Saint Bernward

Also known as: Berward; Bernward of Hildesheim
Memorial: 20 November
Profile: Member of a noble Saxon family. Grandson of Athelbero, Count Palatine of Saxony. Orphaned at an early age Raised by his uncle Volkmar, bishop of Utrecht, and educated at the cathedral school at Heidelberg and at Mainz. Ordained at Mainz. Imperial chaplain and tutor to the future Emperor Otto III beginning in 987. Bishop of Hildesheim from 993 till 1020. Encouraged the arts; commissioned religious paintings and sculpture, refurbished existing buildings, built new ones (thus his patronage of the builder's arts), and made altar vessels of gold and silver by hand, and dabbled in architecture and ornamental ironwork. His rule was marked with peace, and around 1020 he retired to a Benedictine monastary to spend his remaining days in prayer.
Born: c.960 at Utrecht, Netherlands
Died: 20 November 1022
Canonized: 1193 by Pope Celestine III
Patronage: architects; goldsmiths; painters; sculptors
Representation: bishop making a chalice with a goldsmith's hammer; holding a short cross in his hand and surrounded by tools
Additional Information: Google Directory
For All The Saints, by Katherine Rabenstein
Catholic Encyclopedia, by J A Birkhaeuser
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