William of Hirsau - Hirsau Reforms

Hirsau Reforms

Against this background William introduced to Hirsau, from no later than 1079, a number of reforms originating in Cluny, on which he based the Constitutiones Hirsaugienses ("Customs of Hirsau"), which later became very widespread as a result of the Hirsau Reforms (see below). These reforms particularly focussed on discipline and obedience, tough punishments for infringements of the rules and continuous supervision of the monks.

Parallel with these developments he found it necessary, in order to bring under some sort of control the great numbers of laymen flocking to Hirsau, to create the institution of the conversi in the German Benedictine monasteries. Before this there were certainly men-servants in the monasteries, but they lived outside the monastery, wore no specifically religious clothing and took no vows.

Despite - or rather, precisely because of - the unusually strict monastic discipline and ascetic piety which William introduced from Cluny, Hirsau had become very attractive: the number of choir monks increased from 15 to 150. Due to this increase in its popularity, the existing monastery (dedicated to Saint Aurelius) proved too small, and the community therefore re-settled to the other side of the River Nagold. There, sometime after 1083, was built the largest monastery complex in Germany of the time, with its great Romanesque church dedicated to Saint Peter.

William's efforts were not limited to Hirsau. Many monasteries, perhaps as many as 200, both newly founded and long established, embraced the Hirsau Reforms. New abbeys, settled by monks from Hirsau, included Zwiefalten, Blaubeuren, St. Peter im Schwarzwald and St. Georgen im Schwarzwald in Swabia, and Reinhardsbrunn in Thuringia. Already existing monasteries which accepted the reforms included Petershausen near Konstanz, Schaffhausen, Comburg, and St. Peter's in Erfurt. Finally, there were the priories such as Reichenbach in Baden-Württemberg, Schönrain in Franconia and Fischbachau in Bavaria.

He also had a standard edition of the Vulgate made for all the monasteries of the reform.