ABSTRACT
Bernard was born in 1090, the son of a Burgundian nobleman and a pious mother who died young, but who exercised much influence on his childhood. When Bernard entered Citeaux, the monastery was in the middle of a crisis. Many of the monks had recently died in an epidemic, and recruits had been deterred from entering the house by the rigour of its life. But from now onward there began a tremendous flowering which in the following years made necessary the foundation of daughter houses. Bernard’s zeal for very strict monastic discipline not only determined his outward activity but eventually led to the destruction of his health. Bernard’s mysticism is devoid of all pantheism. Any thought of substantial integration between God and the soul is excluded. Although Bernard’s conception of Christianity clarifies his views on culture and politics, it does not of course provide an excuse for all his acts.
