William I of Aquitaine
Duke of Aquitaine who gave his estate of Cluny for a monastery and renounced all rights over it for himself and his family. A later copy of the charter calls him William the Pious.
In the foundation charter William calls himself “count and duke by the grace of God” and makes the gift with his wife Ingelberga, for the soul of his lord King Odo, for his parents and kin, and for Ava, from whom he had the estate. He says that he cannot himself renounce the world but can support those who do (Foundation Charter of Cluny).
The heading written in red over a fourteenth-century copy of the charter calls him William the Pious, duke of the Aquitanians and principal founder of the monastery, and records that he was buried at Saint-Julien of Brioude (Foundation Charter of Cluny heading of a fourteenth-century copy (Bruel, p. 124, note)). See the Founding of Cluny.
In the timeline
- 11 September AD 910, estimated dateThe Founding of Cluny
Duke William of Aquitaine gives his estate at Cluny for a monastery under the Rule of Benedict and renounces every right over it, placing it under the apostles Peter and Paul and the protection of the pope.