BERNOLD OF CONSTANCE. - Chronicler, b. around the middle of the 11th century in the diocese of Constance, d. 16 September 1100 at Schaffhausen. He studied under the guidance of Bernard of Constance and was a Benedictine monk of St. Blasien. In 1079 he took part in the Roman Council and, having returned to Germany, was one of the most convinced supporters of Gregory VII. In 1084 he was ordained a priest at Constance and, in 1091, he moved to the monastery of St. Salvator at Schaffhausen. He wrote numerous polemical treatises; he compiled a Catalogus Romanorum Pontificum; the Micrologus (v.) is also attributed to him. His fundamental work is the Chronicon, begun in 1072 or 1073, which runs from the birth of Christ up to 3 August 1100. For the compilation of this work, B. relied, up to 1073, on the chronicles of Bede, of Hermann Contractus and of Berthold of Reichenau; from 1073 to 1100 he reconstructed, with great exactness and critical spirit, events at which he himself had been present. Although not free from errors, B.'s chronicle can be considered the most important source for the history of the Church in the 11th century.

Bibliography8 works

BIBL.: Bernoldi Chronicon, in MGH, Script., V. Hannover 1844, pp. 385-467; PL. 148, 1209-1432; R. Ceillier, Histoire des auteurs ecclésiastiques, XX, Paris 1757, pp. 687-91; W. Wattenbach, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im Mittelalter bis zur Mitte des XIII. Jahrhunderts, 6th ed., Berlin 1803, pp. 33-38; J. Richter, Die Chroniken Berthold und Bernoldi, Cologne 1862; A. Potthast, Bibliotheca historica Medii Aevi, I, 2nd ed., Berlin 1806, pp. 154-56; A. Fliche, La réforme grégorienne, II, Louvain 1925; F. Cabrol, s. v. in DACL, II (1925), 817-20.

Emma Santovito

@incollection{ec2_bernoldo_di_costanza, author = {Santovito, Emma}, title = {Bernoldo di Costanza}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {II}, pages = {1455--1456}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/bernoldo-di-costanza} }

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Bernold of Constance

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