Odo

879-942. Abbot of Cluny. Son of Lord Abbo I of Déols, he was educated at the court of William, duke of Aquitaine, and later in Paris under Remigius of Auxerre.* When nineteen years old he became canon of St.-Martin of Tours. Three years later he joined the Cluniac* community at Baume, where Abbot Berno placed him in charge of the monastery school. Odo succeeded Berno in 924, and became abbot of Cluny in 927. Under his leadership Cluny received a papal privilege from John XI which facilitated the spread of Cluniac reforms in numerous French and Italian houses. Several times he acted as Vatican negotiator in Italian political disputes. His alleged works include Occupatio, an extended poetic meditation on redemptive history; Collationes, three collections of moral essays; Vita S. Geraldi Auriliacensis comitas and Vita Gregorii Turonensis episcopi, two biographies; Moralia in Job; a number of musical pieces dedicated to St. Martin; and several sermons.