The Medieval Church · c. 1000
The Life of Empress Adelaide
Epitaphium Adelheidae
Odilo of Cluny · c. 962 – 1049
What it is
The abbot of Cluny on an empress he had known: imprisoned by one king, married to another, twice regent, a founder of monasteries, and in old age travelling between courts trying to keep her son and grandson from war.
Why it lasted
Written by the head of the most powerful monastic network in Europe about its most important patron, and frank about the politics. It shows how Cluny's independence was bought — by women with land and a reason to give it away.
Scripture it works from
Where to read it
This work is in the public domain and can be read in full, free, at the archives below.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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