A Wandering Monk
Henry's origins are unknown. He had been a monk, probably a Benedictine, and Bernard of Clairvaux later called him an apostate who had thrown off his habit. Later writers gave him many names, Henry the Monk, Henry of Le Mans, Henry of Toulouse, and the one that stuck, Henry of Lausanne, perhaps because he had preached there before he came to France.
The chronicle of the bishops of Le Mans, written by the clergy he troubled, describes him vividly: young and tall, with long hair and an untrimmed beard, quick of step, barefoot even in winter, plainly dressed, and lodging in the houses of the townspeople, with a voice of great power and an eloquence that held a crowd. Two of his disciples went ahead of him carrying staffs topped with iron crosses.
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