BERNARD OF TIRON, ST.

Benedictine reformer; b. Abbeville (Somme), France, c. 1046; d. April 14 or 25, 1117. He studied grammar and dialectics until he was 20 years old and then entered the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Cyprien in Poitiers. He soon transferred to Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe, where he was prior for 20 years. When Abbot Gervais died, Bernard fled the abbey to avoid succeeding as abbot and became a hermit. However, in 1100 he was made abbot of Saint-Cyprien; but when he, like robert of arbrissel, fell into disagreement with Cluny's claims on the abbey, Bernard again retired to the forest. Forced to return as abbot, he undertook a trip to Rome and upon his return he reformed the lax discipline of his own abbey with the full approval of the pope. With the help of ivo of chartres and of King Louis VI, he founded (1114) the Abbey of Tiron (Eure-et-Loir), France, which enjoyed great prosperity (500 monks). From France and elsewhere came requests for these religious living the strict Benedictine Rule. The new congregation soon numbered 10 abbeys and 40 priories in France alone. Bernard's life was written by his disciple, Geoffrey the Fat, between 1131 and 1148.

Feast: April 14.

Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum April 2:220–254. Patrologia Latina, ed. j. p. migne (Paris 1878–90) 172:1363–1446. c. claireaux, Saint Bernard de Thiron (Bellême, Fr. 1913). p. calendini, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912) 8:754–755. a. m. zimmermann, Kalendarium Benedictinum, (Metten 1933–38) 2:54–57. j. b. mahn, L'Ordre Cistercien et son gouvernement, des origines au milieu du XIIIe siècle (1098–1265) (new ed. Paris 1951) 29–34. r. aigrain, Catholicisme 1:1482–83.

[É. brouette]