Bernard of Clairvaux

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (Fontaines, near Dijon, 1090 – August 21, 1153 in Clairvaux) was a French abbot and theologian who was the main voice of conservatism during the intellectual revival of Western Europe called the Renaissance of the 12th century. The voice of conscience, the dominating figure in the Christian church from 1125 to 1153 (Cantor 1993), he was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1830. Bernard is a saint of the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches and was the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian monastic order.

Early life

He was born at Fontaines, near Dijon, in France. Bernard was born into the noble class: his father, a knight named Tecelin, perished on crusade; and his mother Aleth, a daughter of the noble house of Mon-Bar, and a woman distinguished for her piety, died while Bernard was a boy. Constitutionally unfitted for a military career, his own disposition, as well as his mother's early influence, directed him to the church. His desire to enter a monastery was opposed by his relations, who sent him to study at Châlons in order to qualify him for high ecclesiastical preferment. Bernard's resolution to become a monk was not, however, shaken, and when he at last definitely decided to join the community which Robert of Molesme had founded at Citeaux in 1098, he took with him his brothers and many of his relations and friends.

Related Topics:
Dijon - France - Châlons - Robert of Molesme - Citeaux

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