BARDO OF OPPERSHOFEN, ST.

Archbishop of Mainz; b. Oppershofen, Germany, c. 980; d. Dornloh, near Paderborn, June 10, 1051. Born of a prominent family, he was sent at an early age to the monastery of Fulda, where he eventually became a monk and the director of the monastic school. In 1029 Bardo was made abbot of Werden, and two years later he assumed the leadership of the important monastery of Hersfeld. On June 29, 1031, he was consecrated archbishop of Mainz and energetically completed the construction of the cathedral, which he consecrated in 1036 when the emperor, conrad ii, honored the occasion with his presence. The most important event during his episcopate was the synod held at Mainz in 1049 at which Pope leo ix presided. In addition to having a great reputation for piety and humility, Bardo was highly regarded as an eloquent preacher and was frequently called another Chrysostom. If the sermon reported in his longer biography (Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores 11:330–35) can be taken as typical, the author was surprisingly familiar with Sacred Scripture. He was buried in the new cathedral at Mainz.

Feast: June 15.

Bibliography: Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores (Berlin 1826—) 11:317–342. Acta Sanctorum June 2:296–315. j.f. bohmer and c. will, eds., Regesten zur Geschichte der Mainzer Erzbischöfe, 2 v. (Innsbruck 1877–86) 1:165–176. Literature. g. allemang, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912) 6:775. p. acht, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiburg 1957–65) 1:1243. a. m. zimmermann, Bibliotheca sanctorum 2:780–782; Kalendarium Benedictinum (Metten 1933–38) 2:297–299.

[h. dressler]