Bernard, St, of Clairvaux, one of the most influential theologians of the middle ages, was born of a noble family at Fontaines, near Dijon, in Burgundy, in 1091; entered the Cistercian monastery of Cîteaux at twenty-two; and became two years later the first abbot of the newly-founded monastery of Clairvaux, in Champagne. He died at Clairvaux, August 20, 1153; and was canonised by Pope Alexander III. in 1174. His ascetic life, solitary studies, and stirring eloquence made him during his lifetime the oracle of Christendom. He founded more than seventy monasteries, and his persuasive earnestness was such that he drew also into the monastic life both his two elder and his two younger brothers, while we are told that mothers hid their sons, wives their husbands, companions their friends, that they might escape the resistless spell of his spiritual enthusiasm. He was honoured with the title of the 'mellifluous doctor,' and he is regarded by the Catholic church as the last of the fathers. Bernard drew up the statutes of the Knights Templars at the request of their grandmaster in 1128. The reverence in which he was held gave him great influence in the political movements of his time. It was due to his persuasion that Innocent II. was recognised at the Synod of Étampes (1131) by Louis VI. of France, soon after by Henry I. of England and the Emperor Lothar of Germany, as pope in opposition to the antipope Anacletus. His influence in Christendom rose to its height under the reign of Pope Eugenius III., his disciple. It was his glowing eloquence at the council at Vézelay in 1146 that kindled the enthusiasm of France for the second crusade. Charged by the pope to excite the religious zeal of the people of France and Germany, Bernard accomplished his mission with fatally memorable success. Fields, towns, cities, and castles were in many places almost depopulated, and thousands of men, fired by his prophetic eloquence, hurried to the East, but few of whom were ever to see their homes again.
The influence of St Bernard as a spiritual teacher through his fervid piety and living grasp of Christian doctrine was a wholesome antidote to the dry and cold scholasticism which prevailed among the churchmen of his age. 'If there ever lived on the earth a God-fearing and holy monk,' says Luther, 'it was St Bernard of Clairvaux.' Yet his Christianity lacked the perfect flower of gentleness, and his harsh severity towards the unhappy Abelard and Bishop Gilbert of Poitiers is a distinct blot on his character. His writings are exceedingly numerous. They consist of more than 400 epistles, 340 sermons, and 12 distinct theological treatises. They are all instinct with genius, though it is difficult for us now to appreciate their extraordinary influence. The best edition of the works of St Bernard is that of Mabillon, first printed at Paris in 6 vols. (1667-90). They appear as 4 vols. of Migne's Patrologia Latina (1851-52). He was one of the greatest of the Latin hymn-writers, many modern hymns being based on his Jesus Dulcis Memoria. The monks of the reformed branch of the Cistercians, which he instituted, are often called, after him, Bernardines. He gave name also in France to the nuns of the Cistercian order, which his sister, St Humbeline, is said to have founded. See Morison, Life and Times of St Bernard (3d ed. 1877) and lives by Ratisbonne (9th ed. Paris, 1883); J. Mabillon (1889; Eng. trans. by Eales), and R. S. Storrs (1893).