Bernard was the first Norman bishop of St David's (1115–1148). Originally an erudite layman serving as chancellor to Queen Matilda, he was abruptly appointed the bishop of St. David's on 18 September 1115, when King Henry I (Matilda's husband) summoned the chapter of St. David's to London, and persuaded them to choose Bernard as next bishop (the previous bishop having died that year).''

Dictionary of Welsh Biography The ''Dictionary of Welsh Biography'' (DWB) (also ''The Dictionary of Welsh Biography Down to 1940'' and ''The Dictionary of Welsh Biography, 1941 to 1970'') is a biographical dictionary of Welsh people who have made a significant contribution to ...

'',

John Edward Lloyd Sir John Edward Lloyd (5 May 1861 – 20 June 1947) was a Welsh historian, He was the author of the first serious history of the country's formative years, ''A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest'' (1911). Ano ...

, London, 1959, entry for ''Bernard (died 1148), bishop of S. Davids'' Immediately, Bernard was sent to the Church of St. Mary Overie and made a priest, that same day; the following day he was made a bishop, in Westminster Abbey. At that time, the lands of the bishop were a quasi-sovereign territory, a status confirmed that year by Henry I when Bernard, after acknowledging Henry as

suzerain Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is calle ...

of the bishop's realm, was given a charter by the king which designated the lands – Dewisland – as a Marcher Lordship.Judgement in ''Crown Estate Commissioners v (1) Mark Andrew Tudor Roberts (2) Trelleck Estate Ltd: ChD'' (Mr Justice Lewison), 13 June 2008 Bernard was thus the head of the judicial system in Dewisland, could mint coinage, levy tax, raise an army, and declare war on other marcher lords, without falling foul of the king. Furthermore, Bernard disputed the authority of the archbishop of Canterbury over him, arguing that he himself was the

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

of Wales; he was the last bishop to dispute the primacy of the see of Canterbury. Bernard founded Whitland Abbey.Burton ''Monastic and Religious Orders'' p. 229

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References

* Bishops of St Davids 12th-century English Roman Catholic bishops 1148 deaths {{Wales-bio-stub