BERNART DE VENTADORN
(fl. ca. 1145–1180)
With Jaufre Rudel, Bemart de Ventadorn was one of
the most popular and most imitated of the 12th-century
troubadours. His romanticized biography, or vida, says
that he was of humble origins but rose to sing his love
for the wife of the lord of Ventadorn. Aside from links
to the Ventadorn castle and school, which are clear from
his name and style, Bernart sang at the court of Count
Raymond V of Toulouse and probably also visited Eng-
land, perhaps in the entourage of Eleanor of Aquitaine.
The vida further tells us that he retired to the Cistercian
abbey of Dalon, but this, like the reports of his early
years, has not been documented.
Of his lyric production, some forty-one songs sur-
vive, all but three of which are love songs, or cansos.
(Two of the three tensos, or debate poems, are of less
than certain attribution.) Eighteen of Bernart’s songs
are preserved with their music. Bernart sang in the clear
style called trobar leu. His cansos are characterized by
the melodious language, nostalgic tone, vivid imagery,
and musical virtuosity that won him imitators among
medieval poets. But it is their lyrical intensity and emo-
tional span that have especially earned him admirers in
our own time.
See also Eleanor of Aquitane; Jaufre Rudel
Further Reading
Bernard de Ventadour. Chansons d’amour, ed. Moshé Lazar.
Paris: Klincksieck, 1966.
——. The Songs of Bernart de Ventadom, ed. Stephen G. Nichols,
Jr., et al. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press,
1962.
Kaehne, Michael. Studien zur Dichtung Bernarts von Ventadom.
Munich: Fink, 1983.
Schemer-Van Ortmerssen, Gisela. Die Text-Mehdiestruktur in
den Liedern des Bernart de Ventadorn. Münster: Aschen-
dorff, 1973.
Roy S. Rosenstein
BERNO VON REICHENAU
(d. June 7, 1048)
The abbot of one of southern Germany’s leading mon-
asteries, Berno von Reichenau (also Bern, Bernardus,
Berno Augiensis) contributed richly to medieval Ger-
man culture. His writings encompass treatises on music
theory, liturgy, and theology, as well as saints’ lives,
sermons, letters, and musical compositions. His most
famous pupil was the music theorist, composer, and
historian Hermann von Reichenau (also Hermannus
Contractus), whose historical writings provide essential
information concerning Berno’s biography.
The circumstances of Berno’s birth are unknown,
although he was probably born to a German family of
some prominence. He is fi rst associated with the mon-
astery of Prüm. In 1008 Emperor Henry II appointed
him abbot of the island monastery of Reichenau. In
1014 Berno traveled to Rome for Henry’s coronation, a
measure of his high political standing. In 1022 he again
accompanied Henry to Rome, this time also visiting
Monte Cassino. These journeys, as well as a third trip
in 1027 to attend the coronation of Emperor Conrad
II, doubtless gave him access to sources important for
his musical and liturgical research. Upon the accession
of the unsympathetic Conrad, Berno was embroiled in
disputes over encroachments upon previously granted
ecclesiastical privileges. Emperor Henry III, son of
Conrad II, proved to be a more supportive sovereign
than his predecessor, and visited Berno at Reichenau
on February 4, 1040. Berno died there on June 7, 1048,
having in his forty years as abbot guided the monastery
to new levels of artistic and scholarly achievement. He
was buried in the newly consecrated choir of the abbey
church. Berno’s tomb was rediscovered in 1929; mea-
surements of his remains show that he stood an imposing
six feet three inches tall.
As a music theorist, Berno struck a balance between
practical application and abstract theory. His most sig-
nifi cant contributions are three tonaries (lists of chants
ordered by mode). Most important of these is the Pro-
logus in tonarium, a tonary with explanatory prologue
that was widely distributed during the eleventh and
twelfth centuries, sometimes with later interpolations.
By Berno’s own admission it is mainly a compendium
from earlier sources. Another, abridged, tonary, De
consona tonorum diversitate, was apparently intended
for teaching novices at Reichenau. In addition to the
tonaries, a treatise entitled De mensurando monochordo
(On measuring monochords) has been tentatively at-
tributed to Berno. Berno’s views on mode appear to
have been relatively conservative, and do not refl ect the
growing infl uence of the Italian music theorist Guido of
Arezzo. Berno’s treatment of transposition and modal
affi nity forms an important background to Hermann’s
highly original work. In the area of rhythm, Berno
warns against the failure to distinguish between long
and short notes.
Berno’s musical compositions include three hymns,
an Epiphany trope, three sequences, and an offi ce for
Saint Ulrich; an offi ce for Saint Meinrad is also tenta-
tively ascribed to him.
As hagiographer, liturgist, and theologian, Berno’s
contributions are also rich. His Vita sancti Udalrici
(Life of Saint Ulrich) is noteworthy for its fi ne literary
style. Also ascribed to Berno are treatises on religious
topics including Advent, prayer (in hexameter), fast-
ing, and heresy, as well as on the Mass (De quibusdam
rebus ad missae offi cium pertinentibus, On Certain
Things Pertaining to the Offi ce of the Mass) and onBERNART DE VENTADORN