Early Lives of Bernard of Clairvaux

Alexandra Barratt is professor emeritus at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. She studied English and medieval studies at the Universities of Cambridge and Toronto and has published extensively on religious writing by medieval women in Latin and Middle English. She has previously translated for the Cistercian Fathers series Books One through Five of Gertrud the Great of Helfta’s Herald of God’s Loving-Kindness (CF 035, 063, 085, and 086), and Gertrud’s recently discovered Memorial of the Abundance of the Divine Sweetness (CF 088).

“Alexandra Barratt has again done a great service to Cistercian scholarship. In this book, she has produced a wonderful addition to the tradition of the biography of St. Bernard. As she points out in her introduction, these texts have often been judged as compendia of facts about Bernard’s life and summarily dismissed. Her approach is to see them on their own merits, as their authors intended them. Her presentation of these texts, rare in English, allows the reader and scholar to approach them in a fresh light and judge them for ourselves.”Fr. Lawrence Morey, OCSO, Abbey of Gethsemani

• ContentsAbbreviations   xiMap   xiiiIntroduction   xvThe Life and Miracles of Bernard the AbbotGeoffrey of Auxerre and ? Raynaud of FoignyFragment I   3Geoffrey of AuxerreFragment II   39? Raynaud of FoignyThe Second Life of Saint Bernard the AbbotAlan of AuxerreThe Author’s Prologue   45CHAPTER ONEThe Family, Childhood, and Character of Saint Bernard   47CHAPTER TWOHis Piety, Compassion, and Cultivation of Chastity   50CHAPTER THREEHe Conceives a Contempt for the World and a Desire to Escape, and Persuades Others   54CHAPTER FOURBernard Enters Cîteaux with His Companions. His Mortification at the Time of His Novitiate There   62CHAPTER FIVEBernard’s Gifts and His Personal Appearance   65CHAPTER SIXThe Foundation of Clairvaux and Bernard’s Appointment as Abbot   67CHAPTER SEVENBernard’s Preaching and the Conversion of His Father and Sister   70CHAPTER EIGHTThe Abbot Is Ordained by William, Bishop of Châlons, Who Undertakes the Care of His Health   73CHAPTER NINEHis Vision of the Relocation of Clairvaux, and Its Wonderful Discipline under Bernard   76CHAPTER TENBernard’s Extraordinary Self-Denial in Sleep, Food, Drink, and Labor, and His Study of Holy Scripture   79CHAPTER ELEVENMiracles Performed by God through Him in Sickness, Noised Abroad by His Followers   83CHAPTER TWELVEThe Healing of Gaudry and His Death: A Suffering Monk’s Liberation from Purgatory   87CHAPTER THIRTEENBernard’s Sickness, Appearance before the Judgment Seat of God, and Cure   89CHAPTER FOURTEENHis Daily Practice, His Outstanding Virtues, and the Manner of His Speech   91CHAPTER FIFTEENThe Fame of His Holiness, the Growth of Clairvaux, and His Loving Care for His Brothers   92CHAPTER SIXTEENWhat He Did on His Visit to Saint Hugh and the Carthusians, and the Feigned Conversion of Stephen of Vitry   95CHAPTER SEVENTEENBernard’s Wonderful Authority and Reputation Among All   98CHAPTER EIGHTEENPope Innocent Is Accepted by His Authority   101CHAPTER NINETEENThe Reconciliation of the Milanese, and the Miracles He Performed   104CHAPTER TWENTYBernard’s Refusal of Rewards and His Disciples’ Pursuit of Them   109CHAPTER TWENTY-ONEHis Journey to Aquitaine, and the Conversion of Count William   111CHAPTER TWENTY-TWOHis Second Journey to Italy, the Intransigence of Roger of Sicily, and the Submission of Peter of Pisa   117CHAPTER TWENTY-THREEThe End of Anacletus and His Schism. Bernard Resumes His Exposition of the Song of Songs and Reconciles Count Theobald to the King   121CHAPTER TWENTY-FOURHis Patience in Sickness, Abuse, and Rejection   125CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVEHis Gentle Correction, His Kindness and Charity, and His Writings   128CHAPTER TWENTY-SIXHe Attacks Abelard, and Henry the Heretic   133CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVENBernard’s Views on the Miracles He Performed. On the Unfortunate Outcome of the Expedition to Jerusalem   137CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHTThe Confutation of Gilbert de la Porrée; Bernard’s Death Draws Near   140CHAPTER TWENTY-NINEHe Brings Peace to the People of Metz   142CHAPTER THIRTYThe Saint’s Demeanor and Final Words while Dying, and His Precious Death   146CHAPTER THIRTY-ONEThe Appearance of Bernard after His Death, and His Burial   151The Fourth Life of Saint Bernard the AbbotJohn the HermitThe Letter of John the Hermit to Peter, Bishop of Tusculanum   157The Second Letter, to Herbert, Archbishop of Torres 163Prologue to the Life of Saint Bernard   165Book One   167Prologue to the Second Book   175Book Two   177Bibliography   195Scriptural Index   199Index of Names and Places   205