Bernard (bishop)

Bernard (also Bernardus ; † 1148 ) was Bishop of St Davids from 1115 until his death in 1148 .

Ascent to bishop

Bernard came from a Norman family, but his origin is unclear. He served the English Queen Matilda as chaplain and later also as chancellor. On September 18, 1115 king put Henry I against violent protests Claswyr , the sometimes mundane Welsh cleric at the bishop's residence, the Palace of Westminster Bernards election as Bishop of the Diocese of St David's through. Bernard was ordained the same day and ordained the following day by Archbishop Ralph d'Escures of Canterbury at Westminster Abbey .

Bishop of St Davids

Act as a bishop

Bernard was the first Norman bishop of the Welsh bishopric. However, he continued to frequent the royal court in England or Normandy. Nevertheless, he implemented a number of reforms within his diocese. He divided the diocese into archdeaconates and deacons , he proceeded sensitively and took over the old kingdoms of Dyfed , Brycheiniog and Ceredigion as areas for the archdeaconates Dyfed, Brecon and Cardigan . When dividing the archdeaconates into deacons, he took the division of the commotes as a model. From the Welsh Claswyr, who had opposed his election as bishop, he formed a regular cathedral chapter with the help of Norman clergy . During his tenure, the bones of David were discovered by Menevia . He took part in the third council of Reims in 1119 and in 1120 he achieved that David of Menevia was formally canonized by Pope Calixt II . Bernard used the canonization when he accompanied Archbishop Wilhelm von Corbeil on his trip to Rome in 1123. Bernard received a pilgrimage to St Davids privilege from the Pope, according to which two pilgrimages to St Davids would have the same status as a pilgrimage to Rome. In 1124 Bernard also secured the bones of the hermit Cardagog Fynach in the hope that he would also be canonized. To this end, Bernard had the cathedral of St Davids expanded and expanded from 1131 onwards.

Bernard is the founder of Whitland Abbey . He also founded the Augustinian monastery in Carmarthen before 1127 and sponsored the monasteries of St Dogmael’s and Brecon .

Failure as the Metropolitan of Wales

After the power struggle between the Archbishop of York and the Archbishop of Canterbury for primacy over the English Church had broken out again in 1118 , Bernard operated from 1125 an offensive policy against the other two Welsh bishoprics of Llandaff and Bangor . Not only did he successfully defend the spiritual territory of his diocese against the attempt by Urban to add the Bishop of Llandaff , Ystrad Tywi, Gower and Kidwelly to the diocese of Llandaff, but he also finally enforced his primacy as Bishop of St Davids over the Bishop of Llandaff. However , he could not achieve his goal of becoming Metropolitan of Wales. This contradicted Henry I's wish to extend the primacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury to Wales. The claim of St Davids was still in March 1148 at the fifth council in Reims, whereupon Pope Eugene III. wanted to make a final decision during the year. Bernard died before the Pope made the decision, however, and Theobald von Bec , the Archbishop of Canterbury, won the power struggle by installing David FitzGerald as Bernard's successor.

Role during the civil war

During the anarchy following the death of Henry I in England, Bernard initially supported his successor Stephan von Blois as king. From 1140, however, he switched to the side of the Empress Matilda and in March 1141 prepared her a triumphant entry into Winchester Cathedral .

literature

• Paul Dalton, Charles Insley, Louise J. Wilkinson: Cathedrals, communities and conflict in the Anglo-Norman world . Boydell, Woodbridge 2011. ISBN 978-1-84383-620-9 , pp. 103-107

Web links

• David Walker: Bernard (d. 1148). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004

Individual evidence

1. ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415 . Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford 1991. ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 180
2. ^ David Walker: Medieval Wales . Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge 1990. ISBN 0-521-32317-7 , p. 71
3. ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415 . Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford 1991. ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 184
4. ↑ St Davids Cathedral: A Brief History Of The Cathedral. Retrieved June 19, 2014 . 
5. ^ Jante Burton: Monastic and Religious Orders in Britain: 1000-1300 , Cambridge Medieval Textbooks. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1994, ISBN 0-521-37797-8 , p. 229
6. ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415 . Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford 1991. ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 183

predecessor	Office	successor
Wilfrid	Bishop of St. Davids 1115–1148	David FitzGerald