a rural public accustomed to the cantares, Berceo uses
rustic imagery and appropriates many techniques of
the juglar’s (minstrel’s) art. This strategy may be seen
clearly in San Millán where he not only uses juglaresque
formulae and epithets but portrays the saint as both a
divine peasant and an epic hero; and, although Berceo
occasionally criticizes juglares, he refers to himself in
Santo Domingo as God’s juglar and to his poem as a
gesta (compilation of deeds).
See also Bernard of Clairvaux
Further Reading
Artiles, J. Los recursos literarios de Berceo. Madrid, 1964.
Dutton, B. (ed.) Gonzalo de Berceo: Obras Completas I–V.
London, 1967–1981.
Gariano, C. Análisis estilístico de los “Milagros de Nuestra
Señora” de Berceo. Madrid, 1965.
Gerli, E. M. “La tipología bíblica y la introducción a los Mila-
gros de Nuestra Señora.” Bulletin of Hispanic Studies 62
(1985), 7–14.
Tesauro, P. (ed.) Gonzalo de Berceo: “Martirio de San Lorenzo.”
Romanica Neapolitana VI. Naples, 1971.
Walsh, J. K. “The Other World in Berceo’s Vida de Santa Oria.”
In Hispanic Studies in Honor of Alan D. Deyermond: A North
American Tribute. Ed. J. S. Miletich. Madison, Wisc., 1986.
291–307.
Kurlat de Weber, F. “Notas para la cronología y composición de
las vidas de santos de Berceo.” Nueva Revista de Filología
Hispánica 15 (1961), 113–30.
Jane E. Connolly
BERNARD GUI
(Bernardus Guidonis; ca. 1261–1331)
Historian, inquisitor, and bishop, Bernard was a Domini-
can who rose through the ecclesiastical ranks in southern
France, in Limoges, Castres, Albi, and Carcassonne. He
was inquisitor at Toulouse from 1307 to 1323. Between
1317 and 1321, he also served Pope John XXII on dip-
lomatic missions in Italy and Flanders. All of Bernard’s
writings were in Latin. Though most were of a historical
nature, he also produced several works of theology (De
articulis fi dei, De peccato originali), liturgy (De ordina-
tione offi cii missae), and hagiography (Legenda sancti
Thome de Aquino, Speculum sanctorale). The Speculum,
a collection of a number of saints’ lives in four parts,
was extremely popular in its day. His most important
work is the still unpublished Flores chronicorum (ca.
1316), a history of the papacy from the birth of Christ
to Clement V. This work, known in over fi fty manu-
scripts (some now lost), went through ten revisions,
the latest of which continues the history to 1331 (John
XXII). Already in the 14th century, it was translated
into Occitan (B.N. fr. 24940) and twice into French
(four manuscripts). Other historical works by Bernard
include treatises on the Roman emperors (Imperatores
Romani, over forty manuscripts), on the kings of France
(Reges Francorum, which exists in four revisions and
two French translations), and on the Dominican order
(catalogues of provincial priors, monographs on indi-
vidual houses, acts of General Chapters, etc.).
Especially noteworthy is Bernard’s history of the
Inquisition (Practica offi cii Inquisitionis; ca. 1314–16;
four manuscripts), which includes an important section
on such heretical groups as Manichaeans, Vaudois,
Pseudo-Apostles, béguines, relapsed Jews, and sor-
cerers. He also composed local histories of the cities
in which, he lived: Limoges, Toulouse, and Lodève.
In spite of the great popularity of his work in the late
Middle Ages, as evidenced by the numerous manuscripts
and the translation of much of his œuvre into French
by Jean Golem for Charles V, few of Bernard’s works
have found modern editors. He was a diligent compiler
and accurate researcher, keen to tease the truth from
contradictory sources. Traveling from monastery to
monastery, Bernard assembled evidence, interviewed
witnesses, and verifi ed his sources at every step. As
information accumulated, he prepared copious lists,
edited, revised, and expanded. Faced with mountains
of material, he regularly composed abridged versions
of his most important works. Bernard’s lack of literary
skill is compensated for by his careful preservation of
signifi cant documents and information whose original
sources have been lost.Further Reading
Bernard Gui. Practica Inquisitionis heretice pravitatis, ed. C.
Douais. Paris: Picard, 1886.
——. Manuel de l’inquisiteur, ed. and trans. G. Mollat. 2 vols.
Paris: Champion, 1926–27.
Delisle, Léopold. “Notice sur les manuscrits de Bernard Gui.”
Notices et extraits des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque Nationale
27 (1885): 169–455.
Thomas, Antoine. “Bernard Gui, frère prêcheur.” Histoire lit-
téraire de la France 35 (1921): 139–232.
Vemet, A. “La diffusion de l’œuvre de Bernard Gui d’après la
tradition manuscrite.” Cahiers de Fanjeaux 16 (1981): 221–42.
Grover A. ZinnBERNARD OF CHARTRES (d. 1124–30)
Most of our knowledge of Bernard comes through
John of Salisbury’s Metalogicon. John studied with
Gilbert of Poitiers, William of Conches, and Richard
the Bishop, who were all Bernard’s pupils at Chartres
when he was chancellor of the schools. Not only was
John’s knowledge secondhand, but his Metalogicon has
an ulterior motive: he is not merely describing Bernard
for archival reasons but wishes to contrast his good, old
teaching methods with the newfangled approach of the
Cornifi cians. It is diffi cult, then, to be certain how far
to trust John’s encomium.BERNARD OF CHARTRES