severity. He was known for showing mercy indiscriminately even to those who people said did not deserve it. He would say in response, ‘I would rather be mercifully judged for having shown mercy, than be cruelly damned for having shown cruelty." Of small stature and insignificant appearance, Odilo was a man of immense force of character. He was a man of prayer and penance, with a great devotion to the Incarnation and to the Blessed Mother. Odilo encouraged the formal practice of personal consecration to Mary. He also encouraged learning in his monasteries, and had the monk Radolphus Glaber write a history of the time. He erected a magnificent monastery building, and furthered the reform of the Benedictine monasteries. It was during his abbacy that Cluny became the most important monastery in western Europe. During a great famine in 1006, his liberality to the poor was by many censured as profuse; for he melted down the sacred vessels and ornaments to raise funds. Pope John XIX offered Odilo the archbishopric of Lyons, but Odilo refused and the pope then chided Odilo for disobedience. John XIX died shortly after and his successor (Benedict IX) did not press the matter any further. He is also said to have influenced the course of the famous pilgrimage route to Santiago, which runs near the monasteries. Monastic autonomy During this period it was very common for secular lords and local rulers to try to either take control of monasteries or to seize their property. Not only this, but local bishops often also tried to impose their own authority on monasteries or to seize monastery property. It was precisely for this reason that from the earliest days of Cluny's history, Cluny did not affiliate itself with the authority of any diocese except Rome and received its charter directly from the Pope. Several Popes decreed an automatic excommunication to any bishop or secular ruler who tried to interfere or seize Cluniac property (including both the monastery and all the monasteries and properties that were owned by Cluny). However, many times the monks needed this order of excommunication renewed and repeated by the Popes because each new generation would bring a new round of figures who would go after Cluniac property. All of the abbots of Cluny in this period had to deal with this problem, and Odilo was no exception. He attended the Synod of Ansa in