Michael A Ponzio

Warriors and Monks

Pons, Abbot of Cluny

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Pons, born to a noble family in the south of France in 1075, is given to the Church at the age of four. He becomes a Benedictine monk and thrives in the monastery as a devotee of the Order's rules, working, praying, and studying. Reaching adulthood, he falls in love with Primavera, a woman in the nearby village, but the Church's renewed enforcement of celibacy endangers their relationship. It is a lawless time when people of the land are threatened with violence as they cultivate their fields or travel on pilgrimage. The monks are compelled to become warriors, defending themselves with farm tools and walking staves. Pons is elected as Abbot of Cluny Monastery. He is torn amidst his sense of duty as the powerful leader of Cluny, rivaling the Pope, his love for Primavera, and the calling to join the crusade to save Jerusalem. Pons of Melgueil was the abbot of the powerful and influential Benedictine monastery at Cluny, France, from 1109 to 1124. At the time, Cluny administered hundreds of satellite monasteries in Europe and had influence over a greater number of clergy than the Pope himself. As abbot, Pons made commendable progress in the construction of the Cluny basilica, which became the world's largest church. He inherited financial difficulties, but he campaigned and successfully procured valuable donations of property for the Benedictine Order and obtained sacred relics to increase the number of pilgrims visiting Cluny. Historical sources also reveal he was an excellent negotiator and his participation in major councils was beneficial to the Church1. In contrast, other sources called him secular-minded, contentious, and short tempered2. Controversy began when Pons tried to return the lifestyle of the Cluniac monks to the austere ways advocated by Saint Benedict, the founder of their monastic order3. The monks of Cluny had become lax and contested a return to a strong work ethic. In retaliation they alleged that Pons was wasting the monastery's resources. This was, in fact, the opposite of his initiatives. The local bishops and nobles were jealous of Cluny's privileges and wealth4 and joined the conflict. Did Pons maintain the leadership of Christendom in western Europe achieved by previous abbots of Cluny, or did he drag the monastery further into decline? Read Warriors and Monks: Pons, Abbot of Cluny and make your own judgment.

Produktdetails

• Warriors and Monks Nr.3
• Verlag: TRINACRIA
• Seitenzahl: 308
• Erscheinungstermin: 9. November 2020
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 216mm x 140mm x 17mm
• Gewicht: 390g
• ISBN-13: 9781734972306
• ISBN-10: 1734972300
• Artikelnr.: 60748004

Autorenporträt

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Have you ever wanted to live in another time and place in history? Have you imagined what it would be like to take the place of an ancestor? Michael A. Ponzio's lifelong experience reading books on history combined with his love for family and travel has inspired him to bring these visions alive, by writing a series of "Ancestry Novels." Since childhood, Mike Ponzio has read books about ancient history. He traded books and stories with his father, Joseph E. Ponzio, and they discussed the origins of the family surname. Mike traveled around the Mediterranean to Europe, Asia, and Africa, visiting many of the locations he would later write about. He continues to travel and write Ancestry Novels which he imagines may have taken place during the lives of ancient ancestors. Mike met his wife, Anne Davis, in 1975 at a University of Florida karate class. Since that time both have taught Cuong Nhu Martial Arts. With John Burns, they wrote and published six instructional books on martial arts weapons. Mike retired in 2015, after working as an environmental engineer for thirty-seven years. Anne and Mike have raised four sons. They are all engineer graduates, following in the footsteps of their Davis and Ponzio grandfathers.