offices, monastic and canonical 533biographies for Maiolus and the empress ADELAIDE.
Having became famous for his generosity to those in
need, he died at Souvigny at age 87 and was soon can-
onized in 1063.
Further reading:Giles Constable, Cluny from the
Tenth to the Twelfth Centuries: Further Studies(Alder-
shot: Ashgate, 2000); Joan Evans, Monastic Life at
Cluny, 910–1157 (Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books,
1968); Barbara H. Rosenwein, Rhinoceros Bound: Cluny
in the Tenth Century(Philadelphia: University of Penn-
sylvania Press, 1982); Barbara H. Rosenwein, To Be the
Neighbor of Saint Peter: The Social Meaning of Cluny’s
Property, 909–1049 (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University
Press, 1989).
Odo(Eudes) (ca. 1030–1097) dissolute bishop of Bayeaux,
half brother of William the Conqueror
Odo or (Eudes) was the son of Arlette or Herleva, a for-
mer concubine of Duke Robert of NORMANDY, and Erluin
of Conteville. Aged about 20, he received the see of
Bayeaux from Duke WILLIAM, the future Conqueror, in
1049–50. He took part in the conquest of ENGLANDin
1066, when he became infamous for carrying a studded
club instead of a sword, since metal weapons were forbid-
den to the CLERGY. He was rewarded by being made the
earl of Kent, the greatest landowner in the country. He
held a prominent place in the government of England
under William. It was probably Odo’s idea to help justify
William’s accession to the throne by creating the BAYEUX
TAPESTRY, which showed HAROLDII Godewineson break-
ing his oath to William.
Odo’s illegal raising of troops for a campaign in ITA LY
disgraced him in 1082; he was to be imprisoned for life.
Odo seems to have had strong ambitions, including even
the PAPACY. He was freed from prison at ROUEN on
William’s death in 1087 by WILLIAMII RUFUS, the Con-
queror’s successor. He tried to continue to play a role in a
failed conspiracy of Robert Curthose (ca. 1054–1134)
against William Rufus, but primarily he concerned him-
self as a patron of religion with building his cathedral
church and administering his diocese. He tried to take
part in the First CRUSADEwith Robert Curthose but died
at PALERMOin 1097.
Further reading:Joannes, Monk of Cluny, fl. 945, St.
Odo of Cluny: Being the Life of St. Odo of Cluny,trans. and
ed. Gerard Sitwell (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1958);
David Bates, Normandy before 1066(New York: Longman,
1982); Sarell Everett Gleason, An Ecclesiastical Barony of
the Middle Ages: The Bishopric of Bayeux, 1066–1204
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1936).
Odoacer(Odovacar)(ca. 433–493)Germanic king, ally
of Rome
Odoacer was a German chieftain of the Scirian tribe
allied for a time with the HUNS, who entered ITALYin
470 and became king of the Heruli. As other German
chieftains did, he joined the Roman army, but he
revolted against his general and defeated him in battle
in 476. After this victory, he entered ROME and on
August 28, 476 deposed the last Roman emperor of the
West, Romulus Augustulus (r. 475–476). He acknowl-
edged the overlordship of the Eastern emperor Zeno (r.
474–491) at CONSTANTINOPLE, but he soon proclaimed
himself the Arian ruler of Italy. Never to gain recogni-
tion in CONSTANTINOPLE, he opposed any attempts by
the Byzantine emperors to interfere in Italy and, to
assure his independence, invaded the Balkans. He failed
to prevent the Byzantine-sponsored OSTROGOTHICinva-
sion of Italy in 493 and tried to reach an understanding
with their king, THEODORIC. He was murdered and his
followers were massacred during a reception at RavennaView of Florence in
See alsoBARBARIANS AND BARBARIAN MIGRATIONS.
Further reading:Lucien Musset, The Germanic Inva-
sions: The Making of Europe, AD400–600,trans. Edward
and Columba James (1969; reprint, University Park:
Pennsylvania State University Press, 1975); E. A. Thomp-
son, Romans and Barbarians: The Decline of the Western
Empire(Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1982);
J. M. Wallace-Hadrill, The Barbarian West, 400–1000,rev.
ed. (Oxford: B. Blackwell, 1996).offertory SeeMASS.offices, monastic and canonical The divine office is
the most important element, in length and frequency, of
the rites and PRAYERSof the Catholic liturgy. It could be
celebrated privately or publicly: in a monastic setting or
in a church more open to the LAITY. Its aim was to sanc-
tify time weekly according to the hours of the day. Its
transition from private to public prayer came about in the
fourth century and arose from a growing ascetic and eli-
tist movement in the church. Monks and even HERMITS,
though living in community, solemnized the hours of the
day by prayer and by common celebration of these
prayers, the divine office proper. Most lay Christians
attended prayer meetings on certain occasions, such as
on Sundays and feast days, either for vigils or for the
evening office along with the MASS.
Monks followed a system of hours, vigils, lauds,
prime, terce, sext, none, vespers, and compline. They
also established the essential content of the hours of
the office, including the introduction of the psalms as
Christian prayer, through a continuous oral reading in
common of the PSALTER. In the eighth century, the secu-
lar clerical office and the monastic office began to differ
in terms of the number and distribution of the psalms
in the course of each office; otherwise, the office was
celebrated identically by the secular clerics and the
monks. The laity participated or at least listened to