HUGH OF CLUNY, ST.

Sixth abbot of cluny; b. Burgundy, 1024; d. Cluny, April 29, 1109. Hugh, son of Dalmace, Count of Semur and of Aremberge, was educated by Bp. Hugh of Auxerre. In 1038 he entered Cluny, then governed by Abbot odilo. He was ordained in 1044, was named prior in 1048, and succeeded in ending a controversy between Emperor henry iii and the Abbey of Payerne. On the death of Odilo, January 1049, Hugh was elected abbot of Cluny, receiving the abbatial blessing from Abp. Hugh of Besançon on Feb. 22, 1049. His 60 years as abbot were prodigiously fruitful and marked the apogee of Cluny (see cluniac reform). Hugh took part in numerous councils and synods, such as those at the Lateran (1050, 1059, and 1080), Vienne (1060), and Plaisance and Clermont (1095). The popes entrusted him with important diplomatic missions to Hungary (1051) and Germany (1072); he was present at the encounter between Emperor henry iv and gregory vii at Canossa. Although the greatest expansion of Cluny had taken place before Hugh's abbacy, Cluny continued to found new monasteries and aggregate older ones during his term. Of particular interest is the founding of the first convent of Cluniac nuns at Marcigny in 1056. Hugh obtained papal confirmation of the temporal and spiritual privileges of his order. A former Cluniac monk, Pope urban ii, returned to consecrate the main altar of the abbey church on Oct. 25, 1095. Despite intense activity in the service of his monks and of the Church, Hugh remained a man of prayer. His human qualities won him the friendship of the great and the confidence of men of lesser estate. His prudence and humaneness were noteworthy, especially in his rulings on liturgical celebrations and monastic discipline. Hugh was canonized by callistus ii, Jan. 1, 1120.

Feast: April 29.

Bibliography: Sources. m. marrier and a. duchesne, eds., Bibliotheca cluniacensis (Paris 1614; 1915) 413–472. Patrologia Latina, ed. j. p. migne, 217 v. (Paris 1878–90) 159:857–984. a. bruel, ed., Recueil des chartes de l'abbaye de Cluny, 6 v. (Paris 1876–1903) 4:174–824; 5:1–230. Literature. a. l'huillier, Vie de saint Hugues (Solesmes 1888). g. tellenbach, "Zum Wesen der Cluniacenser," Saeculum 9 (1958) 370–378. k. hallinger, "Klunys Bräuche zur Zeit Hugos des Grossen, 1049–1109," Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtgeschichte, Kanonistische Abteilung 45 (1959) 99–140. h. diener, "Das Verhältnis Clunys zu den Bischöfen, vor allem in der Zeit seines Abtes Hugo, 1049–1109," in j. wollasch et al., Neue Forschungen über Cluny und die Cluniacenser, ed. g. tellenbach (Freiburg 1959) 219–352. g. cantarella and d. tuniz, eds., Cluny e il suo abate Ugo: splendore e crisi di un grande ordine monastico (Milan 1983).

[r. grÉgoire]