Hugh+the+Great

= = =Hugh the Great.=


 * ~ ===**Hugh de Semur**=== ||~  ||
 * **Born** || 1024 ||
 * **Abbot of Cluny** || 1049 ||
 * **Died** || 1109 ||
 * **Cannonised** - Saint Hugh (The Great) || 1120 ||

Described as the spiritual arbiter of Christendom, Hugh the Great was one of the most powerful and influential figures of the eleventh century. Through his balance of piety and integrity he was valued as a great mediator by popes, emperors and kings across western Europe. His outstanding talent for detachment and impartiality resulted in Hugh being an important participant in church reform in the eleventh and into the twelfth centuries. In particular, his skills as negotiator resulted in Hugh being involved in the [|Investiture Controversy,] a significant conflict between church and state which had a permanent effect on the secular world.


 * Lineage**

Born Hugh de Semur, his family connections were very powerful; on his father's side he was related to the Dukes of Aquitaine and the Counts of Poitou, while his mother's lineage was from the elite of Burgundy.


 * Abbot of Cluny**

Hugh entered the monastery of St Marcel at Chalon for his education, became a monk at [|Cluny] at fourteen and a priest at twenty. At the age of twenty-two Hugh was appointed Prior of Cluny. Noted for his piety, discipline and good administration, his term as prior was seen as a very responsible one. In 1049, Hugh was unanimously elected Abbot of Cluny at the age of twenty-four. His rule was to last for sixty years. Cluny reached its greatest heights under Hugh. In 1049 when Hugh became abbot there were approximately sixty monasteries under Cluny's control, whereas in 1109, at the time of his death there were more than one thousand [|Cluniac monasteries.] Under his abbacy, the church he had built at Cluny was to be the largest in Christendom until the Renaissance.


 * Political Alliances**[[image:hist2615/Hugh_the_Great.jpg align="right" caption="Hugh appeals to Matilda of Tuscany on King Henry IV's behalf during the Investiture Controversy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_of_Cluny"]]

King Henry III of Germany and his wife Agnes of Poitou requested Hugh to sponsor their son in the form of godfather. This appointment would have been sought for goth political and religious reasons. Cluny was evolving into the pre-eminent monastery in Western Europe at this time and Hugh, as the head of this entity, was seen to wield much power and prestige. The political significance of this alliance became important more than fifty years later during the crisis of King Henry IV's reign known as the Investiture Controversy. In this dispute between church and state for leadership over Christian society, Gregory VII excommunicated the king, cutting him off from the Church and deposing him as German king. In 1076, Hugh is sent to Canossa in an attempt to reconcile his godson[| King Henry IV] with the Church. Despite initial success, Henry is excommunicated again in 1080 after his failure to abide by his oath at [|Canossa] .



Hugh was regarded as a very powerful adjudicator and traveled widely to help settle disputes. Gregory VII appointed Hugh his legate on a number of occasions. Among his many diplomatic negotiations, Hugh is credited with securing the release of [|Alfonso VI] in 1072 and with brokering the betrothal of Alfonso to the daughter of[| Duke William of Aquitaine]. He was also employed as mediator in a dispute between [|King Phillip I of France] and [|Count Simon of Valois and Crépy].


 * Saint Hugh**

Hugh died in 1109. A decade after Hugh's death [|Pope Callistus II] began the process of canonisation. On 6 January, 1120, Hugh was declared a saint by the Roman Catholic Church - [|Saint Hugh (the Great).]