Bernard of Clairvaux,O.Cist.(Latin:Bernardus Claraevallensis;1090 – 20 August 1153), venerated asSaint Bernard,was anabbot,mystic,co-founder of theKnights Templar,[a]and a major leader in the reform of theBenedictinesthrough the nascentCistercian Order.


Bernard of Clairvaux

San BernardobyJuan Correa de Vivar,held in theMuseo del Prado,Madrid, Spain
Bornc. 1090
Fontaine-lès-Dijon,Burgundy,Kingdom of France
Died20 August 1153 (aged 62–63)
Clairvaux Abbey,Clairvaux,Champagne,Kingdom of France
Venerated in
Canonized18 January 1174,Rome,Papal States,byPope Alexander III
MajorshrineTroyes Cathedral
Feast20 August
Attributes
Patronage

He was sent to foundClairvaux Abbeyonly a few years after becoming a monk atCîteaux.In the year 1128, Bernard attended theCouncil of Troyes,at which he traced the outlines of the Rule of theKnights Templar,which soon became an ideal of Christian nobility.

On the death ofPope Honorius IIin 1130, a schism arose in the church. Bernard was a major proponent ofPope Innocent II,arguing effectively for his legitimacy over theAntipope Anacletus II.

The eloquent abbot advocated crusades in general and convinced many to participate in the unsuccessfulSecond Crusade,notably through a famous sermon atVézelay (1146).

Bernard wascanonizedjust 21 years after his death byPope Alexander III.In 1830Pope Pius VIIIdeclared him aDoctor of the Church.

Early life (1090–1113)

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Bernard's parents wereTescelin de Fontaine,lord ofFontaine-lès-Dijon,andAlèthe de Montbard,both members of the highest nobility ofBurgundy.Bernard was the third of seven children, six of whom were sons. Aged nine, he was sent to a school atChâtillon-sur-Seinerun by thesecular canonsof Saint-Vorles. Bernard had an interest in literature and rhetoric.

Bernard's mother died when he was a youth. During his education with priests, he often thought of becoming one. In 1098, a group led byRobert of Molesmehad foundedCîteaux Abbey,nearDijon,with the purpose of living according to a literal interpretation of theRule of St. Benedict.They established new administrative structures among their monsteries, effectively creating a new order, known, after the first abbey, as theOrder of Cistercians.[3]After his mother died, Bernard decided to go to Cîteaux. In 1113 he and thirty other young noblemen of Burgundy, many of whom were his relatives, sought and gained admission to the new monastery.[4]Bernard's example was so convincing that scores (among them his own father) followed him into the monastic life.[5]As a result, he is considered the patron of religious vocations.[6]

Abbot of Clairvaux

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Bernard exorcising a possession, altarpiece byJörg Breu the Elder,c. 1500
Bernard holding a demon at his feet, oil on canvas byMarcello Baschenis,c. 1885

The little community of reformedBenedictinesatCîteauxgrew rapidly. Three years after entering, Bernard was sent with a group of twelve monks to found a new house at Vallée d'Absinthe, in theDiocese of Langres.This Bernard namedClaire Vallée,orClairvaux,on 25 June 1115, and the names of Bernard and Clairvaux soon became inseparable. Bernard was madeabbotbyWilliam of Champeaux,Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne.From then on a strong friendship grew between the abbot and the bishop, who was professor of theology atNotre Dame of Parisand the founder ofSt. Victor Abbey in Paris.[7]

The beginnings ofClairvaux Abbeywere austere and Bernard even more so. He had often been ill since his noviciate, due to extreme fasting. Nonetheless, candidates for the monastic life flocked to him in great numbers. Clairvaux soon started founding new communities.[8]In 1118Trois-Fontaines Abbeywas founded in thediocese of Châlons;in 1119Fontenay Abbeyin theDiocese of Autun;and in 1121Foigny AbbeynearVervins.In Bernard's lifetime, more than sixty abbeys followed, though some were not new foundations but transferals to the Cistercians.[9]

Bernard spent extended time outside of the abbey as a preacher and a diplomat in the service of the pope. Described byJean-Baptiste Chautardas "the most contemplative and yet at the same time the most active man of his age,"[10]Bernard described the disparate parts of his personality when he called himself the "chimeraof his age. "[11]

In addition to successes, Bernard also had his trials. Once, when he was absent from Clairvaux, the prior of the rivalAbbey of Clunywent to Clairvaux and convinced Bernard's cousin,Robert of Châtillon,to become a Benedictine. This was the occasion of the longest and most emotional of Bernard's letters.[7]When his brother Gerard died, Bernard was devastated, and his deep mourning was the inspiration for one of his most moving sermons.[12]

The abbey of Cluny as it would have looked in Bernard's time

The Cluny Benedictines were unhappy to see Cîteaux gain such prominence so quickly, particularly since many Benedictines were becoming Cistercians. They criticized the Cistercian way of life. At the solicitation ofWilliam of St.-Thierry,Bernard defended the Cistercians with hisApology.Peter the Venerable,abbot of Cluny, answered Bernard and assured him of his admiration and friendship. In the meantime, Cluny launched a reform and Bernard befriendedAbbot Suger.[13]

Doctor of the Church

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Christ Embracing St. Bernard byFrancisco Ribalta

Although acknowledged as "a difficult saint,"[14]Bernard has remained influential in the centuries since his death and was named a Doctor of the Church in 1830. In 1953, on the 800th anniversary of his death,Pope Pius XIIdevoted the encyclicalDoctor Mellifluusto him. He labeled the abbot "thelast of the Fathers."[15]

In opposition to the rational approach to understanding God used by thescholastics,Bernard preached in a poetic manner, using appeals to affect and conversion to nurture a more immediate faith experience. He is considered to be a master of Christian rhetoric: "His use of language remains perhaps his most universal legacy."[16]He contributed lyrics to theCistercian Hymnal.

As amariologist,Bernard insisted on Mary's central role in Christian theology and preached effectively on Marian devotions. He developed the theology of her role asCo-Redemptrixand mediator.[17]

As a master of prayer, the abbot emphasized the value of personal, experiential friendship with Christ.[18]

Schism

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Bernhard made a self-confident impression and had an undeniable charisma in the eyes of his contemporaries; "his first and greatest miracle," wrote the historian Holdsworth, "was himself."[19]He defended the rights of the church against the encroachments of kings and princes, and recalled to their dutyHenri Sanglier,archbishop of Sens andStephen of Senlis,bishop of Paris. When Honorius II died in 1130, aschismbroke out in the Church by the election of two popes,Pope Innocent IIandAntipope Anacletus II.Innocent, having been banished from Rome by Anacletus, took refuge in France. King Louis VI convened a national council of the French bishops atÉtampesand Bernard, summoned there by the bishops, was chosen to judge between the rival popes. He decided in favour of Innocent.[20]

Bernard travelled on to Italy and reconciledPisawithGenoa,andMilanwith the pope. The same year Bernard was again at theCouncil of Reimsat the side of Innocent II. He then went toAquitainewhere he succeeded for the time in detachingWilliam X, Duke of Aquitaine,from the cause of Anacletus.

Saint Bernard and the Duke of Aquitaine,byMarten Pepijn

Germanyhad decided to support Innocent throughNorbert of Xanten,who was a friend of Bernard's. Pope Innocent, however, insisted on Bernard's company when he met withLothair II, Holy Roman Emperor.Lothair II became Innocent's strongest ally among the nobility. Although the councils of Étampes,Würzburg,Clermont,andRheimsall supported Innocent, large portions of the Christian world still supported Anacletus.

In a letter by Bernard to German Emperor Lothair regarding Antipope Anacletus, Bernard wrote, "It is a disgrace for Christ that a Jew sits on the throne of St. Peter's" and "Anacletus has not even a good reputation with his friends, while Innocent is illustrious beyond all doubt." (One of Anacletus' great-great-grandparents, Benedictus, maybe Baruch in Hebrew, was a Jew who had converted to Christianity - but Anacletus himself was not a Jew, and his family had been Christians for three generations).[21]

Bernard wrote to Gerard of Angoulême (a letter known as Letter 126), which questioned Gerard's reasons for supporting Anacletus. Bernard later commented that Gerard was his most formidable opponent during the whole schism. After persuading Gerard, Bernard traveled to visitWilliam X, Duke of Aquitaine.He was the hardest for Bernard to convince. He did not pledge allegiance to Innocent until 1135. After that, Bernard spent most of his time inItalypersuading the Italians to pledge allegiance to Innocent.

In 1132, Bernard accompanied Innocent II into Italy, and at Cluny the pope abolished the dues which Clairvaux used to pay to that abbey. This action gave rise to a quarrel between theWhite Monksand the Black Monks which lasted 20 years. In May of that year, the pope, supported by the army of Lothair III, entered Rome, but Lothair III, feeling himself too weak to resist the partisans of Anacletus, retired beyond the Alps, and Innocent sought refuge in Pisa in September 1133. Bernard had returned to France in June and was continuing the work of peacemaking which he had commenced in 1130.

Towards the end of 1134, he made a second journey into Aquitaine, where William X had relapsed into schism. Bernard invited William to the Mass which he celebrated in the Church of La Couldre. At theEucharist,he "admonished the Duke not to despise God as he did His servants".[7]William yielded and the schism ended.

Bernard went again to Italy, whereRoger II of Sicilywas endeavouring to withdraw the Pisans from their allegiance to Innocent. He recalled the city of Milan to obedience to the pope as they had followed the deposedAnselm V, Archbishop of Milan.For this, he was offered, and he refused, thesee of Milan.He then returned to Clairvaux. Believing himself at last secure in his cloister, Bernard devoted himself to the composition of the works which won for him the title of "Doctor of the Church". He wrote at this time his sermons on theSong of Songs.[b]

In 1137, he was again forced to leave the abbey by order of the pope to put an end to the quarrel between Lothair and Roger of Sicily. At the conference held at Palermo, Bernard succeeded in convincing Roger of the rights of Innocent II. He also silenced the final supporters who sustained the schism. Anacletus died of "grief and disappointment" in 1138, and with him the schism ended.[7][23]

In 1139, Bernard assisted at theSecond Council of the Lateran,in which the surviving adherents of the schism were definitively condemned. About the same time, Bernard was visited at Clairvaux byMalachy,Primate of All Ireland,and a very close friendship formed between them. Malachy wanted to become a Cistercian, but the pope would not give his permission. Malachy died at Clairvaux in 1148.[7]

Conflict with Abelard

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Towards the close of the 11th century, a spirit of independence flourished within schools ofphilosophyandtheology.The movement found an ardent and powerful advocate inPeter Abelard.Abelard's treatise on theTrinityhad been condemned as heretical in 1121, and he was compelled to throw his own book into a fire. However, Abelard continued to develop his controversial teachings. Bernard is said to have held a meeting with Abelard intending to persuade him to amend his writings, during which Abelard repented and promised to do so. But once out of Bernard's presence, he reneged.[24]

Bernard then denounced Abelard to the pope and cardinals of theCuria.Abelard sought a debate with Bernard, but Bernard initially declined, saying he did not feel matters of such importance should be settled by logical analyses. Bernard's letters toWilliam of St-Thierryalso express his apprehension about confronting the preeminent logician. Abelard continued to press for a public debate, and made his challenge widely known, making it hard for Bernard to decline. In 1141, at the urgings of Abelard, the archbishop of Sens called a council of bishops, where Abelard and Bernard were to put their respective cases so Abelard would have a chance to clear his name.[24]

Bernard lobbied the prelates on the evening before the debate, swaying many of them to his view. The next day, after Bernard made his opening statement, Abelard decided to retire without attempting to answer.[24]The council found in favour of Bernard and their judgment was confirmed by the pope. Abelard submitted without resistance, and he retired to Cluny to live under the protection ofPeter the Venerable,where he died two years later.

The challenge of heresy

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Bernard had occupied himself in sending bands of monks from his overcrowded monastery into Germany, Sweden, England, Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland, and Italy. Some of these, at the command of Innocent II, took possession ofTre Fontane Abbey,from whichEugene IIIwas chosen in 1145. Pope Innocent II died in the year 1143. His two successors,Pope Celestine IIandPope Lucius II,reigned only a short time, and then Bernard saw one of his disciples, Bernard of Pisa, and known thereafter as Eugene III, raised to theChair of Saint Peter.Bernard sent him, at the pope's own request, various instructions which comprise the often-quotedDe consideratione.Its main argument is that church reform ought to start with the pope. Temporal matters are merely accessories; Bernard insists that piety and meditation were to precede action.[25]

Having previously helped end the schism within the Church, Bernard was now called upon to combat heresy.Henry of Lausanne,a formerCluniacmonk, had adopted the teachings of thePetrobrusians,followers ofPeter of Bruysand spread them in a modified form after Peter's death. Henry of Lausanne's followers became known asHenricians.In June 1145, at the invitation of CardinalAlberic of Ostia,Bernard traveled in southern France. His preaching, aided by his ascetic looks and simple attire, helped doom the new sects. Both the Henrician and the Petrobrusian faiths began to die out by the end of that year. Soon afterwards, Henry of Lausanne was arrested, brought before thebishop of Toulouse,and probably imprisoned for life. In a letter to the people of Toulouse, undoubtedly written at the end of 1146, Bernard calls upon them to extirpate the last remnants of the heresy. He also preached againstCatharism.

Monastic and clerical preaching

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As abbot, Bernard often addressed his community, but he also spoke to other monastics and, in one particularly famous case, to students of Theology in Paris. He gave the sermonAd clericos de conversione(to clerics on conversion) in 1139 or early 1140, to a group of scholars and student clerics.[26]His many sermons on theSong of Songsbelong to the often-studied sermons he addressed to the monks at Clairvaux.[27]

Crusade preaching

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Second Crusade (1146–49)

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Saint Bernard preaching the second crusade inVézelayin 1146.

News came at this time from theHoly Landthat alarmedChristendom.Christians had been defeated at theSiege of Edessaand most of the county had fallen into the hands of theSeljuk Turks.[28]TheKingdom of Jerusalemand the otherCrusader stateswere threatened with similar disaster. Deputations of the bishops ofArmeniasolicited aid from the pope, and the King of France also sent ambassadors. In 1144 Eugene III commissioned Bernard to preach the Second Crusade and granted the sameindulgencesfor it whichPope Urban IIhad accorded to theFirst Crusade.[29]

There was at first virtually no popular enthusiasm for the crusade as there had been in 1095. Bernard found it expedient to dwell upon taking the cross as a potent means of gaining absolution for sin and attaining grace. On 31 March, with KingLouis VII of Francepresent, he preached to an enormous crowd in a field atVézelay,making "the speech of his life".[30]When he had finished, the many of his listeners enlisted; they supposedly ran out of the cloth used to make crosses for the new recruits.[29][30]

Unlike the First Crusade, the new venture attracted royalty, such as the French queenEleanor of Aquitaineand scores of high aristocrats and bishops. But an even greater show of support came from the common people. Bernard wrote Pope Eugene a few days afterwards, "Cities and castles are now empty. There is not left one man to seven women, and everywhere there are widows to still-living husbands."[31]

Bernard then passed into Germany, with reported miracles contributing to the success of his mission. KingConrad III of Germanyand his nephewFrederick Barbarossa,received the cross from the hand of Bernard.[28]Pope Eugenius came in person to France to encourage the enterprise. As in the First Crusade, the preaching led to attacks onJews;a fanatical French monk namedRadulfwas apparently inspiring massacres of Jews in the Rhineland,Cologne,Mainz,Worms,andSpeyer,with Radulf claiming Jews were not contributing financially to the rescue of the Holy Land. Thearchbishop of Cologneand thearchbishop of Mainzwere vehemently opposed to these attacks and asked Bernard to denounce them. This he did, but when the campaign continued, Bernard traveled from Flanders to Germany to deal with the problems in person. He then found Radulf in Mainz and was able to silence him, returning him to his monastery.[32]

The last years of Bernard's life were saddened by the failure of the Second Crusade he had preached, the entire responsibility for which was thrown upon him. Bernard sent an apology to the Pope and it is inserted in the second part of his"Book of Considerations".There he explains how the sins of the crusaders were the cause of their misfortune and failures.

Wendish Crusade (1147)

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Bernard did not actually preach theWendish Crusade,but he did write a letter that advocated subduing this group of Western Slavs, so that they should not be an obstacle to the Second Crusade. He was for battling them "until such a time as, by God's help, they shall either be converted or deleted".[33]A decree issued in Frankfurt stated that the letter should be proclaimed widely and read aloud, so that "the letter functioned as a sermon."[34]

Final years (1149–53)

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Bernard receiving milk from the breast of the Virgin Mary. The scene is a legend which took place atSpeyer Cathedralin 1146.

The death of his contemporaries served as a warning to Bernard of his own approaching end. The first to die was Suger in 1152, of whom Bernard wrote to Eugene III, "If there is any precious vase adorning the palace of the King of Kings it is the soul of the venerable Suger."[35]Conrad III and his son Henry died the same year. Bernard died at age sixty-three on 20 August 1153, after forty years of monastic life. He was buried at Clairvaux Abbey. After its destruction in 1792 by theFrench revolutionarygovernment his remains were transferred toTroyes Cathedral.

Legacy

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Bernard's theology and Mariology continue to be of major importance.[c]Bernard helped found 163 monasteries in different parts of Europe. Cistercians honour him as one of the greatest early Cistercians. His feast day is 20 August.

Bernard isDante Alighieri's last guide, inDivine Comedy,as he travels through theEmpyrean.[36]

John CalvinandMartin Lutherquoted Bernard several times[37]in support of the doctrine ofSola Fide.[38][39]Calvin also quotes him in setting forth his doctrine of a forensic alien righteousness, or as it is commonly calledimputed righteousness.[40] Bernard introduced a major shift, a "fundamental reorientation" into medieval theology.[41]

TheCouvent et Basilique Saint-Bernard,a collection of buildings dating from the 12th, 17th, and 19th centuries, is dedicated to Bernard and stands in his birthplace ofFontaine-lès-Dijon.[42]Countless churches and chapels have St. Bernard as their patron saint.

Works

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A 15th-centuryengravingof theLactation of Saint Bernardby theMaster I. A. M. of Zwolle.

The modern critical edition isSancti Bernardi opera(1957–1977), edited byJean Leclercq.[43][d]

Bernard's works include:

  • De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae[The steps of humility and pride] (in Latin). c. 1120.[44]
  • Apologia ad Guillelmum Sancti Theoderici Abbatem[Apology to William of St. Thierry] (in Latin).Written in the defence of the Cistercians against the claims of the monks of Cluny.[45]
  • De conversione ad clericos sermo seu liber[On the conversion of clerics] (in Latin). 1122.[46]
  • De gratia et libero arbitrio[On grace and free choice] (in Latin). c. 1128..[47]
  • De diligendo Dei[On loving God] (in Latin).[48]
  • Liber ad milites templi de laude novae militiae[In Praise of the new knighthood] (in Latin). 1129.[49][50]
  • De praecepto et dispensatione libri[Book of precepts and dispensations] (in Latin). c. 1144.[51]
  • De consideratione[On consideration] (in Latin). c. 1150.Addressed to Pope Eugene III.[52]
  • Liber De vita et rebus gestis Sancti Malachiae Hiberniae Episcopi[The life and death of Saint Malachy, bishop of Ireland] (in Latin).[53]
  • De moribus et officio episcoporum(in Latin). A letter to Henri Sanglier, Archbishop of Sens on the duties of bishops.[54]

His sermons are also numerous:

  • Most famous are hisSermones super Cantica Canticorum(Sermons on the Song of Songs). They may have found their origins in sermons preached to the monks of Clairvaux, but theories differ.[e]These sermons contain an autobiographical passage, sermon 26, mourning the death of his brother, Gerard.[55][56]After Bernard died, the English CistercianGilbert of Hoylandcontinued Bernard's incomplete series of 86 sermons on the biblical Song of Songs.
  • There are 125 survivingSermones per annum(Sermons on the Liturgical Year).
  • There are alsoSermones de diversis(Sermons on Different Topics).
  • 547 letters survive.[57]

Many letters, treatises, and other works were falsely attributed to him.[7]These include:

  • pseudo-Bernard (pseud. of Guigo I)(c. 1150).L'échelle du cloître[The scale of the cloister] (letter) (in French).[7]
  • pseudo-Bernard.Meditatio[Meditations] (in Latin).This was probably written at some point in the thirteenth century. It circulated extensively in the Middle Ages under Bernard's name and was one of the most popular religious works of the later Middle Ages. Its theme is self-knowledge as the beginning of wisdom; it begins with the phrase "Many know much, but do not know themselves".[58][59][7]
  • pseudo-Bernard.L'édification de la maison intérieure(in French).[7]

Translations

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  • On consideration,trans by George Lewis, (Oxford, 1908)https://books.google.com/books?id=kkoJAQAAIAAJ
  • Select treatises of S. Bernard of Clairvaux: De diligendo Deo & De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae,(Cambridge: CUP, 1926)
  • On loving God, and selections from sermons,edited by Hugh Martin, (London: SCM Press, 1959) [reprinted as (Westport, CO: Greenwood Press, 1981)]
  • Cistercians and Cluniacs: St. Bernard's Apologia to Abbot William,translated by Michael Casey. Cistercian Fathers series no. 1, (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1970)
  • The works of Bernard of Clairvaux. Vol.1, Treatises, 1,edited by M. Basil Pennington. Cistercian Fathers Series, no. 1. (Spencer, Mass.: Cistercian Publications, 1970) [contains the treatisesApologia to Abbot WilliamandOn Precept and Dispensation,and two shorter liturgical treatises]
  • Bernard of Clairvaux,On the Song of Songs,4 vols, Cistercian Fathers series nos 4, 7, 31, 40, (Spencer, MA: Cistercian Publications, 1971–80)
  • Letter of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux on revision of Cistercian chant = Epistola S[ancti] Bernardi de revisione cantus Cisterciensis,edited and translated by Francis J. Guentner, (American Institute of Musicology,1974)
  • Treatises II: The steps of humility and pride on loving God,Cistercian Fathers series no. 13 (Washington: Cistercian Publications, 1984)
  • Five books on consideration:advice to a Pope,translated by John D. Anderson & Elizabeth T. Kennan. Cistercian Fathers Series no. 37. (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1976)
  • The Works of Bernard of Clairvaux. Volume Seven, Treatises III: On Grace and free choice. In praise of the new knighthood,translated by Conrad Greenia. Cistercian Fathers Series no. 19, (Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian Publications Inc., 1977)
  • The life and death of Saint Malachy, the Irishmantranslated and annotated by Robert T. Meyer, (Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian Publications, 1978)
  • Bernard of Clairvaux,Homiliae in laudibus Virginis Matris,inMagnificat: homilies in praise of the Blessed Virgin Marytranslated by Marie-Bernard Saïd and Grace Perigo, Cistercian Fathers Series no. 18, (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1979)
  • Sermons on Conversion: on conversion, a sermon to clerics and Lenten sermons on the psalm "He Who Dwells",Cistercian Fathers Series no. 25, (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1981)
  • Bernard of Clairvaux,Song of Solomon,translated by Samuel J. Eales, (Minneapolis, MN: Klock & Klock, 1984)
  • St. Bernard's sermons on the Blessed Virgin Mary,translated from the original Latin by a priest of Mount Melleray, (Chumleigh: Augustine, 1984)
  • Bernard of Clairvaux,The twelve steps of humility and pride; and, On loving God,edited by Halcyon C. Backhouse, (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1985)
  • St. Bernard's sermons on the Nativity,translated from the original Latin by a priest of Mount Melleray, (Devon: Augustine, 1985)
  • Bernard of Clairvaux: selected works,translation and foreword by G.R. Evans; introduction by Jean Leclercq; preface by Ewert H. Cousins (New York: Paulist Press, 1987) [contains the treatisesOn conversion, On the steps of humility and pride, On consideration,andOn loving God;extracts fromSermons on The song of songs,and a selection of letters]
  • Conrad Rudolph,The 'Things of Greater Importance': Bernard of Clairvaux's Apologia and the Medieval Attitude Toward Art,(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990) [Includes theApologiain both Leclercq's Latin text and English translation]
  • Love without measure: extracts from the writings of St Bernard of Clairvaux,introduced and arranged by Paul Diemer, Cistercian studies series no. 127, (Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian Publications, 1990)
  • Sermons for the summer season: liturgical sermons from Rogationtide and Pentecost,translated by Beverly Mayne Kienzle; additional translations by James Jarzembowski, (Kalamazoo, Mich: Cistercian Publications, 1991)
  • Bernard of Clairvaux,On loving God,Cistercian Fathers series no. 13B, (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1995)
  • Bernard of Clairvaux,The parables & the sentences,edited by Maureen M. O'Brien. Cistercian Fathers Series no. 55, (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 2000)
  • Bernard of Clairvaux,On baptism and the office of bishops, on the conduct and office of bishops, on baptism and other questions: two letter-treatises,translated byPauline Matarasso.Cistercian Fathers Series no. 67, (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 2004)
  • Bernard of Clairvaux,Sermons for Advent and the Christmas seasontranslated by Irene Edmonds, Wendy Mary Beckett, Conrad Greenia; edited by John Leinenweber; introduction by Wim Verbaal. Cistercian Fathers Series no. 51, (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 2007)
  • Bernard of Clairvaux,Sermons for Lent and the Easter Season,edited by John Leinenweber and Mark Scott, OCSO. Cistercian Fathers Series no. 52, (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 2013)

References

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Notes

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  1. ^André de Montbard,one of the founders of the Knights Templar, was a half-brother of Bernard's mother.
  2. ^Other mystics such asJohn of the Crossalso found their language and symbols in Song of Songs.[22]
  3. ^His texts are prescribed reading in Cistercian congregations.
  4. ^For a research guide seeMcGuire (2013).
  5. ^For a history of the debate over theSermons,and an attempted solution, seeLeclercq, Jean. Introduction. InWalsh (1976),pp. vii–xxx.

Citations

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  1. ^Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018.Church Publishing, Inc. 17 December 2019.ISBN978-1-64065-235-4.
  2. ^"Notable Lutheran Saints".resurrectionpeople.org.Archived fromthe originalon 16 May 2019.Retrieved21 August2020.
  3. ^Schachenmayr, Alkuin (2020)."Conference Notes on Stephen Harding as the Sole Author of the Carta Caritatis: Did the Carta found the Order?".Cistercian Studies Quarterly.55(4): 417–424.
  4. ^McManners 1990,p. 204.
  5. ^Olson (2013).Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint. Defender of Christianity Against Rationalism.Taylor & Francis.
  6. ^Mixa, Robert (20 August 2017)."St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Promoter of the Religious Life Par Excellence".Vocation Blog.Retrieved14 October2024.
  7. ^abcdefghiGildas 1907.
  8. ^"Expositio in Apocalypsim".Cambridge Digital Library(manuscript). MS Mm.5.31.Retrieved26 January2016.
  9. ^Berman, Constance Hoffman (2010).The Cistercian Evolution: The Invention of a Religious Order in Twelfth-Century Europe.University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 147.ISBN978-0-8122-0079-9.
  10. ^Chautard, Jean-Baptiste (1946).The Soul of the Apostolate.Trappist, Ky. p. 59.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. ^Sullivan, Karen (15 March 2011),Chapter One. Bernard of Clairvaux: The Chimera of His Age,University of Chicago Press, pp. 30–52,doi:10.7208/9780226781662-003/html?lang=en(inactive 4 November 2024),ISBN978-0-226-78166-2,retrieved14 October2024{{citation}}:CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  12. ^Voigts, Michael (Fall 2023). ""Exeat Sane ad Oculos Filiorum: The Holiness of Grief and Vulnerability in Sermon 26 of the Sermones super Cantica Canticorum of Bernard of Clairvaux,"".Wesleyan Theological Journal.60:75-91.
  13. ^Van Engen, John (1986)."The" Crisis of Cenobitism "Reconsidered: Benedictine Monasticism in the Years 1050-1150".Speculum.61(2): 269–304.doi:10.2307/2854041.ISSN0038-7134.JSTOR2854041.
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  17. ^Maunder, Chris (7 August 2019).The Oxford Handbook of Mary.Oxford University Press. p. 306.ISBN978-0-19-879255-0.
  18. ^Bynum, Caroline Walker (1977)."Jesus as Mother and Abbot as Mother: Some Themes in Twelfth-Century Cistercian Writing".The Harvard Theological Review.70(3/4): 257–284.ISSN0017-8160.JSTOR1509631.
  19. ^Holdsworth, Christopher (22 November 2012), Birkedal Bruun, Mette (ed.),"Bernard of Clairvaux: his first and greatest miracle was himself",The Cambridge Companion to the Cistercian Order(1 ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 173–185,doi:10.1017/cco9780511735899.017,ISBN978-1-107-00131-2,retrieved30 October2024
  20. ^White, Hayden V. (1960)."The Gregorian Ideal and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux".Journal of the History of Ideas.21(3): 321–348.doi:10.2307/2708141.JSTOR2708141.
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  24. ^abcEvans 2000,pp. 115–123.
  25. ^McManners 1990,p. 210.
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  27. ^Krahmer, Shawn M. (2000)."The Virile Bride of Bernard of Clairvaux".Church History.69(2): 304–327.doi:10.2307/3169582.ISSN0009-6407.JSTOR3169582.
  28. ^abRiley-Smith 1991,p. 48.
  29. ^abDurant 1950,p. 594.
  30. ^abNorwich 2012.
  31. ^Durant, Will; Durant, Ariel (1935).The age of Faith; a history of medieval civilization (Christian, Islamic, and Judaic) from Constantine to Dante, A.D. 325-1300.The Story of Civilization. Simon and Schuster. p. 594.
  32. ^Durant 1950,p. 391.
  33. ^Christiansen, Eric (1997).The northern Crusades(2nd, new ed.). London, England: Penguin. p. 53.ISBN0-14-026653-4.OCLC38197435.
  34. ^Beverly Kienzle (2001): Bernard of Clairvaux, the 1143/44 Sermons and the 1145 Preaching Mission: From the Domestic to the Lord’s Vineyard. In:Cistercians, Heresy and Crusade in Occitania, 1145–1229: Preaching in the Lord’s Vineyard.Boydell & Brewer, pp. 81-82.
  35. ^Ratisbonne, Theodore (2023).The Life and Times of St. Bernard(published 1859). p. 465.
  36. ^Paradiso,cantos XXXI–XXXIII
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  38. ^Calvin 1960,bk.3 ch.2 §25, bk.3 ch.12 §3.
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  41. ^Sommerfeldt, John R. (2000)."Review ofBernard of Clairvauxby G. R. Evans ".The Catholic Historical Review.86(4): 661–663.ISSN0008-8080.JSTOR25025831.
  42. ^Base Mérimée:Couvent et Basilique Saint-Bernard,Ministère français de la Culture.(in French)
  43. ^SBOp.
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  45. ^PL,182, cols. 893–918a.
  46. ^PL,182, cols. 833–856d.
  47. ^PL,182, cols. 999–1030a.
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  54. ^Ep. 42 (PL,182, cols. 807–834a).
  55. ^Verbaal 2004.
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