Bernwig was abbot of the

Abbey of Saint Gall The Abbey of Saint Gall () is a dissolved abbey (747–1805) in a Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Carolingian-era monastery existed from 719, founded by Saint Othmar on the spot where Saint Gall had er ...

from 837 to 840/841. On 25 May 837, he was first documented as Abbot of Saint Gall. His date of birth is not known; he died on a 8 December of an unknown year. Bernwig is often mentioned as registrar between 809 und 826. Before that, he is registered as witness. Between 827 and 831, he is mentioned as dean. An entry of the same name can be found in the

confraternity book A confraternity book (, or ''confraternitatis''), also called a ''liber memorialis'' (memorial book) or ''liber vitae'' (book of life), is a medieval register of the names of people who had entered into a state of spiritual brotherhood (confratern ...

Reichenau Abbey Reichenau Abbey was a Benedictine monastery on Reichenau Island (known in Latin as Augia Dives) in southern Germany. It was founded in 724 by the itinerant Saint Pirmin, who is said to have fled Visigothic Spain ahead of the Moorish invaders, w ...

and in the book of vows (German ''Professbuch'') of Saint Gall. According to Ratpert, Bernwig was elected abbot with the permission of Emperor

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (; ; ; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only ...

and by request of his predecessor Gozbert. Ratpert reports further that Bernwig sided with

Lothar Lothar or Lothair is a Danish, Finnish, German, Norwegian, and Swedish masculine given name, while Lotár is a Hungarian masculine given name. Both names are modern forms of the Germanic Chlothar (which is a blended form of ''Hlūdaz'', me ...

when Emperor Louis' sons found themselves in a dispute for succession. His partisanship with Lothar is said to have cost him the office of abbot. It can be assumed that Bernwig's dismissal between August 840 and April 841 occurred when

Louis the German Louis the German (German language, German: ''Ludwig der Deutsche''; c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany (German language, German: ''Ludwig II. von Deutschland''), was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 8 ...

, after his victory over Lothar, became the ruler of

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic peoples, Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE ...

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernwig Abbots of Saint Gall 9th-century deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 9th-century Christian abbots