Bernard of Clairvaux and the Second Crusade
Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153) was the most influential churchman of his age and the principal public face of the Second Crusade. The Cistercian abbot was commissioned by Pope Eugene III to preach the expedition, and his personal appeals to the kings and nobles of Europe produced results beyond what anyone had anticipated. Bernard’s sermon at Vézelay on Easter Sunday 1146, in which King Louis VII of France took the cross, became one of the most famous scenes of the Middle Ages; the (probably embellished) story is that Bernard had to tear the cloaks of the new crusaders to distribute the cloth as crosses. The real Bernard was a more complex figure than the Cistercian saint of legend — a brilliant writer, a fierce theological controversialist, and the man who got Bernard of Clairvaux canonised in 1174. His reaction to the embarrassing failure of the expedition at the Siege of Damascus in 1148 is also significant, as it shaped how the defeat was understood at the time and in the years that followed.
For the broader context, see the main article on the Second Crusade and the causes of the Crusades. For the question of why the Second Crusade failed, see the dedicated article.
The Rise of Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard was born in 1090 to a noble family in the county of Burgundy. He entered the Cistercian abbey of Cîteaux in 1112, and in 1115 he was sent to found a new monastery at Clairvaux, in the diocese of Langres. Clairvaux would become one of the most important centers of the Cistercian order, and Bernard its most famous abbot.
Bernard’s influence grew rapidly. He was a brilliant preacher, a prolific writer, and a skilled diplomat. He was consulted on matters of theology, on church reform, and on political disputes. He played a key role in the resolution of the papal schism of 1130, supporting Pope Innocent II against the antipope Anacletus II. By the 1140s, Bernard was the most influential churchman in Europe, and his opinion was sought by popes, kings, and bishops alike.
The Preaching of the Second Crusade
The preaching of the Second Crusade began in late 1145, when Pope Eugene III issued the bull Quantum praedecessores, calling for a new expedition in response to the fall of the County of Edessa to Zengi. The bull is one of the most important documents in the history of the Crusades, as it formalized the idea of a Crusade as a defensive war waged by the entire Latin Church. Eugene entrusted the preaching of the expedition to Bernard, who accepted the task with characteristic energy.
Bernard threw himself into the preaching of the Crusade. He traveled through France, the Low Countries, and Germany, preaching in public squares, in churches, and in the courts of kings. His sermons were often electrifying. The most famous is his sermon at Vézelay on Easter Sunday 1146, at which King Louis VII of France took the cross in front of an enormous crowd. According to tradition, the crowd was so eager to take the cross that Bernard had to tear the cloaks of those who had responded, distributing the cloth as crosses to be sewn onto their garments.
Bernard’s preaching was not without controversy. The unauthorized preaching of a German monk named Rudolf had been a problem, and Bernard had to intervene in the Rhineland to suppress Rudolf’s movement. There was also resistance from some ecclesiastical figures, including a canon named Gerhoh of Reichersberg, who argued that the Crusade was theologically problematic. Bernard responded to these objections in his letters, defending the legitimacy of the expedition.
Bernard’s Theology of the Crusade
Bernard’s theology of the Crusade is significant because it shaped how later generations understood the expedition. In his letters and sermons, Bernard argued that the Crusade was a defensive war, justified by the need to protect Christians in the East. He was careful to distinguish the Crusade from mere aggressive warfare, arguing that the use of force against unbelievers was legitimate only when it was a response to actual aggression.
Bernard also emphasized the spiritual rewards of the Crusade. He promised that those who died on the expedition would receive the crown of martyrdom, an argument that had been made in the First Crusade and that would be repeated in later expeditions. Bernard’s theology of the Crusade was not original: he drew on a long tradition of Christian thought about just war. But his prestige and his ability as a writer gave his version of the argument lasting influence.
The Defeat at Damascus
The failure of the Second Crusade at the Siege of Damascus in 1148 was a severe blow to Bernard’s prestige. The expedition had been the most ambitious yet mounted by Latin Christendom, and its collapse after only four days at Damascus was a profound embarrassment. Bernard, who had staked his reputation on the success of the expedition, was widely blamed.
Bernard defended himself in a letter to Pope Eugene III, which is one of the most important documents in the history of the Second Crusade. In the letter, Bernard acknowledged the defeat but argued that it was God’s will, not a failure of preaching or planning. He compared the Crusaders to the children of Israel, who had been punished for their sins during the Exodus. The argument was not entirely successful, and Bernard continued to be criticized for the failure at Damascus.
The failure of the Second Crusade was a major setback for Bernard personally. He was never able to recover fully from the embarrassment of 1148, and his role in the Crusade was a factor in the decline of his influence in the last years of his life. He died in 1153, just five years after the defeat at Damascus, and he did not live to see the rise of Saladin, whose victories in the 1180s would vindicate many of his concerns about the Latin East.
Bernard’s Legacy
Bernard of Clairvaux was canonized in 1174, just 21 years after his death. He is one of the most important figures in the history of the Cistercian order and of the medieval Church more broadly. His role in the Second Crusade is one of the most discussed episodes in his career, and it has been the subject of intense historical analysis.
The modern historian Jonathan Riley-Smith has argued that Bernard’s role in the Second Crusade was the first example of a “papal” Crusade, in which the pope delegated the preaching of the expedition to a trusted churchman. This model would be repeated in later Crusades, including the Third Crusade and the Fourth Crusade. The model was not always successful, as the failure of the Second Crusade showed, but it gave the papacy a powerful tool for mobilizing support for military expeditions.
Bernard’s legacy also includes the Cistercian order, which he helped to build into one of the most important monastic orders of the 12th century. Cistercian monks served widely in the Latin East, and Cistercian houses became important recruiting grounds for the Crusading movement. The Cistercian order also produced some of the most important chroniclers of the Crusades, including later historians of the First Crusade.
Bernard’s Writings on the Second Crusade
Bernard’s letters and sermons on the Second Crusade are essential primary sources. His letter to Pope Eugene III defending the expedition after the defeat at Damascus is one of the most important documents of the period. Bernard’s earlier treatise, the De laude novae militiae (“In Praise of the New Knighthood”), written c. 1132–36 in support of the Knights Templar, is a separate but related work that shaped how the religious character of Crusading knighthood was understood for centuries.
The De laude novae militiae is also significant for what it says about the spiritual rewards of the Crusade. Bernard argued that the Crusader who died in the expedition would receive the immediate crown of martyrdom, an argument that had been used in the First Crusade and that would be repeated in later expeditions. The argument was not without critics, and it was hotly debated in the 12th century. But Bernard’s authority and his ability as a writer gave the argument lasting influence.