When he visited a monastery to reform it, he usually left behind one of his trusted, experienced fellow monks to ensure that his standards were maintained.21 In many cases these men would serve not as abbots, but as priors, answerable directly to Odo himself at Cluny. This practice soon became a system, and with every reformation he undertook, the abbot of Cluny expanded his authority. He was becoming more than just the head of a single house and an itinerant troubleshooter for others: he was actively folding newly reformed houses into the spiritual community of Cluny itself. By the time he
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