Tenth Century

Reform, Conversions, Papal Problems

            When the church needs reform, new saints come forth.  Saint Berno of Cluny founded the Order of Cluny at the Benedictine monastery at Cluny in 909. This monastery becomes the center of a reform movement for the church to rid itself of the increasing secularization of its institutions and practices.

            To the east, conversions increase in Hungary and Poland, and Christianity reaches Iceland and Greenland to the west. Bohemian people embrace Christianity, but their "Good King Saint Wenceslaus" is soon murdered in 929 by opposing pagan rivals. Basil, the great prince of Russia, is converted in 988. The Russians were visited by missionaries from Greece, from Rome, and from Germany, so that for a time they wavered between the different forms of the Christian religion which were offered to them; but at length they decided for the Greek Church. Many people were baptized after prince Basil. St. Vladimir, sole ruler of Kiev, Russia, is baptized in 988.

             The coronation of Otto I by Pope John XII marks a revival of the concept of Christian emperor in the west and makes a clear statement of western and papal independence from the other Christian emperor in Constantinople. It is also the beginning of an unbroken line of Holy Roman emperors lasting for more than eight centuries. Otto II and III regard the imperial crown as a mandate to control the papacy. They dismiss popes at their will and install replacements more to their liking.

            Papal Problems: The papacy reaches a low point in morality, simony and a corrupt clergy threatened to destroy faith in the Church. Ecclesiastical leaders were increasingly becoming embroiled in the political struggles of the European continent. Popes were set up and put down continually, and some of them were put to death by their enemies. The body of one pope named Formosus, after it had been some years in the grave, the corpse was taken up by order of one of his successors (Stephen VI), was dressed out in the full robes of office, and placed in the papal chair; and then the dead pope was tried and condemned for some offence against the laws of the Church. It was declared that the clergy whom he had ordained were not to be reckoned as clergy; his corpse was stripped of the papal robes; the fingers which he had been accustomed to raise in blessing were cut off; and the body, after having been dragged about the city, was thrown into the Tiber (AD 896).

            Otto the Great, who has been mentioned as emperor, turned out a young pope, John XII, who was charged with all sorts of bad conduct (AD 963); and that emperor's grandson, Otho III, put in two popes, one after another (AD 996, 999). The second of these popes was a very learned and clever Frenchman, named Gerbert, who as pope took the name of Sylvester II. He had studied under the Arabs in Spain (for in some kinds of learning the Arabs were then far beyond the Christians); and it was he who first taught Christians to use the Arabic figures (such as 1, 2, and 3) instead of the Roman letters or figures (such as I, II, and III). He also made a famous clock; and on account of his skill in such things people supposed him to be a sorcerer, and told strange stories about him.

            Saints begin to be officially canonized by the Roman church in 993. As the year 1000 approaches, many fear the end of the world and the Last Judgment.

Saints:

            Saint Berno of Cluny: The father of Berno is said to have been the French nobleman Odon, who provided a refuge for the Benedictine community of Glanfeuil after the monks had been driven from their monastery by the Normans. Berno, a teenager at the time, assisted his father in welcoming the exiled monks. Following his father’s death, Berno gave away his inheritance and entered a Benedictine monastery. Having been devout from his childhood, he manifested in the monastery an exceptional spirit of obedience and fidelity to the rule. He was appointed abbot of the monastery of Baume, which he restored both spiritually and materially. In 910 he was sent to found and govern what would become one of Europe’s most important monasteries, the abbey of Cluny. He implemented for the new abbey a stricter, modified form of the Benedictine rule. Under Berno’s successors, Cluny became one of the most influential institutions in medieval Europe. As a center of piety and learning it gave four popes to the Church, and governed over eight hundred other monasteries by the fifteenth century.

            Saint Wenceslaus, King: If saints have been falsely characterized as "otherworldly," the life of Wenceslaus stands as an example to the contrary: He stood for Christian values in the midst of the political intrigues which characterized 10th-century Bohemia. He was born in 907 near Prague, son of the Duke of Bohemia. His saintly grandmother, Ludmilla, raised him and sought to promote him as ruler of Bohemia in place of his mother, who favored the anti-Christian factions. Ludmilla was eventually murdered, but rival Christian forces were victorious, and Wenceslaus was able to assume leadership of the government. His rule was marked by efforts toward unification within Bohemia, support of the Church and peace-making negotiations with Germany, a policy which caused him trouble with the anti-Christian opposition. His brother Boleslav joined in the plotting, and in September of 929 invited Wenceslaus to Alt Bunglou for the celebration of the feast of Sts. Cosmas and Damian. On the way to Mass, Boleslav attacked his brother, and in the struggle, Wenceslaus was killed by supporters of Boleslav.

            Saint Vladimir I of Kiev (956-1015): Grandson of St. Olga and illegitimate son of Sviastoslav, grand duke of Kiev, and his mistress, Malushka, he was given Novgorod to rule by his father. Civil war broke out between his half-brothers Yaropolk and Oleg; Yaropolk made himself ruler by defeating and killing Oleg, and when he captured Novgorod, Vladimir was forced to flee to Scandinavia in 977. Vladimir returned with an army and captured Novgorod and defeated and slew Yaropolk at Rodno in 980; Vladimir was now sole ruler of Russia, notorious for his barbarism and immorality. After his conquest of Kherson in the Crimea in 988, he became impressed by the progress of Christianity and approached Eastern Emperor Basil II about marrying the emperor's daughter Ann. He was converted, reformed his life and married Anne. On his return to Kiev, he invited Greek missionaries to Russia, let his people to Christianity, borrowed canonical feacures from the West and built schools and churches. His later years were troubled by rebellions led by the sons of his first marriages, although two sons by Anne, SS Romanus and David became martyrs. In 1014 he was obliged to march against his rebellious son Yaroslav in Novgorod, fell ill on the way and died at Beresyx, Russia. He is patron of the Russian Catholics.

Heresies: There are no new important heresies in the tenth century.