1130 AD: the great abbey church at Cluny claims preeminence as the largest Christian house of worship in Europe, eclipsing in grandeur even St. Peter's at Rome. Today: almost nothing remains of Cluny's soaring edifice. How a small community of monks in a backwater village in central France became the broker of ecclesiastical and (to a significant degree) political power in the medieval era-- so much so that popes and kings bent the knee to its abbot (and contributed hugely to its treasury)-- is Edwin Mullins' tale, and too how disciplined faith can degenerate into surfeit and irrelevance. Sic transit gloria mundi, indeed.

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.

Edwin Mullins is an Oxford-educated writer, journalist, and filmmaker who has published numerous books on architecture and the visual arts, including The Pilgrimage to Santiago and The Popes of Avignon.

Imprint: Bluebridge
Distributor: Independent Pub Group
Publication Date: 09-01-2008
Pages: 256
Measurements: 8.50in X 5.50in X 1.00lbs