Bernard De Cluny

Bernard De Cluny

▪ French monk
also called Bernard De Morlaix
flourished 12th century

      monk, poet, and Neoplatonic moralist whose writings condemned humanity's search for earthly happiness and criticized the immorality of the times. He is also noted for his valuable chronicle of monastic customs.

      Among the scant references to Bernard's life is an unconfirmed tradition that described him as a native of England or Brittany who became a monk at the Abbey of Saint-Sauveur d'Aniane, in central France. He then transferred to the great Benedictine foundation of Cluny, near Lyon, where he studied literature and theology.

      Bernard's major work, De contemptu mundi (“On Condemning the World”), was written about 1140 and was dedicated to Abbot Peter the Venerable. A poem of about 3,000 lines in dactylic hexameter, De contemptu mundi expresses the disdain for the material world characteristic of Neoplatonism, a philosophical school that ascribed reality only to the world of ideas. Decrying the transitory nature of earthly life, Bernard maintained that man's satisfaction could be found only in the spiritual existence of the next world, which could be reached most directly by a rigorous asceticism. With biting satire, he also censured the moral decay of the Western church. He concluded with a vividly apocalyptic description of heaven and hell that may have influenced Dante's The Divine Comedy. Notable also is Bernard's compilation of the Consuetudines Cluniacenses (“Customs of Cluny”), a systematic, annotated collection of the monastic principles and usages governing the Cluniac reform of the 6th-century Benedictine Rule.

      Bernard's devotional verse dedicated to the Virgin Mary became widely popular in medieval piety. De contemptu mundi was edited by H.C. Hoskier in 1929. An edition of Consuetudines Cluniacenses by P.B. Albers appeared in 1905.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Bernard of Cluny — • A Benedictine monk of the first half of the twelfth century, poet, satirist, and hymn writer, author of On the Contempt of the World Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Bernard of Cluny     Bernard of Cluny …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Bernard De Cluny — Bernard de Morlaix ou Bernard de Cluny, moine de Cluny du XIIe siècle, auteur de De contemptu mundi, vivant vers 1140. Il n est connu que par ses écrits …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Bernard de cluny — Bernard de Morlaix ou Bernard de Cluny, moine de Cluny du XIIe siècle, auteur de De contemptu mundi, vivant vers 1140. Il n est connu que par ses écrits …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Bernard de Cluny — Bernard de Morlaix ou Bernard de Cluny, moine de Cluny du XIIe siècle, auteur de De contemptu mundi, vivant vers 1140. Il n est connu que par ses écrits. Citation célèbre Il est aujourd hui notoire pour sa phrase « Nunc ubi Regulus aut ubi… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Bernard of Cluny — For the archbishop of Toledo, see Bernard de Sedirac. Bernard of Cluny (or of Morlaix) was a Benedictine monk of the first half of the 12th century, a poet, satirist, and hymn writer, author of the famous verses De contemtu mundi, On Contempt for …   Wikipedia

  • Bernard of Cluny — (twelfth century)    Poet and Polemicist.    Little is known of his life except that he was a monk at the influential Benedictine house at Cluny. He is remembered as the author of a magnificent satirical poem entitled De Contemptu Mundi. In it he …   Who’s Who in Christianity

  • Bernard de Morlaix — Bernard de Cluny Bernard de Morlaix ou Bernard de Cluny, moine de Cluny du XIIe siècle, auteur de De contemptu mundi, vivant vers 1140. Il n est connu que par ses écrits …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Bernard — Infobox Given Name Revised name = Bernard imagesize= caption= pronunciation = bur NAHRD (US), BER nəd (UK) gender = Male meaning = Strong or Brave as a bear region = German/French origin = German/French related names =Barnard, Bernardo, Beñat,… …   Wikipedia

  • Bernard — I. /bəˈnad/ (say buh nahd) noun 1. Saint (Bernard of Menthon), 923–1008, French monk. 2. Saint (Bernard of Cluny), fl. 1140, French monk. 3. Saint (Bernard of Clairvaux, the Mellifluous Doctor ), 1090?–1153, French monk, preacher, and mystical… …  

  • Bernard De Clairvaux — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Saint Bernard. Bernard de Clairvaux …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”