Nicholas of Clairvaux
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Nicholas of Clairvaux, also Nicholas of Montiéramey[1] (French: Nicolas de Clairvaux, Nicolas de Montiéramey; b and d 12th century) was a French Benedictine monk who later became a Cistercian monk. He was a secretary of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (until Saint Bernard dismissed him), and the author of letters and sermons.
Nicholas entered the monastic life at Montiéramey Abbey, a Benedictine monastery near Troyes in Champagne. In 1145 or 1146, he entered the Cistercian Clairvaux Abbey and became one of the secretaries of Bernard of Clairvaux. He committed several misdemeanours and was expelled from Clairvaux in 1151, after a visit to Cluny Abbey, for having used the seals of the abbot of Clairvaux without authorisation. After Bernard's death in 1153, Nicholas was in Rome and presented a manuscript of Bernard's sermons to the pope, Pope Adrian IV. He was on good terms with the pope's chancellor Roland Bandinelli, who later was elected Pope Alexander III.[2] Nicholas soon returned to Montiéramey. Despite the disgrace of having been dismissed by Bernard, he succeeded in gaining the good opinion of Count Henry I of Champagne, whose service he entered. In 1160, Nicolas became prior of Saint-Jean-in-Châtel, priory of Montiéramey.[3] He died in either 1176[4] or 1178.[5]
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