, or Alainde L'Isle or de Lille, is the name under which two persons, who were contemporaries, have
, or Alainde L'Isle or de Lille,
is the name under which two persons, who were contemporaries, have been confounded by most biographers. The
subject of the present article, usually termed Alanus senior,
or major, was born at Lille in Flanders, about the beginning of the twelfth century; and his parents having demoted
him from his birth to the service of religion, he received a
suitable education. When the fame of St. Bernard began
to spread abroad, Alanus was sent, in 1128, to study at
Clairvaux, under that celebrated ecclesiastic, and very
soon acquired a distinction above his companions. St. Bernard afterwards placed him at the head of the abbey of
Rivour, in the diocese of Troyes in Champagne; and in
1151, procured him the bishopric of Auxerre, over which
he presided until 1167, when he resigned it, and returned
to Clairvaux, where he remained until his death in October
1181. His works, still in existence, are, 1. “Vita sancti
Bernard!,
” printed in the second volume of St. Bernard’s
works, 1690, fol. 2. “Testamentum suum,
” or his Testament, made in Explanationes in Prophetias Merlini Angli,
”
in seven books, Francfort,