nard was mentioned a little way back,[78] when we were speaking
of the Cistercian order. But I must now tell you something more
specially about him; for Bernard was not only famous for his piety and
for his eloquent speech, but by means of these he gained such power and
influence that he was able to direct the course of things in the Church
in such a way as no other man ever did.

[78] Page 209.

Bernard, then, was born near Dijon, in Burgundy, in the year 1091. His
father was a knight; his mother, Aletha, was a very religious woman, who
watched carefully over his childhood, and prayed earnestly and often
that he might be kept from the dangers of an evil world. As Bernard was
passing from boyhood to youth, the good Aletha died. We are told that
even to her last breath she joined in the prayers and psalm-singing of
the clergy who stood round her bed; and he afterwards fancied that she
appeared to him in visions, warning him lest he should run off in
pursuit of worldly learning so as to forget the importance of religion
above all things.

After a time, Bernard was led to resolve on becoming a monk. But before
doing so he contrived to bring his father, his uncle, his five brothers,
and his sister to the same mind; and when he asked leave to enter the
Cistercian order, it was at the head of a party of more than thirty. It
is said that, as they were setting out, the eldest brother saw the
youngest at play, and told him that all the family property would now
fall to him. "Is it heaven for you, and earth for me?" said the boy;
"that is not a fair division;" and he followed Bernard with the rest.

We have seen that, although the Cistercian order had been founded some
years, people were afraid to join it because the rule was so strict.[79]
But the example of Bernard and his companions had a great effect, and so
many others were thus led to enter the order, that the mother-monastery
was far too small to hold them. Bernard was chosen to be head of one of
the swarms which went forth from Citeaux. The name of his new monastery
was Clairvaux, which means _The Bright Valley_. When he and his party
first settled there, they had to bear terrible hardships. They suffered
from cold and from want of clothing. For a time they had to feed on
porridge made of beech-leaves; and even when the worst distress was
over, the plainness and poverty of their way of living astonished all
who saw it.

[79] Page 209.

Bernard himself went so far i