapter on monastic life at Cluny. Read more

Published on December 15, 2012 by Gderf

Knowledge and Grace

This book was a tremendous pleasure to read. Scholarship of this quality is seldom wed with writing this graceful. A beautiful reading experience. Read more

Published on March 22, 2008 by An attorney and art lover

Pleasant history with an inane subtitle

Edward Mullins draws from a wide variety of sources and disciplines to give us an overview of Cluny, a Benedictine monastery in Burgundy, which in the Eleventh and Twelfth... Read more

Published on February 10, 2008 by R. M. Peterson

A Light in the Dark Ages

Cluny was a major force in Europe during the so-called dark ages. It was at the height of its power at a time when Europe was a very dangerous place, seeped in mysticism and... Read more

Published on January 16, 2008 by J Martin Jellinek

Middle Ages-- very important influence

The work of the residents of Cluny had a major influence in the pilgrimages of the middle ages, especially the pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Read more

Published on July 14, 2007 by Beth Williamson

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