BIOGRAPHIES

Cattaui, Georges. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, translated by Ena Dargan. Dublin, Ireland: Clonmore and Reynolds, Ltd., 1966, 136 p.

Biography analyzing Bernard's work as an abbot as well as his humanity, his personal views, and his religious message.

James, Bruno Scott. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux: An Essay in Biography, London, England: Hodder & Stoughton, 1957, 192 p.

Biography of St. Bernard focusing on his character and his life in the context of his times.

Meadows, Denis. A Saint and a Half: A New Interpretation of Abelard and St. Bernard of Clairvaux, New York: The Devin-Adair Company, 1963, 209 p.

Biographical studies of Peter Abelard, emphasizing his rationalism, and Bernard, emphasizing the development of his mystical outlook.

CRITICISM

Bailey, Richard G. “Some Remarks on St. Bernard of Clairvaux as Literary Source for Melchior Hoffman's Commentary Dat Boeck Cantica Canicorum (1529).” Sixteenth Century Journal 22, no. 1 (spring 1991): 91-96.

Investigation of the links between Melchior Hoffman's Dat Boeck Cantica Canticorum and Bernard's Sermones in Cantica.

Bell, David N. “Bernard in Perspective.” Analecta Cisterciensia 46 (1990): 91-114.

Analyzes critic Bernard McGinn's presentation of Bernard's theological anthropology and argues that Bernard's position was based on that of his predecessors.

Bernard of Clairvaux: Studies Presented to Dom Jean Leclercq. Washington, D.C.: Consortium Press, 1973, 215 p.

Collection of essays on Bernard by various distinguished critics.

Cristiani, Leon. St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), translated by M. Angeline Bouchard. Boston, Massachusetts: St. Paul Editions, 1975, 172 p.

Offers an intimate portrait of Bernard, focusing on his religious and mystical life.

Dumont, Charles. Pathway of Peace: Cistercian Wisdom according to Saint Bernard, translated by Elizabeth Connor. Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian Publications, 1999, 259 p.

Uses contemporary idioms to explain Bernard's Cistercian teachings to modern readers.

Evans, G. R. “‘Sententiola ad Aedificationem’: The ‘Dicta’ of St. Anselm and St. Bernard.” Revue Bénédictine 92, no. 1-2 (1982): 159-71.

Remarks on the reception of Bernard's and St. Anselm's sayings in their own times.

———. “Monastic Theology.” In Bernard of Clairvaux, pp. 22-41. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Analysis of Bernard's views on monastic theology.

Gasquet, Francis Aidan. “To the Reader.” In Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, pp. vii-xi. London, England: John Hodges, 1904.

Notes that Bernard's personal qualities are mirrored in his letters.

James, Bruno Scott. Introduction to The Letters of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, translated by Bruno Scott James, pp. ix-xx. London, Eng.: Burns Oates, 1953.

Offers a brief biography of Bernard before discussing the self-portrait that emerges from his over 400 letters and commenting on their literary quality and style.

Kennan, Elizabeth. “The De consideratione of St. Bernard of Clairvaux and the Papacy in the Mid-Twelfth Century: A Review of Scholarship.” Traditio 23 (1967): 73-94.

Reviews the major conflicting scholarly interpretations of De consideratione and discusses the views presented in Bernard's work on the position and authority of the pope and the place of the church.

Leclercq, Jean. “Saint Bernard and El Cid: Knighthood and Two Models of Interpretation.” In Hermeneutics and Medieval Culture, edited by Patrick J. Gallacher and Helen Damico, pp. 71-83. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1989.

Compares the interpretations of knighthood presented in writings by Bernard and in the Spanish medieval epic poem Cantar de mio Cid.

———. “Thomas Merton and St. Bernard of Clairvaux.” The Merton Annual: Studies in Merton, Religion, Culture, Literature, and Social Concerns 3 (1990): 37-44.

Suggests parallels between Bernard and Thomas Merton as Cistercian monks, writers, and men.

Matar, N. I. “Thomas Traherne and St. Bernard of Clairvaux.” Notes and Queries (n.s.), 32, no. 1 (March 1985): 182-84.

Considers Bernard's influence on Thomas Traherne's Liber de Diligendo Deo.

McGinn, Bernard. “Freedom, Formation, and Reformation: The Anthropological Roots of Saint Bernard's Spiritual Teaching.” Analecta Cisterciensia 46 (1990): 91-114.

Outlines the systematic anthropological foundation in Bernard's thought and explores its presentation of the dynamism of human life as reflected in the Incarnate Word.

Renna, Thomas. “The Idea of the City in Bernard of Clairvaux and Thomas Merton.” Michigan Academician 15, no. 2 (winter 1983): 241-52.

Compares the Cistercian views of the city as presented by Bernard in the twelfth century and Thomas Merton in the twentieth.

Schoeck, R. J. “Andreas Capellanus and St. Bernard of Clairvaux: The Twelve Rules of Love and the Twelve Steps of Humility.” Modern Language Notes 66 (May 5, 1951): 295-300.

Points out the relationship between the twelve chief rules of love enumerated by Andreas Capellanus and the twelve steps of humility of Bernard.

Sommerfeldt, John R. Bernard of Clairvaux on the Life of the Mind. New York: Newman Press, 2004, 197 p.

Study of all the essential aspects of Bernard of Clairvaux's thought.

Additional coverage of Bernard's life and career is contained in the following source published by the Gale Group: Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 208.