Cluny’s dignitaries during its golden era tended to be at ease in high company, and Odo was no different. Like Abbot Hugh, he ingratiated himself with leaders across Europe, and became particularly close to the great reforming pope Gregory VII. Around 1080 Gregory plucked Odo out of Cluny to appoint him cardinal bishop of Ostia. This was his springboard to the papacy itself.
