Background
The monastic life played an important role in spiritual and intellectual life in the Frankish realm. The orders had important tasks in church life. But they were also significant for the economic and intellectual integration of new territories, such as Saxony into the empire; several cloisters were closely connected with the ruling house.
However, the orders were not uniformly organised. In the previous centuries, mixed rules (regula mixta) dominated. Such a mixed rule was even imported to Monte Cassino after its refoundation in the eighth century. In the Frankish realm the Benedictine Rule was frequently mixed with the Columbine Rule. Furthermore, orders of canons and canonesses had developed alongside the orders of monks and nuns. There were also mixtures between these two basic types of holy order.
Charlemagne began to regulate the monastic life in 789, with the Admonitio generalis. Among other things, it declared that obedience to the Benedictine Rule should be central for the orders. The decisions of a synod in Aachen in 802 built on that. Visitations to the orders followed. A court day (Hoftag) held in the second half of the year ruled, that in future the Benedictine Rule should be the sole binding rule for monastic orders. Nevertheless, there continued to be a number of orders following other regulations. [1]
Proceedings
Louis the Pious appointed Benedict of Aniane to enforce the Benedictine Rule throughout the empire, shortly after his accession. The Emperor summoned an imperial synod at Aachen in August 816. The main issues of this synod were the reform of the monastic life and the regulation of the canonical life. The synods were preceded by very intensive preparations, including a list of the issues to be addressed which Benedict of Aniane had collated.
According to the imperial capitulary in which the results were published, the discussion took place in the Royal Palace of Aachen. Abbots and monks participated and the Emperor himself was personally present, even intervening in the debates. Bishops and important secular officials took part as well. A list of the participants does not exist. Among them was Hetto of Trier and Adalhoh of Strassbourg. Hildebold of Cologne, as archchaplain, was probably present. Magnus of Sens and Agobard of Lyon left early. The Abbots in attendance included Ando of Malmedy Stablo in Aachen and Helysacher of St Maximin in Trier, who was also in charge of the Imperial chancellery. Ratgar of Fulda might have been present as well, since his abbey was very well informed on the results of the synod.
Monastic lifestyle
Only minimal notes exist about the course of the synod. A central point was the orientation of the monastic life along the lines of the Benedictine Rule. As important as Benedict of Aniane's role was, he was not always been able to prevail despite his position. An important point was the plan to force monasteries' to conform to the liturgical practice of the Benedictines. The bishops who would not tolerate any deviation from the Roman rite, opposed this. Eventually a compromise was reached on this point. There was also controversy about whether the property of novices should be taken by the monastery or returned to their families. There was discussion on other technical issues as well.
But in the core matters, Benedict of Aniane took on an authoritative role. He explained the Benedictine Rule to the participants, clarified doubts, and refuted errors of interpretation. He said that everything which conformed with the rule was good. He succeeded in making the Benedictine Rule the general norm for the monastic life in the Frankish realm. The decisions made in Aachen deviated from the original rule only in minor details. These were mostly traditions built up over the preceding centuries. Benedict of Aniane himself did not dare to make a radical break with tradition and, as a result, some non-Benedictine elements were maintained, but he tried to make the regulations enacted come as close to the original Rule as possible.
Overall, the regulation of the Benedictine Rule was a significant step. This is sometimes seen as the real beginning of the Benedictine order. All orders founded in the following centuries were organised in accordance with the principles of this rule. The rules of the mendicant orders founded in the thirteenth century were the first to diverge from this basis.
Canons and canonesses
Another important aspect was to define monks and canons in relation to one another and to end the mixing of the two lifestyles which had begun in the eighth century. There had been attempts at this for some time already - the rule of Chrodegang of Metz issued around 755 had closely anticipated this standardisation - but there had been only limited success. In Aachen, Louis the Pious demanded that the rules for the communal life of canons should be collected from the old books. Some bishops were not convinced of the necessity of this, but such a collection was nevertheless created, which was agreed to by the council. This consisted of a rule for canons (Institutio canonicorum) and one for canonesses (Institutio sanctimonitalium).
The canons were required to celebrate general services and the liturgy of the hours and to maintain a communal life in an enclosed area, which was required to include a common dormitory and a common dining hall. Unlike monks and nuns, canons were permitted to keep personal possessions, though personal poverty was to be the ideal for them too. They would not be allowed to lay aside any lifelong vows. Provosts would oversee canonical communities. In many respects, the lives of canonesses was similarly regulated, but their communities were to be led by Abbesses.
The first Stift communities were established in 816 and 817. In the following two centuries it was often unclear in practice whether a particular Stift was an order of canonesses of a nunnery. [2]
Completion and publication
On account of the numerous areas of the monastic life to be regulated, the discussions were not simple and they lasted for a long time, before the participants could summarise their decisions in thirty six canons and submit them to Louis for confirmation. These canons were published and made binding for the empire in a capitulary of 23 August 816. Various participants had already publicised partial results before this. The enforcement, or rather the monitoring of implementation was carried out over the following years by missi dominici and ecclesiastical representatives. The archbishops of the realm were especially involved.
Synods of 817–819
The synod of 817 built on the decisions of the previous year. On 10 July it adopted a capitulare monasticum (Monastic capitulary), containing the rulings of the previous year. From the end of 818 to the beginning of 819, a further synod was held in Aachen. It produced the Notitia de servitio monasteriorum , a list of reformed monasteries and the services they owed the crown. This brought the monastic reforms to an end. A Hoftag was held in parallel with this synod. Among other things, the relationship between the ruler and the church was clarified. Monasteries and bishoprics were granted voting rights, but the king held the customary rights and the right of investiture. He was allowed to continue to appoint the leaders of canonical orders. The power of ecclesiastical institutions in the Empire was thus further enshrined. [3]
Overall, the rulings marked the end of the variety of earlier monastic lifestyles in favor of a uniform standard. Uniform structures marked a strengthening of the Imperial church. This was a factor in the maintenance of Imperial unity.
The 810s decade ran from January 1, 810, to December 31, 819.
Year 817 (DCCCXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.
Benedict of Aniane, born Witiza and called the Second Benedict, was a Benedictine monk and monastic reformer, who left a large imprint on the religious practice of the Carolingian Empire. His feast day is either February 11 or 12, depending on liturgical calendar.
Christian monasticism is the devotional practice of Christians who live ascetic and typically cloistered lives that are dedicated to Christian worship. It began to develop early in the history of the Christian Church, modeled upon scriptural examples and ideals, including those in the Old Testament, but not mandated as an institution in the scriptures. It has come to be regulated by religious rules and, in modern times, the Canon law of the respective Christian denominations that have forms of monastic living. Those living the monastic life are known by the generic terms monks (men) and nuns (women). The word monk originated from the Greek μοναχός, itself from μόνος meaning 'alone'.
Lay abbot is a name used to designate a layman on whom a king or someone in authority bestowed an abbey as a reward for services rendered; he had charge of the estate belonging to it, and was entitled to part of the income. The custom existed principally in the Frankish Empire from the eighth century until the ecclesiastical reforms of the eleventh.
The Rule of Saint Augustine, written about the year 400, is a brief document divided into eight chapters and serves as an outline for religious life lived in community. It is the oldest monastic rule in the Western Church.
In Christianity, an oblate is a person who is specifically dedicated to God or to God's service.
Chrodegang was the Frankish Bishop of Metz from 742 or 748 until his death. He served as chancellor for his kinsman, Charles Martel. Chrodegang is claimed to be a progenitor of the Frankish dynasty of the Robertians. He is recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church
Canons regular are canons in the Catholic Church who live in community under a rule and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by a partly similar terminology.
Canoness is a member of a religious community of women living a simple life. Many communities observe the monastic Rule of St. Augustine. The name corresponds to the male equivalent, a canon. The origin and Rule are common to both. As with the canons, there are two types: canonesses regular, who follow the Augustinian Rule, and secular canonesses, who follow no monastic Rule of Life.
Enclosed religious orders or cloistered clergy are religious orders whose members strictly separate themselves from the affairs of the external world. In the Catholic Church, enclosure is regulated by the code of canon law, either the Latin code or the Oriental code, and also by the constitutions of the specific order. It is practised with a variety of customs according to the nature and charism of the community in question. This separation may involve physical barriers such as walls and grilles, with entry restricted for other people and certain areas exclusively permitted to the members of the convent. Outsiders may only temporarily enter this area under certain conditions. The intended purpose for such enclosure is to prevent distraction from prayer and the religious life and to keep an atmosphere of silence.
The Council of Frankfurt, traditionally also the Council of Frankfort, in 794 was called by Charlemagne, as a meeting of the important churchmen of the Frankish realm. Bishops and priests from Francia, Aquitaine, Italy, and Provence gathered in Franconofurd. The synod, held in June 794, allowed the discussion and resolution of many central religious and political questions.
Saint Berno of Cluny or Berno of Baume was the first abbot of Cluny from its foundation in 909 until he died in 927. He began the tradition of the Cluniac reforms which his successors spread across Europe.
Kornelimünster Abbey, also known as Abbey of the Abbot Saint Benedict of Aniane and Pope Cornelius, is a Benedictine monastery that has been integrated since 1972. The abbey is located in Aachen in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany.
Regular clergy, or just regulars, are clerics in the Catholic Church who follow a rule of life, and are therefore also members of religious institutes. Secular clergy are clerics who are not bound by a rule of life.
A number of significant councils of the Latin Church were held at Aachen in the early Middle Ages.
A religious institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in the Catholic Church whose members take religious vows and lead a life in community with fellow members. Religious institutes are one of the two types of institutes of consecrated life; the other is that of the secular institute, where its members are "living in the world".
The Institutio canonicorum Aquisgranensis was a text disseminated in 816 at a church council gathered at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) by Emperor Louis the Pious, which sought to distinguish canons from monks and to provide canons with a rule, called the Regula canonicorum or Rule of Aix. The Institutio consists of a prologue, a collection of texts from church fathers, and the rule itself. Similar to Chrodegang's Rule, it differed on certain points. It was, for instance, more insistent on canons living a common life, eating and sleeping together. Yet canons were allowed to hold private property, and, with their bishop's permission, even have their own houses.
