These first reformers were called _Cluniac_ monks, from the
great Abbey of Clugni, in Burgundy, in which the new order of things
had begun. The first English house of reformed or Cluniac monks was
founded at Lewes, in Sussex, eleven years after the Conquest, by
Gundrada, a step-daughter of William the Conqueror, and her husband,
William, Earl of Warrene and Surrey. The Cluniacs were at first
famous for the simplicity of their lives and the strictness of their
discipline, but as time went on they became too rich and so too
luxurious, and at last they too needed reforming, and a new reformer
arose. In this case the real moving spirit of reformation was an
Englishman, one Stephen Harding, probably a Dorsetshire man, who was
brought up at the Benedictine monastery of Sherborne, and in the
course of events chosen Abbot of the monastery of Citeaux, where St.
Bernard became his ardent disciple, and where the two enthusiasts,
working cordially together, brought about that second reform of the
Benedictines which resulted in the founding of the great Cistercian
order.
Thus, without looking too minutely into the matter, we find that when
the thirteenth century opens, or if you will, when Henry III. came to
the throne in 1216, there were three great orders of monks in
England--the old Benedictines, who had held houses and lands for
centuries; the Cluniacs, who were the reformed Benedictines; and the
Cistercians, who may be styled the reformed Cluniacs.
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