Bernard II of Baden

Upon the death of his father in 1453, Bernhard returned to Baden. Anxious to preserve the unity and strength of the family domain, he reached an agreement with his brother Charles I to renounce his sovereign rights over a portion of the margraviate. This act of selflessness allowed him to devote himself fully to the service of Emperor Frederick III, of whom he became a personal envoy and ambassador despite his young age. Alongside his diplomatic activities, Bernhard led a life of great spiritual rigor. Received into the Third Order of Saint Francis by a religious named Brother John, he was constantly accompanied by the latter during his travels. Bernhard refused a marriage proposal to Princess Madeleine of France, daughter of King Charles VII, having taken a vow of perpetual chastity. He devoted a considerable portion of his personal income to assisting the poor and the Church (one-third of his income was distributed to the needy, another third was allocated to ecclesiastical works). His piety, charity, and moral integrity strongly impressed his contemporaries, including those at the imperial court in Vienna.

After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Emperor Frederick III planned to organize a crusade to contain the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. Due to his qualities as a negotiator and his deep faith, Bernhard was tasked with visiting several European princely courts (in Germany, France, and Italy) to promote this project and raise funds. In 1458, his mission led him to Genoa to negotiate a maritime alliance. Although the city was then ravaged by a terrible plague epidemic and he was strongly advised against entering it, Bernhard chose to fulfill his duty to the end. He contracted the disease (or became extremely exhausted due to his privations and the climate of contagion). On the way back, while crossing Piedmont, his health deteriorated rapidly. He was forced to stop at the Franciscan convent of Moncalieri, near Turin, where he died holily on July 15, 1458, at the age of about thirty.

From the moment of his death, the local population began to venerate Bernhard as a saint. Numerous unexplained healings and miracles were reported at his tomb, located in the collegiate church of Santa Maria della Scala in Moncalieri. In 1502, he was officially proclaimed patron of the city of Moncalieri. Pope Clement XIV solemnly confirmed his cult (which is equivalent to a beatification) on September 16, 1769. In the 21st century, the Archdiocese of Freiburg im Breisgau undertook steps to relaunch his cause for canonization. After authorization from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in 2008, the diocesan inquiry was opened and concluded on November 21, 2012. On November 8, 2017, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, thus conferring upon him the title of Venerable. (Although the process was temporarily slowed in 2018 following the non-recognition of a miracle by the Vatican, devotion to him remains vibrant).

The spirituality of Bernhard II of Baden is marked by the Franciscan ideal of detachment from material goods, penance, and humble service to one's neighbor. Although born into the high nobility and destined for temporal power, he knew how to reconcile his duties of state, as a diplomat and soldier, with a life of intense prayer, asceticism, and chastity. He received communion at least twice a week, an extremely rare and fervent practice for a layman of his time. Today, the blessed and venerable Bernhard II of Baden is the patron saint of the Archdiocese of Freiburg im Breisgau (alongside Saint Conrad of Constance), of the city of Baden-Baden in Germany, as well as of the city of Moncalieri in Italy. Several churches are dedicated to him, notably the Saint Bernhard Church in Baden-Baden.