Bernardo degli Uberti (c. 1060 – 4 December 1133) was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate who was a professed member and served as an abbot of the Vallumbrosan Order. Uberti served as the Bishop of Parma from 1106 until his death and was appointed as a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

. He came from the noble Uberti house from Florence. Uberti served as a

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

for successive popes in several Italian regions in their disputes with secular rulers and was a close confidant and advisor to the

Countess Matilda Matilda of Tuscany ( it, Matilde di Canossa , la, Matilda, ; 1046 – 24 July 1115 or Matilda of Canossa after her ancestral castle of Canossa), also referred to as ("the Great Countess"), was a member of the House of Canossa (also known as th ...

. He is often considered the third founding father for the order alongside

Benedict of Nursia Benedict of Nursia ( la, Benedictus Nursiae; it, Benedetto da Norcia; 2 March AD 480 – 21 March AD 548) was an Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Orient ...

(the order was a branch of the

Benedictines , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

) and Giovanni Gualberto. Uberti's fame for holiness became so great that miracles were reported on a frequent basis at his tomb. This led to

Pope Innocent II Pope Innocent II ( la, Innocentius II; died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as pope was controversial and the fi ...

naming Uberti a saint only six years after his death, on 3 December 1139.

Life

Bernardo degli Uberti was born circa 1060 in Florence to the nobles Bruno degli Uberti and Ligarda. His paternal grandfather was Corbizo. He was the nephew of Pietro Igneo. Bernardo's father died sometime in 1085 and it was on 1 July 1085 that he made a donation to the San Salvi convent for his father's repose. But he also became a monk in the Vallumbrosans and he later made another donation for the repose of his father and grandfather on 26 April 1089. He became the abbot for San Salvi (1092-1099) and was later elected as the Superior-General for the congregation in 1098 after the death of the abbot Almarius of Vallambrosa. On 7 March 1100 he presided over a meeting of all the order's abbots to discuss important resolutions on both organization and discipline. In 1097

Pope Urban II Pope Urban II ( la, Urbanus II; – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening th ...

named Uberti

Cardinal-Priest of San Crisogono San Crisogono is a church in Rome (rione Trastevere) dedicated to the martyr Saint Chrysogonus. It was one of the tituli, the first parish churches of Rome, and was probably built in the 4th century under Pope Sylvester I (314–335). Th ...

. He worked at the Lateran until 1101 when he was appointed

to Lombardy and began to serve as an advisor to

. On 7 April 1101 he was sent as a legate to Grosseto and on 4 May 1101 was with Matilda in Governolo where she restituted some lands to the pope upon his advice. He was also a legate to Milan in 1102 to oversee the election of Grosulano as its archbishop while he was later a legate to Pavia on 18 August 1102. He was also with the countess in Panzano on 18 October 1102 and travelled with her to Castro Panciano in March 1103. On 15 August 1104 he was in Parma in an attempt to keep the people faithful to the pope in his struggle against Emperor Heinrich V and the

Antipope An antipope ( la, antipapa) is a person who makes a significant and substantial attempt to occupy the position of Bishop of Rome and leader of the Catholic Church in opposition to the legitimately elected pope. At times between the 3rd and mid- ...

Maginulf Sylvester IV, born Maginulf, was a claimant to the Papacy from 1105 to 1111 in opposition to Paschal II. A priest before his election, he was probably a native of Rome. He had the backing of the Roman militia and initially of the Holy Roman Empe ...

. The people, however, drove him into exile. Some sources state that he was in fact dragged from the altar of the Cathedral in a violent scene. He was exiled again in 1127 after opposing the proclamation of

Conrad II Conrad II ( – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdoms ...

. In September 1104 he served as an advisor to the countess in both Cosogno and

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

while on 20 March 1105 he was in the Lateran Palace to sign a papal bull for the pope. Uberti tried to return to Parma in August 1105 to recruit troopers for the pope in his struggle against the German king but this venture proved unsuccessful. He was later appointed as the Bishop of Parma in October 1106 at the Council of Guastalla where the pope made the announcement. He received his episcopal consecration from Paschal II himself in Parma in November. In February 1111 he and Roman Curia were removed from Rome and imprisoned at the behest of the emperor. The pope too had been taken prisoner but it was the countess who managed to obtain their release. But Paschal II decided to crown the emperor and Uberti attended this event in Rome on 13 April 1113. It was almost two decades later that he stood alongside

when a schism loomed and the antipope

Anacletus II Anacletus II (died January 25, 1138), born Pietro Pierleoni, was an antipope who ruled in opposition to Pope Innocent II from 1130 until his death in 1138. After the death of Pope Honorius II, the college of cardinals was divided over his succes ...

attempted to gain control. He died in his sleepThe "Vita Secunda Sancti Bernardi" says that he was wide awake when he died. ''Chronica Parmense'', p. 515: ''His factis, stratulo vili decubans inaextimabili devotione sanctae matris Ecclesiae omnia et singula sacramenta recepit, astante capitulo, et suis consociis monachis se devotissime commendavit, et, signo crucis se muniens, manibus clausis, in coelum erectis oculis in manus amicorum astantium pioque fletu psallentium anima sanctissima illa, carne dimissa, coelica penetravit MCXXXIII, II. nonas decembris.'' on 4 December 1133 and was interred in the Parma cathedral. He was the subject of paintings that Bernardino Gatti and Pietro Perugino made.

Canonization

Uberti's canonization was solemnized on 3 December 1139 after Pope Innocent II proclaimed him to be a saint.

Pope Alexander VII Pope Alexander VII ( it, Alessandro VII; 13 February 159922 May 1667), born Fabio Chigi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 April 1655 to his death in May 1667. He began his career as a vice- papal legate, an ...

and Pope Clement IX made extensions on his liturgical feast for the Parma diocese.

References

Other sources

* * *Donizo, "Vita Mathildis Comitissae", in:

External links

Catholic Online

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Uberti, Bernard Degli 1060s births 1133 deaths 12th-century Christian saints 12th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops Bishops of Parma External cardinals Italian abbots 12th-century Italian cardinals Cardinals created by Pope Urban II Medieval Italian saints Venerated Catholics