The Cluniac order, born in Cluny at the beginning of the 10th century, reached its European peak between the 10th and 13th centuries. In the 12th century, this association of monasteries placed under the superior authority of the Abbot of Cluny oversaw more than a thousand priories spread across Western Europe. Five of them - Notre-Dame Priory of La Charité-sur-Loire, Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul Priory of Souvigny, the Priory of Sauxillanges, Saint-Martin-des-Champs Priory in Paris, and St. Pancras Priory of Lewes in England - were considered the five daughters of Cluny. Their priors were an exception to the rule and were abbots without having the name. Directly subject to the Holy See, Cluny Abbey gave the Church several popes and papal legates and gathered up to 12,000 Cluniac monks.