The ecclesiatical reform of the 11th century

The ecclesiastical reform of the 11th century – known since the time of Augustin Fliche * as the Gregorian Reform – corresponds to a vast movement of moral and religious renewal of the structures of Western Christianity. As early as during the pontificate of Leo IX (1048-1054) a clear need had already emerged to re-establish the moral uprightness of the Church and, more generally, to restore the rules of religious life and the hierarchical order of the clergy. The monastic institutions were directly involved in this process of reform and virtually became its ideological centre. The new orders created during the 11th century drew their inspiration from the monastic traditions considered to be the oldest and the purest.

Among the reformers, Pierre Damien (1007-1072) played a fundamental part. He is also known as the theoretician of the eremitic life as a model for the return of the clergy to a spiritual life.

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* FLICHE A., La Réforme grégorienne, Louvain – Paris, Champion, 1924-1937 (Spicilegium sacrum Lovaniense).