BERNE
509
BERNIER
anteed freedom of public worship. The Catholic
community made use of the French Protestant
church until Father Baud (1832-67) built a Catholic
church (1S5S-64); in 1864 the parish, together with
the old part of the canton, was included in the Dio-
cese of Basle. The Catholics refused to recognize the
deposition of Bishop Lachat of Basle and rejected
the laws of 1873-74, which were unfavourable to the
Church; these included the laws concerning parish
elections, the cantonal sj-nod as the highest church
authority, and civil marriage. In the consequent
religious struggle (Kidtiirkampl) they were obliged
to give up their church and all church-endowments
to the Old Catholics, who were favoured in every way
by the authorities, as was shown by the erection of
an Old Catholic theological faculty in 1874, etc. It
was not until the decade beginning with 1880 that,
during the pastorate of Father Jacob Staniniler, a
truce was established l>etween Church and State.
Father Stammler built a new church, 1896-1900,
and was raised to the See of Basle-Lugano in 1906.
The chronicles of Valerius Anshklm (d. 1540) and other
medieval writers have been edited (1884-1901) by the Histori-
cal Society of the Canton of Berne. See also Fontes rerujti
Bemensium (a collection of documents earlier than the year
1366— Berne, 1877-1903). Walthaed, Description de la ville
de Berne (Berne, 1827); Fischer, Gesckichte der Disputation
und Reformation in Bern (Berne, 1S2S); Von Root, Bemische
Stadtgeschichte (1886)' Idem, Bems Burgerschaft und GeseUen-
schaft (.Berne. 1891); Idem, Bern in den XUI.-XIX. Jahrhut.
(Berne. 1898-1907); .Schwab and Demme, Die Armenpflege
der Sladt Bern (1899); Von MiiLiNEN, Bems Geschichte 1191-
1S91 (a pamphlet — Berne, 1891); Geiser. Die Verfassung des
alien Bern 1191-179S (Berne, 1891); Idem, Geschichte des
Amienwesen im Kanton Bern (Berne, 1894); Stammler, Die
- S"/. Antaniuskirche in Bern in Katholische Schwdzerbldtier
(1S93); Idem, Geschichte der Rtmii-schkathnlischen Gcmeinde in Bern (Solothurn. 1901); DAcnET, Le Fire Girard el son temps (Paris, 1896). II; TOrler, Das Franziskancrkloster in Bern. in pamphlet issued at the opening of the new high-school at Berne (Berne, 1903); Annual Reports of the Statistical Bureau of Berne.
Gregor Reinhold.
Berne, Abbey of. See Heeswijk.
Bend, Fr.\ncesco, an Italian comic poet, b. at Lamporecchio (Florence) 1497 or 1498; d. av Florence, 26 May, 1535. The son of noble but impoverished parents, he spent his early years in the Tuscan capital fighting want. At twenty better luck awaited him in Rome, where Cardinal Bibbiena, his relative the Cardinal's nephew, Angelo Dovizi, and Giovanni Mattia Giberti, Bishop of Verona and Datary to Leo X, successively employed him. In the datary, however, he had found a hard taskmaster, who kept him at his correspondence all day long and would not countenance the buffooneries in which the young clerk took huge delight. So, in 1531 we find Berni at Padua in rapturous freedom, gaily bent on bandy- ing insults with the notorious Aretino. Still, the autumn of the same year saw him back at his desk in the episcopal residence of Verona, penning letters with a reluctant hand. Not until 1533, when Cardi- nal Ippolito del Medici, who had engaged him the year before, made him a canon of the Florentine cathedral, did he find a position that pleased him. But that long dreamed of life, with its unbridled frolic and happy idleness, was not to last, for, becom- ing invoh-ed in the feud then raging between Ippolito and Alessandro dei Medici, he fell a victim to poison under verj' mysterious circumstances two years afterwards.
Berni 's most extensive work, the refashioning of Matteo Maria Boiardo's chivalric poem, "L'Orlando innamorato", was published at Milan seven years after his death and again at Venice, 1.545. Leaving the original plot and detailed dtnoucmenl entirely unchanged, the jovial Florentine .sought to enamel with a smooth diction, and colour with many a quip and prank what he thought offensive on account of its ruggedness of form and dullness of style. Thus he unwittingly made a parody of a creation strong
and noble in its native simplicity. Undoubtedly
Berni 's fame is more deservedly due to his "Rime",
embracing "Sonetti", "Sonettesse", and "Capitoli",
wherein the Bernesque manner found its inception
as well as highest achievement, and snivelling
Petrarchists_ were pitilessly flouted. In spite of
numberless imitators, including such men as Bene-
detto Varchi, Ercole Bentivoglio, Giovanni Mauro,
Matteo Franzesi, and Ludovico Dolce, Berni's easy
flowing tercets, fairly bubbling over with graceful
raillery and capering mirth, dwarfed all his rivals.
The "Rime, Poesie latine, e Lettere" were edited
by A. Virgili at Florence, in 1885. Nor are the
Latin poems, a rustic farce known as "Catrina"
(Florence, 1567), and the "Dialogo contro i poeti"
(Ferrara, 1527) unworthy productions of his facile
pen. The morality of Berni's writings is far from
commendable.
Virgili. Francesco Berni. con documenti inediti (Florence, 1881). .\bout the Bernesque type of poetry see: Mazzoni, Fra lihri e carte ( Rome, 1887); Gaspary, Geschichte der Hal. Lit. (Strasburg, 188S), II, 514.
Edoardo San Gigv.^nni.
Bemier, Etienne-Alexandre, French Bishop, b. at Daon (Mayenne), 31 October, 1762; d. at Paris, 1 October, 1S06. He was at first professor of theology in the higher seminary and in the University of Angers, then pastor of St. Laud's parish, in that city. During the Revolution he refused to take the Civil Oath, and succeeded by his eloquence in arousing the peasants of Anjou and Vendfe into insurrection. He then became one of the most important leaders of the whole movement by his personal influence both with the chiefs and on the different military councils. He was called "L'Apotre de la Vendue". As to what was his real conduct during this insurrection, towards the end of it especially, its various historians do not agree. At any rate, after the 18th Brumaire, Bernier played the part of negotiator between the First Consul and the insurgents. When Bonaparte had resolved, in spite of all difficulties and opposition, to unite the French nation and the Catholic Church, he chose the Abb6 Bernier to represent the French Government in the preparatory negotiations. This choice was a happy one, on the part of the First Consul, for, despite how widely historians difler in their appreciations of Bernier 's character, none of them denies him a deep and subtle intelligence, an untiring and resourceful activity, and a seductive influence — all qualities which made him a clever politician.
As soon as Mgr. Spina and Caselli, the pope's envoys, arrived at Paris, in November, 1800, Bernier entered into relations with them, and, at once began, with Mgr. Spina, the preparatory negotiations on the important points which were to be discussed, namely, the resignation of the bishops, the reduction of the number of dioceses, the alienation of ecclesi- astical properties, nomination to the bishoprics, and the taking of the oath of fidelity to the constitution. They successively presented four projects of reduc- tion, followed by another project drawn up by Na- poleon himself. Difficulties arose, necessitating the presence in Paris of the Papal Secretary of State. Consalvi, in June, 1801. The Concordat was to be signed on 13 July, and Bernier had been appointed by a decree of the preceding day (Messidor 23, an. IX) as one of the three representatives of the French Government, to conclude the Concordat and sign it. In the meantime, the project agreed upon had been changed by Bonaparte; letters were e.x- changed between Consalvi and Bernier; Consalvi re- fused to sign the new project. Negotiations con- tinued until the 16th of July, when an agreement was reached and the Concordat signed at 2 o'clock in the morning. (SeeCoNCORD.VT.) In 1802 Bemier was named Bishop of Orleans, by Bonaparte.
