Bernard Of Clairvaux"Bredero has produced a book that summarizes his lifelong preoccupation with the greatest saint of the twelfth century . . . The problem that intrigues Bredero . . . is the tension between Bernard the powerful churchman, resented by many contemporaries and by many interpreters still today, and Bernard the monk, master communicator of the most intimate spiritual experiences, beloved by numerous contemporaries, by John Calvin, and by many readers still today . . . A magisterial overview." John Van Engen in Church History Adriaan H. Bredero first began reading Bernard of Clairvaux in 1944 as a young university student forced into hiding by the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Over the past sixty years, Bredero's academic interest in Bernard has branched out to cover topics as diverse as the historical value of the vita prima, Bernard's part in the conflict between Cîteaux and Cluny, and the image of St. Bernard as it has been developed by hagiographers and scholars through the ages. Bernard of Clairvaux: Between Cult and History summarizes Bredero's lifelong study of Bernard, the Cistercian monk who was arguably the most influential ecclesiastical figure of the twelfth century and who remains one of the church's most venerated saints. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
The Origin of His Cult in | 23 |
Bernard as Saint in the Cistercian Hagiography | 61 |
A Shifting Ideal | 73 |
The Authors of the Vita Prima | 88 |
William of SaintThierry | 112 |
Saint Bernard and the Historians | 141 |
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Common terms and phrases
abbey abbot of Cîteaux abbot of Clairvaux Abelard already Anacletus Anchin archbishop Benedictine Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard's canonization Bernard's death Bernard's sainthood Bernard's writings Bernhard von Clairvaux bishop bishop of Langres canonization request carta caritatis chapter church Cistercian monasteries Cistercian Order Cluniac CLXXXV conflict consideratione criticism crusade cultic daughter monasteries earlier edition Eskil Etudes Eugenius fact fifth book filiations Fragmenta Geoffrey of Auxerre Geoffrey's Godefroy Grandselve hagiographic Historians historical holy indicated Innocent involved Langres later letter manuscripts Matthew of Albano mentioned monastery monastic monks Morimond Nicholas papal particular passage person Peter the Venerable pope prior Rainald reason redaction referred regard relationship remark result revision role Rome Saint Bernard SBO VII schism second book Second Crusade sermons spiritual Stephen Harding subsequently textual Thomas Becket Transl treatise Trois-Fontaines twelfth century Vacandard VIII vita prima vita secunda William of Saint-Thierry written wrote