Bernard of Clairvaux
Monk who entered Cîteaux in 1113 with some thirty companions and became the first abbot of Clairvaux. At his death in 1153 he was called the father of more than a hundred and sixty monasteries.
William of Saint-Thierry says that Bernard entered Cîteaux in 1113, aged about twenty-two or twenty-three, with more than thirty companions, under Abbot Stephen Harding (Vita Prima of Bernard 1.4.19 (PL 185, col. 237)). Stephen then sent him as abbot to found Clairvaux (Vita Prima of Bernard 1.5.25 (PL 185, col. 241)). His treatise On Loving God begins from the answer that the reason for loving God is God himself (Bernard, On Loving God 1).
Geoffrey of Auxerre records that he died on 20 August 1153, aged about sixty-three, the father of more than a hundred and sixty monasteries (Vita Prima of Bernard 5.2.15–18 (PL 185, col. 360–362)). The two ages together put his birth about 1090.
In the timeline
- 1098 to 1115, estimated dateThe Cistercians and Bernard of Clairvaux
In 1098 monks from Molesme found a “New Monastery” at Cîteaux to keep the Rule of Benedict to the letter, in poverty and by their own labour. Bernard joins with some thirty companions and becomes abbot of Clairvaux, and daughter houses multiply.