... It operated independently of political, ecclesiastical and lay authority. Cluny was based on a charter from the Duke of Aquitaine, who renounced his right to oversee the abbey's development—something unheard of at the time, and which enabled it to flourish freely and focus on what really mattered. The abbey's founding mission was spiritual renewal in the monastic tradition, but it quickly became the nexus of learning, cultural transmission and technological advancement.

The abbey was constructed on the site of the Duke of Aquitaine's hunting lodge, but it eventually became the largest, most sophisticated architectural achievement in Europe, led by a new guild of Cluniac artisans. The monks were known for their agricultural innovations—which included specialized livestock breeding, vineyard cultivation and early forms of crop rotation—and artistic contributions. The abbey was also renowned for its sacred music and scriptorium, in which scribes illuminated scripture—adorning it with elaborate borders, beautiful illustrations and design—and preserved other important texts, revitalizing ancient wisdom to share with the world.

The abbey's social innovations were also magnanimous: Cluny became a home for refugees, a hospital for the sick, a place of hospitality and care for the poor, and a supporter of the Camino de Santiago, the great pilgrimage through northern Spain on which thousands of people still embark today. At its peak in the thirteenth century, the abbey had become so transformational that over 1,300 Benedictine abbeys modeled themselves after it as part of the Cluniac reforms, which helped re-establish trust in the monastic institution and spread its spiritual power to the depths of the culture, shaping the imagination of millions.

Inspired by the trust and light that a single new institution was able to provide a troubled world, Cluny is a name that we intend to live up to, as we reimagine what such an institution might look like in the digital world: a home for people who share a desire for spiritual and cultural renewal, artistic excellence, and generative entrepreneurial endeavors, ordered toward the flourishing of the human person.

Today, many individuals and organizations seek solutions based on nihilistic, materialistic, consumeristic, and ultimately sterile foundations. The letter without the spirit killeth; so does 'innovation' without the spirit. If we are building on false premises or unimaginative cliches, success will be at best ephemeral, and at worst a prison, a skull-shaped kingdom incapable of transcending the world of bits and bytes and atoms.

To counter these anti-human ideologies and to inspire a new generation of creators who recognize the primacy of the spiritual, we are investing in the human person and bringing people together in creative ways. Cluny seeks to escape the mimetic trap of current and future political moments, short-term thinking, and small-spirited solutions. We are beginning something bigger than ourselves—a movement that will unite people who want to build the real: things with lasting and even eternal value.

The old models of economic and social life are passing away—but before us lies an opportunity to re-establish firm footing, and to build something new.

The Cluny Project is currently incubated at The Catholic University of America. We seek partnerships with people and organizations that would like to work with us to establish more Cluniac-inspired homes for people building the real, so that we can continue to build the most powerful network of fully alive people the world has ever known.