BERNARD OF PARMA, ST.

Vallombrosan, cardinal, bishop of Parma, Italy; b. Florence c. 1055; d. Cavanna Abbey, near Parma, Dec. 4, 1133. According to tradition he was born of the noble Uberti family. He entered the newly founded vallom brosan order at San Salvi (c. 1075), where he became abbot (c. 1093) and then abbot general of the order (1098). Because of his unceasing zeal for the order's welfare he is considered its second founder. Shortly after becoming abbot general he was called to Rome and created cardinal by Pope urban ii. The investiture struggle was then at its height: Bernard was sent to Lombardy by Pope paschal ii with powers of legate and with the mission of liberating the Lombard cities from the dominion of Emperor henry iv; Bernard won the friendship of Countess Matilda of Tuscany; he was at Canossa in 1102. Insulted and imprisoned by schismatics in Parma, he was liberated after three days through Matilda's intervention. Before 1106 he was elected bishop of Parma, where he proved a zealous pastor. He founded several monasteries, including that of Cavanna. He assisted Matilda on her death bed. At the Council of Piacenza, held under Pope Innocent II, he met Bernard of Clairvaux. He was frequently the subject of Renaissance painters, e.g., of Correggio (the cupola of Parma's cathedral), of Perugino, and of Andrea del Sarto.

Feast: Dec. 4.

Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum Dec. (Propylaeum) 566. Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores 30.2:1314–27, vita. f. bonnard, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912) 8:718–721. n. pelicelli, I vescovi della chiesa parmense, v. 1 (Parma 1936) 137–154.

[t. c. crowley]