Saint Bruno (Cologne, c. 1030 – October 6, 1101), the founder of the Carthusian Order, personally founded the order's first two communities. He was a celebrated teacher at Reims, France, and a close advisor of his former pupil, Pope Urban II. Cologne Cathedral with Hohenzollern Bridge Cologne (German: (help· info) [kÅ“ln]; Kölsch: Kölle) is Germanys fourth-largest city after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. ... October 6 is the 279th day of the year (280th in Leap years). ... Events A second wave of crusaders arrives in the newly established Kingdom of Jerusalem, after being heavily defeated by Kilij Arslan I at Heraclia. ... A Carthusian Monastery in Jerez, Spain The Carthusians are a Christian religious order founded by St Bruno in 1084. ... Location within France Reims (English traditionally Rheims) (pronounced in French) is a city of northern France, 144 km (89 miles) east-northeast of Paris. ... Urban II, né Otho of Lagery (or Otto or Odo) (1042 - July 29, 1099), was a pope from 1088 to July 29, 1099. ...

Remembered for his eloquence

His funeral elegies celebrate his eloquence, his poetic, philosophical, and theological talents; and his merit as a teacher is reflected in the merits of his pupils, amongst whom were Eudes of Châtillon, afterwards Pope Urban II, Rangier, Cardinal Bishop of Reggio, Robert, Bishop of Langres, and a large number of prelates and abbots. Urban II, né Otho of Lagery (or Otto or Odo) (1042 - July 29, 1099), was a pope from 1088 to July 29, 1099. ... Categories: France geography stubs | Communes of Haute-Marne ... A prelate is a member of the clergy who either has ordinary jurisdiction over a group of people or ranks in precedence with ordinaries. ... Abbots coat of arms The word abbot, meaning father, has been used as a Christian clerical title in various, mainly monastic, meanings. ...

Educated in Reims and served in Cologne

Bruno completed his education at the cathedral school at Reims, both in the liberal arts and scripture and returned to be a canon at St. Cunibert's, Cologne, but was recalled to direct the school at Reims in 1056. With the retirement of his former master Heriman the following year, Bruno found himself in charge of the cathedral schools and the oversight of all the educational establishments of the diocese. For about twenty years, from 1057 to 1075, he maintained the prestige which the school of Reims had attained under its former masters, Remi of Auxerre, Hucbald of St. Amand, Gerbert d'Aurillac who reigned as Pope Silvester II, and most recently, Heriman. Façade of the Notre-Dame de Reims The Notre-Dame de Reims (Our Lady of Rheims) is the Cathedral of Reims, where the kings of France were once crowned. ... A canon (from the Latin canonicus and Greek κανωνικωσ relating to a rule) is a priest who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to a rule (canon). ... Cologne Cathedral with Hohenzollern Bridge Cologne (German: (help· info) [kÅ“ln]; Kölsch: Kölle) is Germanys fourth-largest city after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. ... Events Anselm of Canterbury leaves Italy. ... Events King Macbeth I of Scotland is killed in battle against Malcolm Canmore. ... Events Revolt of the Earls. ... Nicholas Remy (aka Rémy and Remigius) (1534 - 1600) was a French Catholic priest. ... Hucbald (Hucbaldus, Hubaldus) (c. ... Gerbert of Aurillac, later known as pope Silvester II, (or Sylvester II), (ca. ...

Chancellor to the diocese of Reims

In 1075 Bruno was appointed chancellor to the Diocese of Reims, which involved him in the daily administration of the diocese. Meanwhile the pious Bishop Gervais, a friend to Bruno, had been succeeded by Manasses de Gournai, a violent aristocrat with no real vocation for the Church. In 1077, at the urging of Bruno and the clergy at Reims, de Gournai was suspended at a council at Autun. He responded, in typical 11th century fashion, by having his retainers pull down the houses of his accusers; he confiscated their goods, sold their benefices, and even appealed to the pope. Bruno discreetly avoided the cathedral city until in 1080 a definite sentence, confirmed by popular riot, compelled Manasses to withdraw and take refuge with the Emperor Henry IV, the fierce opponent of the ambitious current papacy of Gregory VII. Events Revolt of the Earls. ... The Archdiocese of Reims was founded (as a diocese) around 250 by St. ... Events January 26 - Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor visits Pope Gregory VII as a penitent, asking him remove sentence of excommunication Robert Curthose instigates his first insurrection against his father, William the Conqueror Seljuk Turks capture Nicaea Süleyman I of Rüm becomes the leader of the Sultanate of... Autun is a town in the Saône-et-Loire département in Burgundy, France. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. ... Events William I of England, in a letter, reminds the Bishop of Rome that the King of England owes him no allegiance. ... Henry IV (November 11, 1050 — 1106) was King of Germany from 1056 and Emperor from 1084, until his abdication in 1105. ... Gregory VII, né Hildebrand (c. ...

Refused to become a Bishop

Upon the verge of being made bishop himself, Bruno instead followed a vow he had made to renounce secular concerns and withdraw, along with two of his friends, Raoul and Fulcius, also canons of Reims.

Bruno's first thought on leaving Reims seems to have been to place himself and his companions under the direction of an eminent solitary, St. Robert, who had recently (1075) settled at Sèche-Fontaine, near Molesme in the Diocese of Langres, together with a band of other hermits, who were later on (in 1098) to form the Cistercian Order. But he soon found that this was not his vocation. After a short stay he went with six of his companions to Saint Hugh of Châteauneuf, Bishop of Grenoble. The bishop, according to the pious legend, had recently had a vision of these men, under a chaplet of seven stars, and he installed them himself in 1084 in a mountainous and uninhabited spot in the lower Alps of the Dauphiné, in a place named named "Chartreuse", not far from Grenoble. With St. Bruno were Landuin, Stephen of Bourg and Stephen of Die, canons of St. Rufus, and Hugh the Chaplain, and two laymen, Andrew and Guerin, who afterwards became the first lay brothers. A painting of the founders of Citeaux, showing saints Robert, Alberic, and Stephen Harding venerating the Blessed Virgin Mary. ... Events Revolt of the Earls. ... Molesme is a commune of the Côte-dOr département, in France. ... Events First Crusade: end of the siege of Antioch. ... Cistercians (OCist) (Latin Cistercenses), otherwise Gimey or White Monks (from the colour of the habit, over which is worn a black Catholic order of monks. ... Saint Hugh of Grenoble (1052 - 1132) is a Christian saint who was bishop of Grenoble. ... Location within France Grenoble (Occitan: Grasanòbol) is a city and commune in south-east France, situated at the foot of the Alps, at the confluence of the Drac into the Isère River. ... Events Saint Bruno founds the Carthusian Order of monks Kyanzittha begins his reign in Myanmar. ... Dauphiné is a former province in southeastern France, roughly corresponding to the present départements of the Isère, Drôme, and Hautes-Alpes. ... The Grande Chartreuse is the head monastery of the Carthusian order. ... Location within France Grenoble (Occitan: Grasanòbol) is a city and commune in south-east France, situated at the foot of the Alps, at the confluence of the Drac into the Isère River. ... Lay brothers are Catholic religious occupied solely with manual labour and with the secular affairs of a monastery or friary. ...

They built a little retreat where they lived isolated and in poverty, entirely occupied in prayer and study, for these men had a reputation for learning, and frequently honored by the visits of St. Hugh who became like one of themselves.

At the time Bruno's pupil Eudes of Châtillon, had become pope as Urban II (1088). Resolved to continue the work of reform commenced by Gregory VII, and being obliged to struggle against an antipope Guibert of Ravenna, and the Emperor Henry IV, he was in dire need of competent and devoted allies and called his former master to Rome in 1090. Guibert or Wibert of Ravenna (ca. ... Events Granada captured by Yusuf Ibn Tashfin, King of the Almoravides Beginnings of troubadours in Provence Bejaia becomes the capital of the Algeria Births William of Malmsbury Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Saint Famianus Eliezer ben Nathan of Mainz Deaths Saint Malcoldia of Asti Saint Adalbero Categories: 1090 ...

It is difficult to assign the place which Bruno occupied in Rome, or his influence in contemporary events, because it remained entirely hidden and confidential. Lodged in the Lateran with the pope himself, privy to his most private councils, he worked as an advisor but wisely kept in the background, apart from the fiercely partisan rivalries in Rome and within the curia. Shortly after his arrival in Rome, the Papal party was forced to evacuate to the south by the arrival of Henry IV with his own antipope in tow. Late Baroque façade of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, completed after a competition for the design by Alessandro Galilei in 1735 Lateran and Laterano are the shared names of several architectural projects throughout Rome and Vatican City. ...

In all the upheaval Bruno managed to efface the role he was playing in policy. He did not even attend the Council of Clermont, where Urban preached the First Crusade. He seems to have been present at the Council of Benevento (March, 1091). His part in history is effaced. Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont, given a Late Gothic setting in this painting of c 1490 The Council of Clermont was a mixed synod of ecclesiastics and laymen of the Roman Catholic Church, which was held in November 1095 and triggered the First Crusade. ... The First Crusade was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II to regain control of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Christian Holy Land from Muslims. ... Events Henry, son of William I attempted a coup against his brothers but failed to seize the English throne. ...

During the voyage south, the former professor of Reims attracted attention in Reggio Calabria, which had just lost its archbishop Arnulph (1090). The Pope and Roger Guiscard, the Norman Duke of Apulia, strongly approved of the election and pressed Bruno to accept it. Bruno side-stepped the offer, which he guided to one of his former pupils nearby at a Benedictine abbey near Salerno. Instead Bruno begged to return again to his solitary life. His intention was to rejoin his brethren in Dauphiné, as a letter addressed to them makes clear. But the will of Urban II kept him in Italy, near the papal court, to which he could be called at need. Map of Italy showing Reggio Calabria in the south Reggio Calabria, located on the toe of the Italian boot, is the capital of the province of Reggio Calabria. ... Events Granada captured by Yusuf Ibn Tashfin, King of the Almoravides Beginnings of troubadours in Provence Bejaia becomes the capital of the Algeria Births William of Malmsbury Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Saint Famianus Eliezer ben Nathan of Mainz Deaths Saint Malcoldia of Asti Saint Adalbero Categories: 1090 ... Roger Borsa (1060/1061 – February 22, 1111) was the son and successor of Robert Guiscard, the Norman conqueror of Southern Italy and Sicily. ... The Normans (adapted from the name Northmen or Norsemen) were a mixture of the indigenous people of France and the Viking invaders under the leadership of Hrolf Ganger, who adopted the French name Rollo and swore allegiance to the king of France (Charles the Simple). ... Apulia (official Italian name: Puglia) is a region in southeastern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Otranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. ... A Benedictine is a person who follows the Rule of St Benedict. ... Map of Italy showing Salerrno southeast of Naples Salerno is a town and a province in Campania, south-western Italy, located on the gulf of the same name on the Tyrrhenian Sea. ...

The place chosen in 1091 for his new retreat by Bruno and some followers who had joined him was in the Diocese of Squillace, in a small forested high valley, where the band constructed a little wooden chapel and cabins. His patron there was Roger Guiscard, Count of Sicily and Calabria and uncle of the Duke of Apulia, who granted them the lands they occupied, and a close friendship developed. Bruno went to the Guiscard court at Mileto to visit the count in his sickness (1098 and 1101), and to baptize his son Roger (1097), the future King of Sicily. But more often Roger went into retreat with his friends, where he erected a simple house for himself. Through his generosity, the monastery of St. Stephen was built in 1095, near the original hermitage dedicated to the Virgin. Events Henry, son of William I attempted a coup against his brothers but failed to seize the English throne. ... Roger I (1031 – June 22, 1101), Norman ruler of Sicily, was the youngest son of Tancred of Hauteville. ... Sicilian disambiguates here; see also Sicilian language or Sicilian Defence. ... Calabria, formerly Brutium, is a region in southern Italy which occupies the toe of the Italian peninsula south of Naples. ... Events First Crusade: end of the siege of Antioch. ... Events A second wave of crusaders arrives in the newly established Kingdom of Jerusalem, after being heavily defeated by Kilij Arslan I at Heraclia. ... Roger II, from Liber ad honorem Augusti of Petrus de Ebulo, 1196. ... Events Edgar I deposes Donald III to become king of Scotland. ... Events The country of Portugal is established for the second time. ...

At the turn of the new century the friends of St. Bruno died one after the other: Urban II in 1099; Landuin, the prior of the Grande Chartreuse, his first companion, in 1100; Count Roger in 1101. Bruno followed October 6, 1101. 1099 also refers to a United States tax form used for--among other things--independent contractors. ... The Grande Chartreuse is the head monastery of the Carthusian order. ... Events William II of England dies in a hunting accident - Henry I becomes King of England King Henry I proclaims the Charter of Liberties, one of the first examples of a constitution. ... Events A second wave of crusaders arrives in the newly established Kingdom of Jerusalem, after being heavily defeated by Kilij Arslan I at Heraclia. ...

Bruno's legacy

After his death, the Carthusians of Calabria, following a frequent custom of the Middle Ages, dispatched a roll-bearer, a servant of the community laden with a long roll of parchment, hung round his neck, who travelled through Italy, France, Germany, and England. stopping to announce the death of Bruno, and in return, the churches, communities, or chapters inscribed upon his roll, in prose or verse, the expression of their regrets, with promises of prayers. Many of these rolls have been preserved, but few are so extensive or so full of praise as that about St. Bruno. A hundred and seventy-eight witnesses, of whom many had known the deceased, celebrated the extent of his knowledge and the fruitfulness of his instruction. Strangers to him were above all struck by his great knowledge and talents. But his disciples praised his three chief virtues — his great spirit of prayer, an extreme mortification, and a devotion to the Blessed Virgin.

Both the churches built by him in the desert were dedicated to the Blessed Virgin: Our Lady of Casalibus in Dauphiné, Our Lady Della Torre in Calabria; and, faithful to his inspirations, the Carthusian Statutes proclaim the Mother of God the first and chief patron of all the houses of the order, whoever may be their particular patron.

Centuries passed before he was canonized

Bruno was buried in the little cemetery of the hermitage of Santa Maria. Though it took centuries for the Catholic Church to canonize the founder of the Carthusians, in the 16th and 17th centuries, Saint Bruno has long been regarded the patron saint of Calabria. (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... In several forms of Christianity, but especially in Roman Catholicism, a patron saint has special affinity for a trade or group. ... Calabria, formerly Brutium, is a region in southern Italy which occupies the toe of the Italian peninsula south of Naples. ...

A writer as well as founder of his order, St. Bruno composed commentaries on the Psalms and on the Epistles of St. Paul. Two letters of his also remain, his profession of faith, and a short elegy on contempt for the world which shows that he cultivated poetry. Bruno's Commentaries reveal that he knows a little Hebrew and Greek; he is familiar with the Fathers, especially St. Augustine and St. Ambrose. "His style", says Dom Rivet, "is concise, clear, nervous and simple, and his Latin as good as could be expected of that century: it would be difficult to find a composition of this kind at once more solid and more luminous, more concise and more clear". Psalms (Tehilim תהילים, in Hebrew) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. ... The word epistle is from the Greek word epistolos which means a written letter addressed to a recipient or recipients, perhaps part of exchanged correspondence. ... An early portrait of the Apostle Paul. ... The (Early) Church Fathers or Fathers of the Church are the early and influential theologians and writers in the Christian Church, particularly those of the first five centuries of Christian history. ... St. ... Saint Ambrose, Latin Sanctus Ambrosius, Italian SantAmbrogio (circa 340 - April 4, 397), bishop of Milan, was one of the most eminent fathers of the Christian church in the 4th century. ...

In Catholic art, Saint Bruno can be recognized by a skull that he holds and contemplates, with a book and a cross. He may be crowned with a halo of seven stars; or with a roll bearing the device O Bonitas. , by Albrecht Dürer Skull symbolism is instinctive in human nature. ... Look up book in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The traditional form of the Christian cross, known as the Latin cross. ... Jesus is usually depicted with a round halo bearing a cross, as in this dome mosaic from the Church of Daphni in Athens. ... The Pleiades star cluster A star is a massive body of plasma in outer space that is currently producing or has produced energy through nuclear fusion. ... A Device can be taken to mean: an electrical device designed to carry power, but not use it. ...

Linked to the legend of the doctor of Paris

The hagiographic legend that ascribed a motivation to Bruno for his withdrawal from the world - a motivation impressed upon him in a portent at the funeral of Cenodoxus, a learned doctor (a teacher of philosophy and medicine) of Paris - was assembled by the playwright Jacob Bidermann in 1602; the play was published in 1605 under a lengthy title beginning Cenodoxus Sive Doctor Parisiensis; it is a dramatization of the legend of the damnation of the good Doctor of Paris, in which Bruno among the hundreds of witnesses saw a macabre event unfold in 11th century Paris. In Notre-Dame de Paris a priest, in attempting to perform the last rites of the universally beloved Cenodoxus, was repeatedly interrupted, day after day, by the crying out of the dead doctor's corpse, that it could not be saved, but had been accused, judged, and justly damned to hell for all eternity. According to legend, Bruno was impressed by what he saw, and, concluding that the sin of pride was the source of the doctor's demise, decided that withdrawing from society, and praying, was far, far safer than remaining in society, and doing good deeds. So, choosing to depart from Paris, he looked for a place quite far from civilization, suitable for building a hermitage where, in the solitude of likeminded individuals, he could worship God. Hagiography is the study of saints. ... Cenodoxus, is one of several mediaeval miracle plays by Jacob Bidermann, an early 17th century German seminarian and prolific playwright. ... Jacob Bidermann was born in 1578 in the village of Ehingen, about 30 miles southwest of Ulm. ... This page is about the year. ... This article is about the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. ... Pride logo PRIDE or PRIDE Fighting Championships is a mixed martial arts organization based in Japan, promoted by Dream Stage Entertainment. ...

His feast is observed on October 6. The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organising a liturgical year on the level of days by associating each day with a saint, and referring to the day as the saints day of that saint. ... October 6 is the 279th day of the year (280th in Leap years). ...

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Bruno