Career

He was introduced into Carmelite literature around the 15th century as Saint Berthold of Mount Carmel and is said to have been a general of the Order before Brocard. Berthold was not from Calabria. In fact, the label "Calabrian" was a euphemism for "Westerner." He was a son of the Count of Limoges and was born in Malifaye in southwest France.

Berthold was a nephew of Aymeric of Malifaye, the Latin patriarch of Antioch.

Berthold went to the Holy Land as a Crusader and was in Antioch during it"s siege by the Saracens. During this time he had a vision of Christ denouncing the evil ways of the soldiers.

At the time, there were a number of hermits from the West scattered throughout Palestine. Some accounts hold that in 1185 he came to Mount Carmel, built a small chapel there, and gathered a community of hermits who would live at his side in imitation of the prophet Elijah.

Berthold lived out his days on Mount Carmel, ruling the community he had founded for forty-five years until his death in 1195.

Tradition holds that he was accepted as leader of the hermits by Saint Brocard. His feast day is celebrated on March 29.