eligion and intellect. How
righteously they could be used we shall see in the case of Bernard.
In repeated instances he interposed the weight of his authority
between the anger of a king or noble and the weakness of a subject
or tenant, and scarcely ever failed in his object. One of the most
remarkable examples of this kind was his conduct toward the Count of
Aquitaine. This nobleman, a man of immense strength of will no less
than body, and violent and despotic beyond his fellows, having
espoused the cause of one rival Pope against another, dismissed from
their sees several excellent bishops in his territory who were
adverse to his views, and supplied their places without regard to
fitness of character. Bernard, having twice remonstrated in vain,
after the last interview held a solemn mass in the church near the
count's castle, at which that nobleman, as excommunicated, could not
be present, but stood outside. The consecration of the wafer was
duly performed, and the blessing bestowed upon the people, when
Bernard suddenly made his way through the crowd, bearing in his hand
the Host on its paten (or plate), and confronted the astonished
count as he stood at the church door amid his soldiery. With pale,
stern face, and flashing eyes, the daring monk thus addressed the
haughty chief: "Twice have the Lord's servants entreated you, and
you have despised them. Lo! now the blessed Son of the Virgin--the
Head and Lord of that Church which you persecute--appears to you!
Behold your Judge, to whom your soul must be rendered! Will you
reject Him like His servants?" A hush of awe and expectation among
the bystanders followed these words, broken by a groan from the
conscience-stricken count, whose imagination was filled with such
lively terror of Divine wrath that he fell fainting to the ground.
Though raised up by his men, he again fell speechless. Bernard,
seizing the opportunity, called to his side one of the deposed
bishops, and on the count's recovery ordered that the kiss of
reconciliation should be bestowed, and the exile restored. The
effect of this scene was not transient, for the proud spirit had
been subdued in the count's heart, and he performed penance for his
offences by going on pilgrimage.

[Illustration: The Vision of St. Bernard.]

Various other instances of Bernard's boldness in rebuking kings, nobles,
and even Popes, might be adduced. His most remarkable appearance as a
political peace-maker was in the disput