At the time of the Norman Conquest nearly all monasteries and nunneries in England belonged to the order of the 6th-century AD monk St Benedict. By the 13th century, the number of religious houses in England had grown from about 50 to 700 and many more monastic orders had appeared. Some of them were in favour of reform, like the Franciscan friars, who believed in preaching to the poor and leading a simple life.
The Benedictine Abbey of Cluny in Burgundy, founded in the 10th century, was a centre of reform. Its prestige as a spiritual centre spread in Europe and many Cluniac foundations or ‘priories’ were set up. In 1070, William I appointed Lanfranc, abbot of Caen in Normandy, as Archbishop of Canterbury. He was responsible for introducing practices based on the reforms produced by Cluny and already adopted in Normandy.
The first Cluniac priory in England was established in 1077 by one of William I’s followers, William de Warenne, near his castle at Lewes in Sussex. About 30 more were founded in England during the late 11th and 12th centuries. There were some problems during the English wars with France, because the priories were under the authority of Cluny, but most were able to buy the protection of English identity as ‘denizens’.
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