Early Lives of Bernard of Clairvaux

Two biographical fragments of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux’s life and works are translated into English for the first time.

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153) was a commanding, and controversial, figure in early-twelfth-century Western European religious and political life. Even before his death, his followers expected him to be canonized—hence the various attempts to record his life, deeds, and miracles. Four of these important early witnesses—two biographical fragments, the Vita Secunda (an abbreviation of the Vita Prima), and the later Vita Quarta—are here translated into English for the first time. The material they work and rework testifies to the many evolving ways in which Bernard was perceived by his near contemporaries. They show how, and why, in Cistercian and Benedictine circles his memory was cherished in the period immediately before and after his death.