Bernwig was abbot of the Abbey of Saint Gall 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 (german: Verbrüderungsbuch, la, liber confraternitatum 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 ente ...

of Reichenau Abbey 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 (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...

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

Lothar Lothar 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'', meaning "fame", and ...

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 (c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany and Louis II of East Francia, was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 843 to 876 AD. Grandson of emperor Charlemagne and the third son of Louis the P ...

, after his victory over Lothar, became the ruler of

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

Notes and references

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