Berno (Bern, Bernard) of Reichenau

BERNO (BERN, BERNARD) OF REICHENAU: Abbot of Reichenau (Benedictine abbey on as island in the Untersee of Lake Constance, 4 m. w.n.w. of Constance) 1008 till his death, June 7, 1048. He was monk in a monastery at Prüm near Treves when appointed abbot; under his rule Reichenau regained its prosperity, which had been lost under his predecessor, the abbot Immo; the library was enriched, scholars were attracted to the school, and the church of St. Mark was rebuilt. He was renowned personally as scholar, as poet, and, above all, as musician; he accompanied the emperor, Henry II, to Rome in 1014 for his coronation and after his return introduced reforms in German church music. Besides lives of saints and theological and liturgical treatises he left a number of letters and works upon music, which are published in Gerbert, Scriptores ecclesiastici de musica sacra, ii (St. Blaise, 1784). His writings are in MPL, cxliii.

(A. Hauck.)