About

My research interests revolve around the lives and literary production of the monks of Cluny. The abbey of Cluny, located near Macon in Burgundy, was founded in the early tenth century as –what could be argued to be– a traditionally Carolingian form of monastery. Its life revolved around the cultivation of virtue and spiritual prestige through an unparalleled program of prayers, liturgical celebration and ritualized comportment.

The monastery of Cluny was arguably one of the most prominent and powerful religious institutions from its founding to its dissolution during the French Revolution. Its first abbots were widely accepted as capable leaders in life and powerful saints after their death. By the twelfth century, the abbots of Cluny oversaw a vast network of houses spreading from England to the Holy Land. Under their tutelage, Cluny produced untold monks esteemed for their holiness and often chosen to become bishops and popes. Its abbots were advisers to kings and acted as architects of Church doctrine. The monks of Cluny did not withdraw from the secular world, but sought to engage with it.

I have focused my research on three authors writing within the Cluniac mileu: the twelfth-century abbot of Cluny –Peter the Venerable– and two of his monks –Peter of Poitiers and Richard of Poitiers (also known as Richard of Cluny). Through the writing of these three monks, I seek to explore the world view, the power relationships and the forms of emotion disseminated from Cluny.