Bernat Calbó (or Calvó) (''c''. 1180 – 26 October 1243), sometimes called Bernard of Calvo, was a Catalan jurist, bureaucrat, monk, bishop, and soldier. Born and educated in Manso Calvo near

Reus Reus () is the capital of Baix Camp, in Camp de Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. The area has long been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental significance during the time of the Phylloxera plague. Currently it is known f ...

, Bernat belonged to a family of the

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

ly class and early on served as a jurist and functionary at the ''curia'' of the

Archdiocese of Tarragona The Archdiocese of Tarragona () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory located in north-eastern Spain, in the province of Tarragona, part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The archdiocese heads the ecclesiastical province of Tarragon ...

. In 1214 he became a

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monk at the monastery of

Santes Creus The Monastery of ''Santa Maria de Santes Creus'', () is a former Cistercian monastery in the municipality of Aiguamúrcia, Catalonia, Spain. The abbey was erected in the 12th century, in today's municipality of Aiguamúrcia, in the village of ...

, eventually being elected its first abbot and, in 1223 or 1233,

Bishop of Vich The Diocese of Vic () is a Latin Church, Latin diocese of the Catholic Church with its seat in the city of Vic, Spain, Vic in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tarragona, ecclesiastical province of Tarragona in Catalonia, Spain. Vic Cathedral, ...

. In 1238 he and his episcopal household joined the

Crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

of ''

Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

'' launched against the ''taifa'' of Valencia."Pontifical ornaments of St. Bernat Calbó", Museu Episcopal de Vic
/ref> Bernat brought material aid to the sieges of Burriana and

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. When the latter fell to the forces of

James I of Aragon James I the Conqueror ( Catalan/Valencian: ''Jaume I or Jaume el Conqueridor''; Aragonese: ''Chaime I'' ''o Conqueridor''; ; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1 ...

, Bernard and his troops joined the rest for a celebratory first Mass in the central mosque of the city. He received many grants of land in the

Kingdom of Valencia The Kingdom of Valencia (; ; ), located in the eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon. The Kingdom of Valencia was formally created in 1238 when the Moorish taifa of Valencia was taken in ...

, which he visited a second time in 1242. Still a jurist, he helped to publish the Valencian laws, the so-called

Furs of Valencia ''Furs'' of Valencia (, ) were the laws of the Kingdom of Valencia during most of the Middle Ages and early modern Europe. The laws were a series of charters which, altogether, worked similarly as a modern constitution does now. Thus, they defi ...

, before his death at Vich in 1243. He was buried in the Cathedral of Vic. In 1260 he was

beatified Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...

Pope Alexander IV Pope Alexander IV (1199 or 1185 – 25 May 1261) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 December 1254 to his death. Early career He was born as Rinaldo di Jenne in Jenne, Italy, Jenne (now in the Province of Rome ...

and on 26 September 1710 he was

canonised Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sai ...

Pope Clement XI Pope Clement XI (; ; ; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI was a patron of the arts an ...

. The Cistercians celebrate his

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

is on 24 October; the diocese of Vich on 26 October.Rimoldi, Antonio. "San Bernardo Calvó", ''Santi e Beati'', 30 August 2011
/ref> He is usually represented as a bishop in a Cistercian habit.

References

Sources

*Burns, Robert Ignatius. ''The Crusader Kingdom of Valencia: Reconstruction on a Thirteenth-Century Frontier''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1967. See page 309. {{DEFAULTSORT:Calbo, Bernat 13th-century jurists Spanish Roman Catholic saints 13th-century Christian saints 13th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Kingdom of Aragon Spanish Cistercians 1180 births 1243 deaths