Editing Pope Leo IX (section)

==Early life==
Bruno was the youngest son of Count [[Hugh IV of Nordgau]] and Hedwig of [[County of Dagsburg|Dagsburg]]. He was a native of [[Egisheim]], [[Upper Alsace]] (present-day [[Alsace]], France).{{sfn|Robinson|2004|p=99}} His father was a first cousin of [[Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor|Conrad II]], [[Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire]].<ref>Ian Robinson, ''The papal reform of the eleventh century: Lives of Pope Leo IX and Pope Gregory VII'' (Manchester University Press, 2004), 99.</ref> At the age of five, Bruno was committed to the care of [[Berthold of Toul|Berthold]], [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Toul|Bishop of Toul]], who had a school for the sons of the nobility.{{sfn|Barrow|2008|p=56}}

Hagiographic sources state that when Pope Leo IX was born "his body [was] marked all over with little red crosses."<ref>Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, Volume 4, 1821, p. 189</ref> Some authors have considered this to be a form of the stigmata.<ref>Kathleen W. Peters, Sacred Views of Saint Francis, 2020, p. 134.</ref>

In 1017, Bruno became a [[canon (priest)|canon]] at [[Toul Cathedral|St. Stephen's in Toul]]. When, in 1024, his cousin Conrad succeeded [[Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry II]] as emperor, Bruno's relatives sent him to the new king's court "to serve in his chapel".<ref name=Mann>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09160c.htm Mann, Horace. "Pope St. Leo IX." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 12 May 2019 {{PD-notice}}</ref>

Bruno was a deacon in 1026 when Conrad set out for Italy to make his authority respected in that portion of his dominions, and as Herimann, Bishop of Toul, was too old to lead his contingent into the peninsula, he entrusted the command of it to Bruno. While he was thus in the midst of arms, Bishop Herimann died and Bruno was at once elected to succeed him. Conrad, who destined him for higher things, was loath to allow him to accept that insignificant see. But Bruno induced the emperor to permit him to take the see. Consecrated in 1027, Bruno administered the Diocese of Toul for over twenty years, during a time of stress and trouble.<ref name="Ginther">James R. Ginther, ''Humbert of Silva Candida'', '''The Westminster Handbook to Medieval Theology''' (Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 89–91.</ref> He had to contend not merely with famine, but also with war, to which as a frontier town Toul was much exposed. Bruno rendered important political services to Conrad II, and afterwards to [[Emperor Henry III]]. He knew how to make peace, and, if necessary, to wield the sword in self-defence. Sent by Conrad to Robert the Pious, he established so firm a peace between France and the empire that it was not again broken even during the reigns of the sons of both Conrad and Robert. On the other hand, he held his episcopal city against Count [[Odo II of Blois]], a rebel against Conrad, and "by his wisdom and exertions" added Burgundy to the empire.{{cn|date=June 2022}}

Bruno became widely known as an earnest and reforming ecclesiastic by the zeal he showed in spreading the rule of the [[order of Cluny]]. It was whilst he was bishop that he was saddened by the death not merely of his father and mother, but also of two of his brothers. Bruno found some consolation in music, in which he proved himself highly proficient.<ref name=Mann/>