Synods of Aachen (816–819)

The Synods of Aachen between 816 and 819 were a landmark in regulations for the monastic life in the Frankish realm. The Benedictine Rule was declared the universally valid norm for communities of monks and nuns, while canonical orders were distinguished from monastic communities and unique regulations were laid down for them: the Institutio canonicorum Aquisgranensis. The synods of 817 and 818/819 completed the reforms. Among other things, the relationship of church properties to the king was clarified.

The monastic life played an important role in spiritual and intellectual life in the Frankish realm. The orders had important tasks in church life. But they were also significant for the economic and intellectual integration of new territories, such as Saxony into the empire; several cloisters were closely connected with the ruling house.

However, the orders were not uniformly organised. In the previous centuries, mixed rules (regula mixta) dominated. Such a mixed rule was even imported to Monte Cassino after its refoundation in the eighth century. In the Frankish realm the Benedictine Rule was frequently mixed with the Columbine Rule. Furthermore, orders of canons and canonesses had developed alongside the orders of monks and nuns. There were also mixtures between these two basic types of holy order.

Charlemagne began to regulate the monastic life in 789, with the Admonitio generalis. Among other things, it declared that obedience to the Benedictine Rule should be central for the orders. The decisions of a synod in Aachen in 802 built on that. Visitations to the orders followed. A court day (Hoftag) held in the second half of the year ruled, that in future the Benedictine Rule should be the sole binding rule for monastic orders. Nevertheless, there continued to be a number of orders following other regulations.

Louis the Pious appointed Benedict of Aniane to enforce the Benedictine Rule throughout the empire, shortly after his accession. The Emperor summoned an imperial synod at Aachen in August 816. The main issues of this synod were the reform of the monastic life and the regulation of the canonical life. The synods were preceded by very intensive preparations, including a list of the issues to be addressed which Benedict of Aniane had collated.

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