medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: John Dillon <[log in to unmask]>
> 2) Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153)....B. vigorously endorsed Eugenius' call
for what is now known as the Second Crusade
that might better be put the other way round: B. vigorously enlisted the aid
of Eugenius in his little "Crusade" project.
>and his eloquence in that cause at the diet of Speyer in 1146 helped to
secure the participation of the emperor Conrad III.
and thereby hangs a tale.
Hans-Dietrich Kahl has made a quite convincing (to me at least --contrary
opinions are solicited) case that "...at least at a later stage of his
activities on behalf of the great cause [the Crusade], Bernard must have more
or less openly embraced convictions that originated in the old so-called
Sibylline prophecies.”
It is this which explains Bernard’s championing of the Crusade, and
particularly his ability to enlist Emperor Conrad III to the cause, "against
all political sense," and that "the old prophecies could be trusted, and
whether he could take them as a basis of an eschatological interpretation of
his times." B.’s success "with the emperor came as a miraculum miraculorum
for Bernard himself," and demonstrated to him "whether or not the old
prophecies could be trusted, and whether he could take them as a basis of an
eschatological interpretation of his times."
for Bernie, it seems, "believed that mankind was at the eve of the end of the
world; that the last emperor had come to force the Christian religion upon
what seemed to be left of the heathens in the geographically limited world
known to Western man; that he had come to Christianize them, and to restore
both crown and empire to Christ in a solemn symbolic act in Jerusalem; after
that, Antichrist was to appear. Old prophecies had it that the emperor was
naturally associated with the Roman Empire (imperium), but held the title of
"King of the Romans" (Romanorum rex) only. The initial letter of his name was
to be a "C." It so happened that there was indeed a contemporary of Bernard
who met all those prerequisites, Conrad III of Germany."
Hans-Dietrich Kahl, “Crusade Eschatology as Seen by St. Bernard in the Years
1146 to 1148,” in Michael Gervers, ed., The Second Crusade and the
Cistercians (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992), pp. 35-48.
this essay seems to be a summary of his earlier "Auszujaten von der Erde die
Feinde des Christennamens.’ Der Plan zum 'Wendenkreuzzug' von 1147 als
Umsetzung sibyllinischer Eschatologie." In: Jahrbuch für die Geschichte
Mitiel- und Ostdeutschlands, vol. 39 (1990), pp. 133-60.
i have the first article as a .DOC file and would be happy to send it to
anyone who would like to see it.
i haven't seen the second (i.e., the original) German article, but would like
to have a copy of it if anyone happens to have it in a digital format.
best,
c
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