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Bernold of Constance

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Bernold of Constance (c. 1054–Schaffhausen, September 16, 1100) was a priest, chronicler, writer of Christian tracts, and a defender of the Church reforms of Pope Gregory VII.[1]

Life

He was educated at Constance under the renowned teacher Bernard of Constance.[2] He attended the Lenten Synod of Rome, in 1079, at which Berengarius of Tours retracted his errors.[1]

He was ordained a priest on 21 December 1084 by Cardinal Odo.[3] Remaining in Italy till 1084, he likely attended the Council of Piacenza, on the proceedings of which he is the main authority. From his writings comes the well known statement that ambassadors of the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I appeared at Piacenza to drum support for the military campaigns against the Seljuq Turks.[4] This possibly led to the First Crusade, the matter however remains unclear.

Once more at Constance, he attended the ordination of bishop Gebhard and was ordained priest himself by the papal legate. In 1086 he went with Bishop Gebhard as counsellors to Herman, contender for the Imperial crown, at the Battle of Pleichfeld. He then entered the Benedictine Abbey of St Blasien in the Black Forest where he stayed until 1091 when he moved to the Abbey of All Saints in nearby Schaffhausen, where he died.[2]

Works

He wrote seventeen surviving tracts which are mostly apologetics for the pope's policy, defences of papal supremacy or vindications of men who advocated or enforced it in Germany.[2] Chief among these are: De prohibendâ sacerdotum incontinentiâ (against married clergy); De damnatione schismaticorum and Apologeticus super excommunicationem Gregorii VII (justifying excommunication of schismatics and of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor and his partisans).

Of broader interest is Bernold's chronicle, Chronicon, the latter part of which is a terse record of contemporary events by a knowing and intelligent observer in the extreme Papal camp. The chronicle covers the years AD 1054-1100.[5] The records of the earlier years were composed of brief summaries until the AD 1070’s, and the remaining yearly annals are much longer and expansive. The chronicle mostly focuses on Papal court politics and the rivalry with the German clergy/nobility. Important current events like warfare, famines and deaths of public figures are also briefly recounted.

Bernold was the author of Micrologus de ecclesiasticis observationibus (c. 1085), a lengthy commentary on the papal liturgy that became an important medieval liturgical treatise. Thanks to him, the German church was provided with a fairly common sacramentary throughout the Empire. The form of the mass given in Micrologus was established for Hungary, too, about 1100, by order of the local bishops.

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Bernold of Constance — Historian and theologian, b. in Swabia about 1054; d. at Schaffhausen, 16 September, 1100. He entered the school of Constance under the renowned Bernard of Constance, and made rapid progress in study. He attended the Lenten Synod of Rome, in 1079, at which Berengarius retracted his errors. Remaining in Italy till 1084 he returned to Constance for the episcopal consecration of Gebhard, whose action in enforcing the reform decrees of Gregory VII he later on defended. In the same year he was ordained priest by the papal legate, Cardinal Otto of Ostia. In 1086 he went with Bishop Gebhard as counsellor to King Herman, to the battle of Bleichfeld. About the same time he entered the Benedictine Abbey of St. Blasien in the Black Forest near Schaffhausen, and in 1091 the Abbey of All Saints in the city itself, where he died. His name has ever been associated with the reforms of Gregory VII. The seventeen tracts that have reached us are mostly apologies for the pope's policy, or vindications of men who advocated or enforced it in Germany. Chief among these are: "De prohibendâ sacerdotum incontinentiâ", written against the married clergy; "De damnatione schismaticorum", wherein he justified the pope's condemnation of that abuse; "Apologeticus super excommunicationem Gregorii VII", a defence of the pope's excommunication of Henry IV and his partisans. Bernold is the author of a chronicle (Mon. Germ. Hist., Script., V) which is still highly esteemed. The latter part is a terse record of contemporary event by a knowing and intelligent observer. Dom Morin has shown (Revue Benedictine, VIII, 385-395) that Bernold is the author of the "Micrologus", an important medieval liturgical treatise. Several other works are ascribed to him, but without sufficient evidence.

Strelau, Leben und Werke des Monches Bernold von Sanct-Blasien (Jena, 1889); Schultzen, De Bertholdi et Bernoldi chronicis (Bonn, 1867); Peyret, Bernold de Constance; La Reforme de Saint Gregoire VII (Saint-Etienne, 1904); Pertz in Mon. Germ. Hist., Script., V; Thaner, ibid., II; Wattenbach, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im Mittelalter (Berlin, 1877), II, 43.

References

  1. Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 "Bernold". Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
  2. Back to citation occurrence 2.0 Back to citation occurrence 2.1 Back to citation occurrence 2.2 "Bernold of Constance". Catholic.org. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
  3. Back to citation Ryan, J. Joseph (1966). "Bernold of Constance and an Anonymous 'Libellus de Lite: De Romani Pontificis Potestate Uniuersas Ecclesias Ordinandi'". JStor. Archivum Historiae Pontificiae, Vol. 4, pp. 9-24. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
  4. Back to citation Somerville, Robert (2011). "Pope Urban II's Council of Piacenza: Introduction". academic.oup.com. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  5. Back to citation Robinson, I. S. "Chronicle of Herman of Reichenau; Chronicle of Berthold of Reichenau; Chronicle of Bernold of St. Blasien (Bernold of Constance)". Online Medieval Sources Bibliography. Eleventh-Century Germany: The Swabian Chronicles. Retrieved 22 January 2026.

Bibliography

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