**BERNONE of Reichenau (Berno Auguensis).** – Some call him Bernardo; a political figure, liturgist, musician, hagiographer, orator, and poet: he was one of the most distinguished men of his age. Abbot of Reichenau from 1008 to 1048 and a friend of the Emperor St. Henry II, he accompanied him to Rome for his coronation (14 February 1014) and again when he took part in a conference of prelates to discuss certain particulars of the Roman liturgy.
Zealous for the good of the Church, he took an active part
1457
BERNOE DE RICHEINAU — BERIOUS AUGUSTINUS
1458
in the Cluniac reform movement and kept in touch with the leading figures of the day. He greatly enriched the library of his abbey and made it a center of learning and holiness. He died on 7 June 1048 and was buried in the choir of St. Mark’s church at Reichenau; his tomb and relics were discovered in December 1929.
His stature as a restorer is further enhanced by the literary activity he pursued. His works include: 1. *De celebratione Adventus Domini*, addressed to Aribo, Archbishop of Mainz, to settle the then-current question of the length of Advent when Christmas falls on a Monday. 2. *Dialogus de ieiuniis Quattuor Temporum*. 3. *De officio Missae*, in which he treats various questions concerning additions made to the Mass. 4. *De varia psalmorum atque cantuum modulatione*, an interesting pamphlet on biblical-liturgical criticism concerning various texts intended for singing, both in the Breviary and the Mass, with references to the original Hebrew and ancient versions. 5. *Tonarius*, preceded by an extensive *Prologus*: this is B.’s most famous work. 6. *De consona Tonorum diversitate*, a brief summary of the preceding work. He also wrote: *Vita sancti Uldarici*, an elegant reworking of Gerard’s work but of little historical value. For St. Uldaric, B. also composed and set to music an Office. A *Vita Sancti Mainardi* has been attributed to him, apparently wrongly; instead, he composed an Office for this saint. He is also the author of several hymns and sequences. A collection of B.’s letters is preserved in the codex Sangall. 898, of the 11th century. Other works of his, such as *De instrumentis musicalibus*, are lost. A. Duch, however, has recovered the pamphlet *De nigromantia seu divinatione daemonum condemnanda* and 16 Sermons.
Pending a critical edition of B.’s works, the best remains that in Migne: *PL* 142, 1047–1214. For B.’s correspondence with Aribo of Mainz, cf. Ph. Jaffé, *Monum. Moguntina*, in *Bibl. Rerum Germ.*, III, Berlin 1866, pp. 365–72. His musical works were published in 1784 by Martin Gerbert in *Scriptores ecclesiastici de Musica Sacra*, II, Leipzig 1905, pp. 61–122.