Background
He was born about 960, the grandson of Athelbero, Count Palatine of Saxony.
He was born about 960, the grandson of Athelbero, Count Palatine of Saxony.
He studied at Hildesheim and later at Mainz, where he was ordained priest, and in 987 was called to the imperial court.
The empress-regent Theophano appointed him tutor of the child Otto III, and on this ruler his learning and idealism made a lasting impression. Bernward was named bishop of Hildesheim in 993 and proved a good ecclesiastical and civil ruler. He fortified his episcopal city against threatened invasions by the Normans and the Slavs. A staunch supporter of the Cluniac Reform, he recruited able candidates for the priesthood and presided over several synods. Shortly before his death, November 20, 1022, Bernward became a Benedictine; he was canonized by Celestine III in 1192. Bernward was a man of great versatility, and under the guidance of his teacher Thangmar, who later wrote his life, he became proficient even in the mechanical arts. At Hildesheim he built St. Michael's abbey-church, considered the noblest example of early Romanesque architecture in Saxony.
He was a member of Order of Saint Benedict.
