Lecture 29: monastic Reform
o Bernard was a man of great abilities and decided views who
actively exerted power on a number of fronts and seemed to
relish the exercise of authority. At the synod of Troyes in 1128,
he wrote the rules and helped approve the new order of Knights
Templar. He later intervened in a disputed papal election and
helped secure the position of Innocent II (1130), thus winning
even more papal privileges for the Cistercian order.o Bernard was a preacher of stunning ability: His “Homilies
on the Song of Songs,” preached to his fellow monks, is a
masterpiece of mystical theology. These homilies helped win
him the later designation of “doctor” of the church.o Bernard was, alas, also capable of hatred. He sharply criticized
the Cluniac monks and attacked the brilliant theologian
Abelard in 1140 as a heretic; when Abelard was given refuge
by the abbot of Cluny, Bernard’s hostility only grew greater.The Houses of Saint Bruno and Saint Romuald
• Our third example of monastic reform is found in the two forms
of semi-eremitical life founded by Saint Bruno in 1084 and Saint
Romuald between 1012 and 1023.• Bruno founded a house called the Grand Chartreuse in the Dauphine
Alps near Grenoble; it had no special rules but demanded of its
members perfect mortification—that is, the total eradication of all
human desires—and a complete renunciation of the world.
o The Carthusian monks only slowly developed a rule, which
was approved by Innocent II in 1133; the order included houses
for both men and women.o Monks lived in silence and, for the most part, in their respective
cells, working and praying; they met in common only for Mass
and office and for meals on feast days.