Bernard of Clairvaux

Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 – 1153) was a Frankish abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian monastic order. After the death of his mother in 1112, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order along with 27 of his friends and relations including four of his brothers. The young Frenchman had decided to withdraw from riches in order to live a life of poverty and a diet of cooked beech and herbs. He was soon recognised as a saint of such purity that he made others feel their impurity and many of his fellow monks were afraid even to come into his presence. It only required a few minutes in his company to learn how far they have fallen short.
Three years after entering the order Bernard was sent by the abbot of St Citeaux to start a monastery at Clairvaux. Within a few years the monastery had become under Bernard of Clairvaux’s rule the most prominent of the Cistercian order. His eloquent preaching and the miracles witnessed there attracted numerous pilgrims. By 1146 around 70 monasteries had been founded under the auspices of the one at Clairvaux and Bernard had established himself as one of the most influential men in Christendom. He advocated a more personal faith in which the Virgin Mary is the bridge between humanity and our saviour Jesus Christ. He also gained a reputation for denouncing liberal monks who undermine the mysteries of God by trying to understand the Christian faith through philosophy and intellectual means.
Around this time News came from the Holy Land that alarmed Christendom. Christians had been defeated at the Siege of Edessa and most of the county had fallen into the hands of the Seljuk Turks. At the command of the pope, Bernard preached a sermon at Vézelay, promoting a second Crusade that aroused enthusiasm throughout Western Europe. Louis VII, the King of France was persuaded to join the Crusade and recruits from northern France, Flanders and Germany also signed up. It did not succeed in any of its aims and the last years of Bernard's life were saddened by the failure of the Second Crusade he had preached, the entire responsibility for which was thrown upon him.