Education Berthold was born into a minor noble Saxon family. He took
minor orders and became an
acolyte of the
canons of
St Gereon's in Cologne. He received an education in secular and
canon law, the
liberal arts and the Bible. In October 1178,
Suppression of Waldensians In 1199, Bertram complained to the pope about the presence in his diocese of lay men and women who preached without a licence and had produced a
translation of the Bible into French. They held secret meetings, criticized the clergy and lived in poverty. Bertram's description seems to indicate that these men and women were
Waldensians. Bertram had previously met their leader,
Peter Waldo, at the Lateran council in 1179. He was also present at the meeting between Frederick Barbarossa and Pope
Lucius III in November 1184, when the Waldensians were first officially condemned. He does not name the sect active in Metz as Waldensian. The first sources to do so are
Caesar of Heisterbach, according to whom Bertram was verbally attacked in his own cathedral by two Waldensians, and
Aubrey of Trois-Fontaines. There is evidence that some of the leading townspeople had adopted Waldensian views. Bertram wrote to the pope, naming the leading Waldensians. On 12 July 1199, Innocent wrote letters to Bertram and the citizens of Metz. Innocent ordered Bertram to investigate the vernacular translation of the Bible the heretics were using and to submit a report to Rome. His appeal to the people was apparently ineffective, and Bertram wrote him another letter. He identified one of the sect's leaders, Crispin, as a renegade priest. He had been unable to identify the translators, but the leaders claimed to obey God alone. On 9 December, Innocent charged the abbots of
Cîteaux, and
Morimond with aiding in the suppression of the sect. As a result, some of the sectarians'
books were burnt. Nevertheless, anticlerical ideas may have been popular with even the powerful citizens in Metz and the heresy, while dampened, was not eradicated. When the
Fifth Crusade was preached there in 1211 there was opposition and Caesar of Heisterbach records the presence of strong anticlerical sentiment as late as 1221.
War with Bar In September 1206, Albert of Dabo engaged his newborn daughter,
Gertrude, to
Theobald, heir of Duke
Frederick II of Lorraine. All of Albert's several counties and advocacies, including Metz, would thus pass to Lorraine. Bertram must have consented to this arrangement, because he allied with duke of Lorraine against Theobald of Briey, by then
count of Bar. He may also have hoped that the duke would prove a stronger counter to the republic of Metz than Albert had been. Both Duke Frederick and King Philip celebrated Christmas 1207 in Metz, hosted by Bertram and Albert. The war against Theobald went badly for Bertram. He lost
Vic-sur-Seille in 1207 and in 1208 the duke was captured and forced to accept peace terms.
Riots of 1209 A dispute with the citizens over the funding of the new city wall, which began in 1203, degenerated into riots in January 1209. The citizens demanded that the clergy contribute to the funding and, led by the jurors, pillaged the cathedral and the Benedictine houses. Although Bertram placed the jurors and then on 22 February the whole city under
excommunication, some priests continued to give the rioters Mass. Moreover, the
Hospitallers and
Templars in the city sided with the rioters. The conflict cut across class lines, but probably owed much to family and local loyalties. On 9 April 1209, Innocent III asked Archbishop
Siegfried II of Mainz to back up Bertram's excommunications with his own. Bertram and the city made peace on 15 July 1209 through the mediation of the abbots of Morimond and
Trois-Fontaines. The citizens agreed to recompense the churches for their losses and admitted that the clergy were exempt from paying for the wall. This represented a total but temporary victory of Bertram over the jurors. They would play a limited role in the politics of Metz until the 1220s.
Death Bertram fell ill at the start of 1210 and convalesced at the abbey of until the summer. His last known act as bishop is dated 25 March 1211. He died on 6 April 1212. At the time of his death, the diocese was at peace and unencumbered by debts. He was buried in the chapel of Notre-Dame-la-Tierce in the cathedral. His remains were discovered in 1914 and removed to the
cathedral treasury. His original epitaph is still visible. ==Writings and literary influence==