Benedictines After the Carolingians Times, Up to Now

As the feudal society born of the end of the Carolingian Empire had turned dispersal and violence and as the Papacy has gradually lost its prestige, it was the bishops -- mostly in Aquitaine and Burgundy, areas of influence of the abbey of Cluny --who endeavored to remedy. Strictly speaking, it was the Council of the Puy in 990 A.D., who inaugurated the movement of the 'peace of God.' Little by little, by the 11th century, that movement reached to northern regions but, the power being stronger in Germany, did not reach there before around 1080. Around 1030 A.D., the peace of God was struggling to find a true expression and the Church thus passed to the 'truce of God' concept, or the definition of a temporal space, in the liturgical cycle, during which violence was forbiddent (in addition, the Church by that time remained powerless to eradicate ordalies nor judicial duels). It is possible that, in the second half of the 11h century, as the feudal savagery had been more or less contained, the Church wanted to divert it to the Crusades ('peace to the Christians, war on the infidels'). The Church, in the 11th century, further saw the great reform movement of the Benedictine abbeys, particularly that of Cluny which was the sole to unite closely monasteries, on the one hand, and to bear allegiance to the Pope to break free from the authority of bishops. Benedictines had to separate from that world of feudalism as what the abbots or even the Pope had refused to Benedict of Aniane, they accepted the Cluniac reform that time, a common obedience to the Pope guaranteeing against the violence of the time. In the 11th century, the Cluniac effort was supported by kings and the Emperor. A few monasteries, however, refused the reform while some bishops, by ecclesiastical gallicanism opposed to Rome, also fought the reform. Confederational links were also lower in Germany while, and, generally, the secular clergy remained caught in the disorders of feudalism. But inside it, some "pre-Gregorians" appeared, announcing the quarrel of Investitures and calling into question feudals' stranglehold

The Benedictines, from the Carolingians onwards, mostly passed under the system of Cluny during two centuries, that Burgundian abbey which elaborated a highly centralized system of government and a reform of monachism under the Benedictine ideal. It was duke William of Aquitaine who, at the frontier of his dominions, in southwestern Burgundy, who allowed the foundation of Cluny by 910 A.D. He had given the lands to Saint Peter and Saint Paul, which is to say to papacy. Monks came from Baume, in the Jura area, France and under abbot Berno, they applied a reformed rule which was taken from the one of St-Savin (Poitou, France) through St-Martin of Autun. Some consider Cluny like the eventual consequence of the reform will of Benedict of Aniane. The second abbot of Cluny already had become prestigious to the point that he was appointed also abbot of two monasteries in Rome self as the easy development of Cluny was due to that it was immediate to the pope, as such a tradition existed since the 9th century A.D in terms of newly built monasteries. The Clunisiac reform however, as it focused on the monastic liturgy -a liturgy of 'splendor'- and celebrating the memory of benefactors, eventually saw the decline of labour. The Cluniac reform, albeit the most important, was not the only one to exist at the time, which was a one when numerous monasteries had been threatened or plundered due to the renewed invasions in Europe of the Northmen, the Magyars or the Sarracenes. Gorze was a other party of Benedictine monachism's reorganization. Cluny wanted to be the Whit Sunday Church, or a model of Christian communautarism as it freed itself from the reinforced power of bishops with papacy awarding Cluniac abbeys to call a bishop of their choice for the ordination of abbots or consecrations of churches, by 998. The Benedictine order however got hierarchized to the benefit of the mother-abbey and, eventually, of Rome. That Cluniac will of reform, on a other hand, got complicated due to that the Church, since about 950 A.D., had gotten inserted into the imperial system of the Ottonian emperors, or the 'Holy Roman Empire,' sovereigns of which either supported, or opposed to, the effort of reform as they always kept adhering to cesaropapism in any case. 315 monasteries existed by the 12th century. Further reform movements and unions of monasteries on the model of Cluny -in the purpose of centralization- took place in those ages (in Italy; with St Dunstan, St Ethelwood, or Lanfranc in England; several monasteries in France, like Chaise-Dieu, St. Victor, St. Claude, or Tiron; in Germany Fulda and Hirschau; in Austria: Melk and Salzburg; various other Europeans countries like Scotland, Scandinavia, Poland or Hungary) as large number of abbeys and monasteries didn't fall into either Cluny or other moves. Those epochs were the epoch too to various religious reforms of the Rule of St. Benedict, which eventually lead to radically separated orders, like the Cistercians, for example

The next most important move occured with the Fourth Lateran Council, in 1215, in its 12th canon. This one was decreeing that all the monasteries of each ecclesiastical province had to unite into a congregation, with abbeys -one of them the president- meeting each 3 years, having the power of passing binding laws to all and sending visitors to report about the condition of the monasteries of the province. England was the first to implement the new orders, as the rest of Europe did about 1336 only, once the Bull 'Benedictina' issued by Benedict XII, which stated more union and more centralization still. It has to be known that some countries, from time to time, tried to enforce a greater degree of organization to their Benedictine houses. That type of organization, albeit with exceptions and slight variations, remains how the Benedictines work today. Benedictines, by the beginning of the 14th century, reached the tremendous number of 37,000 monasteries, having given to the Church 24 popes, 200 cardinals, 22,000 bishops and archbishops. Most famous rulers, or their wifes had joined the Rule!

The Reformation, in the 16th century, reduced the number of the monasteries to 5,000 only as, in Germany, all of the Benedictine monasteries came to be confiscated by the Lutherans about 1551. The Enlightenment in Austria and the French Revolution completed that work of destruction, leading to that, in the early 19th century, 50 Benedictines monasteries only survived! The 19th century eventually came to see a revival of the Benedictines, rising this number to 700

Here are more details about the history of the Benedictines, by country, following the Council of Lateran (by countries, in alphabetical order). It has to be noted that two abbeys are not part of any congregation, as they are immediately subject to the Pope: the abbey of Fort Augustus, Scotland (19th century; it was created to maintain in Scotland a presence of the English congregation and too a continuity with Scottish monasteries which had been formerly founded in Germany and Austria. It was separated from the English congregation by 1883 by the pope and turned independent by 1888), and the abbey of St. Anselm's and International Benedictine College, Rome -the latter the university for Benedictines from all over the world since 1886. The abbott of St. Anselm has the title of 'Abbot Primate' of the whole Benedictine order. The abbey of St Anselm had been founded in 1687 like a college to the Benedictines of the Cassinese Congregation
You will note that, as those data are taken from the 'Catholic Encyclopedia' which dates to the beginning of the 20th century, a further note is given after the list about the current state of the Benedictines:

• Austria: it's not before 1470 that 16 Austrian houses eventually melted into an union. After a failed attempt in 1623 for a congregation reuniting Austria, Bavaria, and the Congregation of Bursfeld, which led just to the foundation of a small congregation centered on the abbey of St. Peter in Salzburg, this left Austria with the first of the congregation (the one of Melk) and that one of Salzburg. As the reign of Joseph II (1765-1790) dealt grave blows to the Austrian monachism, the 19th century finally came to two new congregations in 1889: the Immaculate Conception (Göttweig), and St. Joseph (Salzburg)
• Bavaria: the 'Bavarian Congregation' appeared in 1684, following the Tridentine decrees. It comprised 18 houses as it was suppressed by the beginning of the 19th century. The congregation was eventually restored in 1858
• England: the first country to implement the reform of Lateran, the Benedictines were eventually destroyed under the reign of King Henry VIII, the founder of anglicanism, reaching the number of 300 houses. As the Benedictine abbeys of the area of Canterbury first were congregated, the whole of the country was with the Benedictina. Under the anglicanism, some Benedictines eventually led to a restored English congregation in 1633, confirmed by a Bull of Pope Urban VIII. A lot of those Benedictines, the purpose of which were to reconvert England, suffered martyrdom. Some English monasteries installed on the Continent based upon monks trained abroad -in Spain mostly- were part of the new line of English Benedictines, which officially were congregated to the old branch by the Pope by 1619 A.D. Dom Sigebert Buckley, who died 1607, was the link between the Benedictines of England of before, and after, the Anglicanist Reform
• France: as the 'Congregation of St. Vannes' originated in Lorraine from a disciplinary reform in 1598 and sprung to Alsace, retaining its independence despite the annexion of Lorraine to the Kingdom of France. To avoid, meanwhile, that the Benedictines of France obey to the congregation of Lorraine, a separate congregation, the 'Congregation of St. Maur' was organized in 1621, reaching 108 houses, with Saint-Germain-des-Près, Paris, being the mother-house and excepted remaining Clunisiac monasteries. This French congregation was modelled on the Congregation of St. Justina of Padua as it becamed famed to the literary achievements of is members (like Mabillon, or the 'Maurists"). The Benedictines, in France, were hit by the French Revolution, as the 'Gallican congregation' was eventually founded by 1837, based in the abbey of Solesmes (Dom Guéranger). Pope Gregory XVI declared the congregation the successor to the congregations of Cluny, St. Vannes, and St. Maur. The Gallican Congregation was steadily persecuted and eventually expelled from France in 1903 with its members fleeing in the Isle of Wight, England, Belgium, Spain or Italy. The Fathers of Paris, which were not expelled, took on the litteracy works the Maurists came to be reknown for
• Germany: 136 houses -and most of the main abbeys of Germany- composed the 'Bursfeld Union' at its height as it had been founded by 1430 A.D. Most of them passed to Lutherans hands in the 16th century. A somehow recovering of their rights in 1628 had the German Benedictines offering seven monasteries to the English congregation under the conditon of those recovered against the Lutheran faith would return to the German monks. No such case occurred however. The Congregation of Beuron, on the other hand, near Sigmaringen, had been born in 1863, with the patronage of the Princess Katharina von Hohenzollern, from an effort to restore the Benedictine order in Germany. Banned in 1875 by Prussia, the order eventually came back in 1887. The Congregation of Beuron has houses in Belgium, Prague, Styria, and Portugal. The 'Congregation' of St. Ottilien', further, was affiliated in 1897 to the Cassinese Congregation as it largely recruite from the Congregation of Beuron. The original congregation, which was not Benedictine, had been established for the work of the foreign missions, as the Congregation of St. Ottilien took on this purpose, sending missions in Central Africa
• Hungary: the originality of the "Hungarian Congregation' is that it has an arch-abbey, the one of Monte Pannonia, founded in 1001 by King Stephen I of Hungary. The Hungarians are now affiliated, with a status of independency, to the Cassinese Congregation
• Italy: with Monte Cassino, the original settlement of the order, for its chief-house, the 'Cassinese Congregation' -or the 'congregation of St. Justina of Padua' originated in the end of the 14th century, as the Cluniac monasteries in Italy had declined to none. A canon regular of St. George in alga eventually in 1409, took the lead of this abbey of St. Justina in Padua, as he instituted a reformed Benedictine observance, leading to a renewed Benedictine congregation in Italy. Subiaco, or Monte Cassino, formerly Cluniac, joined the move, or St. Georges in Venice and St. Paul in Rome. The abbey of Lerins, France, with its daughter-houses joined that Italian congregation by 1505. The number of houses was gradually of 200, as the congregation became highly centralized, nearly departing from a real Benedictine observance as it based its work upon the model of Italian cities. In the 19th century, in 1851, the abbott of Subiaco initiated a return to a stricter observance as several monasteries of the 'Cassinese' joined. The new congregation even spread worldwide. It eventually become the independent 'Cassinese Congregation of Primitive Observance' in 1872, with the abbott of Subiaco the abbott-general. The French province of the congregation is the most flourishing one with Pierre-qui-Vire, the ancient Fleury, Belloc or Encalcat, as is the Spanish province (the 9th century Montserrat, St. Clodio, Vilvaneira, Samos, Los Cabos, Solsona)
• Low Countries: the 'Congregation of St. Placid' originated into the abbey of St. Hubert adhering to the reform of the Congregation of St. Vannes in 1630. It existed until the Revolution. Two houses restored have been affiliated to the Belgian province of the Cassinese Congregation of Primitive Observance
• Portugal: a reform of the Benedictines through Spanish Benedictines there turned into the 'Portuguese congregation' by Pius V in 1566 eventually encompassing whole the Benedictine monasteries in the country. The liberals suppressed the houses in the beginning of the 19th century as an attempt to restore one convent there occurred by 1875, as it eventually came to be affiliated to the German Congregation of Beuron. As far as Brazil is concerned, Benedictines first came there in 1581 as their houses remained subject to the Benedictines in Portugal. When Brazil became independent, an independent Brazilian congegration was established which was in turn weakened to about none by the interdiction of the further reception of novices by the government. It's the German Congregation of Beuron which the pope asked to help to the restoration of the Benedictines in Brazil
• Spain: the religious orders of the congregation were obliterated in 1835, as two distinct congregations had existed until then -the congregation of 'Claustrales" or of Tarragona formed in 1336, and the congregation of Valladolid, in 1489, leading to 66 monasteries in all. Salamanca was famous for its university, as a house was found in Compostella. The Spanish Benedictines didn't recover by their own, mostly passing to the Cassinese Congregation of Primitive Observance
• Switzerland: the Benedictine houses in Switzerland turned into the 'Swiss Congregation' in 1602 due to the endeavours of the abbot of Einsiedeln. The congregation, albeit weakened, survived to the troubles of the end of the 18th century
• USA: as some Benedictines might have be among the Eskimo of North America at an earlier time, it was not until 1846 that the Benedictines settled in the USA, mainly for the care of a number of Bavarians having emigrated there. Their houses quickly developped. The congregation is known like the 'American Cassinese Congregation'. Swiss monks, from Einsiedeln, on the other hand came to America in 1845, as the 'Swiss American Congregation' was created in 1870

As far as the most current organization of the Benedictines is concerned, there are today 21 national or supra-national congregations, with the elected 'Abbot Presidents' of each congregation meeting annually in the 'Synod of Presidents', as a meeting every 4 years occurs of all the abbots and superiors of the Benedictine houses (it's called the 'Congress of Abbots'), which is electing the Abbot Primate for 4 years. The seat of the Abbot Primate keeps being in St-Anselme, Rome. The main current congregations are the following (by alphabetical order of the congregation's name; the date of creation is given for congregations which are not part of the previous list)

• American Cassinese Congregation
• Annunciation Congregation (1920)
• Austrian Congregation
• Bavarian Congregation
• Beuronese Congregation
• Brazilian Congregation
• Cassinese Congregation
• Cono-Sur Congregation (1976)
• English Congregation
• Hungarian Congregation
• Neerl - Dutch Congregation (1969)
• Ottilien Congregation
• Slav Congregation (1945)
• Solesmes Congregation (former Gallican)
• Subiaco Congregation (former Cassinese of Primitive Observance)
• Swiss Congregation
• Swiss American Congregation