Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

Albrecht Classen (University of Arizona)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.01: French Writing and Culture: Old French to the Middle Ages , 500-1400.
Vol. editors: Marianne Ailes (University of Bristol), Matthew Siôn Lampitt (University of Bristol), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

Born 1090
Died 1153
Activity 1110-1153

Places

Born in France
Active in France

Activities

Primary

Monk
Mystic

Resources

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux's Works

Save to Bookshelf

Once Dante the pilgrim in the

Divina Commedia

has left behind his guide Virgil, and hence the two stages of his journey through the afterworld -- Inferno and Purgatorio -- he finally reaches Paradiso, where his beloved Beatrice awaits and helps him to experience the ultimate transformation of his physical being into pure spirituality. But even she cannot take him to the Empyrean, where God awaits Dante; this task is left to the famous Cistercian monk and abbot St. Bernard of Clairvaux (Canto XXXI). Some critics have speculated that Bernard might symbolize God Himself, whereas Beatrice would represent the Holy Spirit.

Hardly any other medieval writer, poet, theologian, monk, and philosopher enjoyed such a reputation as Bernard (ca. 1090–1153), who was a towering individual with great

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

1856 words

Citation: Classen, Albrecht. "Saint Bernard of Clairvaux". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 January 2025 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5491, accessed 18 January 2025.]

View recommended reading for this article