Bernards

This name derives from the Old High German “Berinhart / Berenhard,” composed of two elements “*bernu- / *berô” (bear, wild animal) plus “*harduz / *hardu-” (hard, strong, brave, fearless, powerful). In turn, the name means “strong and powerful as a bear.” The Normans brought it to England, where it replaced the Old English cognate Beornheard. 1) Bernard of Clairvaux was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order. After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. 2) Bérard d’Albret, lord of Vayres and Vertheuil († 1346), was a cadet member of the House of Albret in Gascony and an English commander during the Hundred Years War. 3) Berard of Carbio was a Franciscan friar who was executed in Morocco due to his attempts to promote Christianity, a thirteenth-century saint, and martyr. According to tradition, Berard was born into Leopardi’s noble family and was a native of Carbio in Umbria, a province of the Papal States.