Remember:  you will be called upon to answer at least one of the questions as part of the debate; you may (should) also take part in other parts if you have things to say that differ from what your teammates have said.

Debate:

Team 1:  argue for the Proposition

Team 2:  argue against the Proposition

Assigned questions - Team 1:

1.  Background - Remind us of the Rule of Benedict, where and when it was written, and what Charlemagne's role in its transmission was.

2.  Background - What were the circumstances of the founding of Cluny?  Give dates, names, reasons.

3.  Background - How did Clunaic monasticism spread?  Why?

4.  Presentation of the proposition:  what is the topic?  what is the basis of your argument?

5.  Arguments - present one argument that favors your side, and illustrate it from a primary source if possible

6.  Arguments - present one argument that favors your side, and illustrate it from a primary source if possible

7.  Arguments - present one argument that favors your side, and illustrate it from a primary source if possible

8.  Do the summary, summarizing your team's arguments and state why they are preferable (you can't do this ahead of time).

Assigned questions - Team 2:

1.  Background - Who was Notker?  What sort of things does he say about clergy and Charlemagne?

2.  Background - What is a "lay abbot"?  What does (or could) he do?

3.  Background - What were the popes doing in the late ninth and early tenth centuries?

4.  Presentation of the proposition:  what is the topic?  what is the basis of your argument?

5.  Arguments - present one argument that favors your side, and illustrate it from a primary source if possible

6.  Arguments - present one argument that favors your side, and illustrate it from a primary source if possible

7.  Arguments - present one argument that favors your side, and illustrate it from a primary source if possible

8.  Do the summary, summarizing your team's arguments and state why they are preferable (you can't do this ahead of time).

Primary source evidence

Charlemagne's General Capitulary to the Missi contained a section on monks, which can be found here.

In 883/884, a monk in the monastery of St. Gall called Notker wrote a biography of Charlemagne, which was dedicated to the emperor Charles the Fat; it presents an interesting take on Charlemagne 70 years after his death, and an interesting take on the role of kings in the church.  Read selections here.

The foundation charter of the monastery of Cluny can be found online; note that you will have to use the username "student" and the password "medieval".

Other useful information

Some background material on Cluny, from Rosamond McKitterick's book The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians, has been scanned in and placed on Canvas under Files as McKitterick on Cluny

A summary of church affairs in 10th c. Europe can be found here.

An excellent survey of ownership of churches can be found in Susan Wood, The Proprietary Church in the Medieval West (Oxford, 2006); all of it is useful, but see esp. chapter 11, "Nobles other than founders' heirs." You can access this book online through IUCAT.