Bernard was the Count of Poitou from 840 to his death. He was the brother of Emenon

Emenon

Emenon was the Count of Poitou , Périgord , and Angoulême .It is unknown who nominated him count of Poitou, but it was probably Pepin I of Aquitaine, at whose side he had fought against the emperor Louis the Pious. During his tenure in Poitous, the Empress Judith was imprisoned in the abbey of...

, Count of Angoulême.

Upon the death of Louis the Pious

Louis the Pious

Louis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...

, he was installed to succeed Renaud d'Herbauges

Renaud d'Herbauges

Renaud was Frankish Count of Herbauges, Count of Poitiers and Count of Nantes. His name is also spelled Rainaldus or Ragenold, and he is sometimes known as Reginald in English...

 by Charles the Bald

Charles the Bald

Charles the Bald , Holy Roman Emperor and King of West Francia , was the youngest son of the Emperor Louis the Pious by his second wife Judith.-Struggle against his brothers:He was born on 13 June 823 in Frankfurt, when his elder...

. However, he associated Renaud's son Hervé, Count of Herbauges, with him in his war against the rebellious Lambert II of Nantes

Lambert II of Nantes

Lambert II was the Count of Nantes and Prefect of the Breton March between 843 and 851. Lambert ruled the county in opposition to Amaury, the puppet count installed by Charles the Bald, King of West Francia. At his death, the county was effectively in Breton control...

. Bernard was killed by Lambert in battle near Poitiers

Poitiers

Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...

.