medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (20. August) is the feast day of:
Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153). A well-educated scion of a knightly
family in Burgundy, B. entered religion at Citeaux at the age of
twenty-two, bringing with him as fellow postulants close to thirty
relatives and friends. A few years later he was the founding abbot of
Clairvaux. A voluminous and talented writer -- his sermons on the Song
of Songs are medieval classics -- and an ardent reformer, the personally
ascetic B. played a leading role both in the rapid growth of his
Cistercian Order and in ecclesiastical matters more generally (e.g. the
condemnation of Abelard in 1141). His support of Innocent II against
Anacletus II brought him to Italy several times and, as papal legate, to
Germany. It was probably at the council of Pisa (1134) that he met a
local canon, also named Bernard, who later followed him to Clairvaux and
who in 1145 would become the first Cistercian pope, taking the name
Eugenius III. B. vigorously endorsed E.'s call for what is now known as
the Second Crusade and his eloquence in that cause at the diet of Speyer
in 1146 helped to secure the participation of the emperor Conrad III.
His writing seems to have stopped in about 1148 with his _De
consideratione_, addressed to Eugenius (whom he outlived by less than
two months) and showing his characteristic combination of mystic
spirituality and concern for the affairs of the church in the world.
B. was canonized in 1174. In 1830 he was declared a Doctor of the
Church. He is the patron saint of Gibraltar (reconquered for
Christendom on 20. August 1462) and a patron of Queens' College,
Cambridge. On the latter distinction, see:
http://www.queens.cam.ac.uk/queens/Misc/Saints.html
At his native Fontaines-les-Dijon (Cote D'Or) one may visit B.'s family
home:
http://www.fontainelesdijon.fr/patrimoine/maisonnatstber.htm
as well as a medieval church rededicated to him in 1860:
http://www.fontainelesdijon.fr/patrimoine/maisonnatstber.htm
Some expandable views of medieval representations of B. (not sourced,
unfortunately) are here:
http://tinyurl.com/nkmjv
And here are two other depictions of him, one from a north Italian
antiphonary in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore (W. 412 b.):
http://cistercians.shef.ac.uk/image_gallery/pages/0276.php
and one from a Catalan breviary of the late fifteenth/early sixteenth
century in the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris (ms. Rothschild 2529,
"Breviary of Martin of Aragon", f. 374):
http://www.aquiweb.com/templiers/images/bernard2.jpg
Two of the earliest Cistercian houses in Italy were founded by B.:
today's Chiaravalle Milanese in Milan and Chiaravalle della Colomba at
Alseno (PC) in Emilia. Their churches and other older buildings are
from the later twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Histories, views, etc.
of these daughters of Clairvaux:
Chiaravalle Milanese (1135; formerly Santa Maria di Roveniano):
History (Italian-language):
http://www.chiaravalle-milano.it/88049.php
Views, etc.:
http://www.lombardiacultura.it/scheda.cfm?ID=1207
http://www.kolorati.com/chiaravalle.html
http://www.gransito.com/vecchiamilano/Foto/chiaravalle.html
http://www.icsa-giacomelli.it/abbazia_di_chiaravalle.php
http://www.chiaravalle-milano.it/88664.php
Chiaravalle della Colomba (1136):
History (Italian-language):
http://www.cistercensi.info/chiaravalledellacolomba/fondazione.htm
Views, etc.:
http://tinyurl.com/kohxm
http://tinyurl.com/gnruj
http://tinyurl.com/zsvv7
http://www.cistercensi.info/chiaravalledellacolomba/visita.htm
Lest B. get more credit than he should for the Cistercian expansion into
Italy, it may be observed that the first two Cistercian houses in Italy
were not founded by him: those at Tiglieto (GN) in Liguria, a daughter
of La Ferte', and Morimondo (MI) in the Ticino valley west southwest of
Milan, a daughter of Morimond. Tiglieto is said to have been the first
Cistercian house to have been established outside the borders of today's
France. Histories, views, etc. follow:
Tiglieto (1120, supposedly; first recorded from 1127; first documented
as Cistercian, 1131):
History (Italian-language):
http://www.tiglieto.it/badia/badiastoria.htm
Views:
http://www.tiglieto.it/fotoa01.htm
Morimondo (1134):
History (Italian-language):
http://www.correrenelverde.com/abbazie/lombardia/morimondo.htm
Views, etc.:
http://www.lombardiacultura.it/scheda.cfm?ID=1208
http://www.lombardiainrete.it/03/articoli/Articolo/?t=99&Ta=Arte
http://www.thais.it/architettura/romanica/schede/scm_00230.htm
http://www.thais.it/architettura/romanica/schede/scm_00232.htm
Best,
John Dillon
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