Almighty and Poor - The Monks of Cluny

More than 1,000 years ago, the monks of Cluny in France strove to revive the ideal of monastic life in seclusion and piety. But what was intended as an inner renewal out of the spirit of faith soon took an all-too-human course.

In the pious Middle Ages, people's focus was on life after death. The fear of the fires of hell is great. And here the Cluniac monks offer a good deal: they pray for the souls of the faithful and thus save them from eternal torments of hell in exchange for rich donations. Money for the salvation of souls - this economic model makes Cluny Abbey incredibly rich. But this is only one side of the story: their nevertheless spiritual attitude makes the Cluniac monks famous throughout the Occident. The first abbots of Cluny carry weight in the great conflicts of the time between spiritual and secular power. But soon a new order appears and a slow decline sets in.