Bernardo degli Uberti was an ItalianRoman Catholic prelate who was a professed member and served as an abbot of the Vallumbrosan Order. Uberti served as the Bishop of Parma from 1106 until his death and was appointed as a cardinal. He came from the noble Uberti house from Florence. Uberti served as a papal legate for successive popes in several Italian regions in their disputes with secular rulers and was a close confidante and advisor to the Countess Matilda. He is often considered the third founding father for the order alongside Benedict of Nursia and Giovanni Gualberto. Uberti's fame for holiness became so great that miracles were reported on a frequent basis at his tomb. This led to Pope Innocent II naming Uberti a saint only six years after his death, on 3 December 1139.
Life
Bernardo degli Uberti was born circa 1060 in Florence to the nobles Bruno degli Uberti and Ligarda. His paternal grandfather was Corbizo. He was the nephew of Pietro Igneo. Bernardo's father died sometime in 1085 and it was on 1 July 1085 that he made a donation to the San Salviconvent for his father's repose. But he also became a monk in the Vallumbrosans and he later made another donation for the repose of his father and grandfather on 26 April 1089. He became the abbot for San Salvi and was later elected as the Superior-General for the congregation in 1098 after the death of the abbot Almarius of Vallambrosa. On 7 March 1100 he presided over a meeting of all the order's abbots to discuss important resolutions on both organization and discipline. In 1097 Pope Urban II named Uberti Cardinal-Priest of San Crisogono. He worked at the Lateran until 1101 when he was appointed papal legate to Lombardy and began to serve as an advisor to Countess Matilda. On 7 April 1101 he was sent as a legate to Grosseto and on 4 May 1101 was with Matilda in Governolo where she restituted some lands to the pope upon his advice. He was also a legate to Milan in 1102 to oversee the election of Grosulano as its archbishop while he was later a legate to Pavia on 18 August 1102. He was also with the countess in Panzano on 18 October 1102 and travelled with her to Castro Panciano in March 1103. On 15 August 1104 he was in Parma in an attempt to keep the people faithful to the pope in his struggle against Emperor Heinrich V and the Antipope Maginulf. The people, however, drove him into exile. Some sources state that he was in fact dragged from the altar of the Cathedral in a violent scene. He was exiled again in 1127 after opposing the proclamation of Conrad II. In September 1104 he served as an advisor to the countess in both Cosogno and Modena while on 20 March 1105 he was in the Lateran Palace to sign a papal bull for the pope. Uberti tried to return to Parma in August 1105 to recruit troopers for the pope in his struggle against the German king but this venture proved unsuccessful. He was later appointed as the Bishop of Parma in October 1106 at the Council of Guastalla where the pope made the announcement. He received his episcopal consecration from Paschal II himself in Parma in November. In February 1111 he and Roman Curia were removed from Rome and imprisoned at the behest of the emperor. The pope too had been taken prisoner but it was the countess who managed to obtain their release. But Paschal II decided to crown the emperor and Uberti attended this event in Rome on 13 April 1113. It was almost two decades later that he stood alongside Pope Innocent II when a schism loomed and the antipope Anacletus II attempted to gain control. He died in his sleep on 4 December 1133 and was interred in the Parma cathedral. He was the subject of paintings that Bernardino Gatti and Pietro Perugino made.
Canonization
Uberti's canonization was solemnized on 3 December 1139 after Pope Innocent II proclaimed him to be a saint. Pope Alexander VII and Pope Clement IX made extensions on his liturgical feast for the Parma diocese.
