Bernard of Clairvaux Wanted to Find the Ark

Bernard of Clairvaux was a man of many trades and talents: he was a preacher, a mystic, a diplomat, a theologian, a founder and CEO of the abbey (which makes him the Church entrepreneur). A highly successful entrepreneur, actually – he either founded himself or helped found 163 monasteries in different parts of Europe.

One little known passion of his was that he was an avid collector of Christian relics – something that was quite common those days among both ecclesiastical and secular lords.

He allegedly built a large reliquary in Clairvaux – essentially a museum that held 124 Christian relics (which ones were authentic and which weren’t is a different story entirely).

Bernard’s boss and mentor in C;teaux Abbey was the famous Stephen Harding – one of the founders of the Cistercian Order (that Bernard belonged to) … and the principal author of the Harding Bible (hence its name).

For the Old Testament, Harding reached out to rabbis who supplied the Chaldean and Hebraic versions to resolve problematic passages and worked closely with the abbot to ensure the accuracy of translation.

Being a close associate of Harding, Bernard most definitely came in close contact with these rabbis and (most likely) learned enough about the Ark of the Covenant to become convinced that it was still hidden in Jerusalem on Temple Mount.

He developed an obsessive desire to find the Ark – because he wanted it as a crown jewel in his collection of relics; because possession of the relic would have made him the most powerful man in Christendom… or simply because he did not want it to get into wrong hands (i.e., of Muslims… or Jews).

His relative, sponsor and partner Hugh of Champagne was about to leave for the Holy Land for the second time (most likely, to support monasteries – just as he did in Champagne) so Bernard tasked him with finding and securing the Ark.

One theory is that Hugues de Payens who resided in Jerusalem at the time, identified the approximate location of the Ark and proposed to Hugh a venture project to get it… another is that he came to Jerusalem with Hugh of Champagne and identified the location of the Ark with some very creative detective work.

In any event, Hugh agreed to finance the project; Hugues de Payens put together a team of treasure hunters… and in 1118 they found the Ark and delivered it to Hugh… and Bernard (delivered legally – physically it was hundreds of miles away from them). And hid the Ark in a secure location… somewhere in Jerusalem.