In the years preceding the first crusade a man-of-arms called Bernard' the unknown' lived in Jerusalem.
Son of Norman nobility and a patrician roman woman, Bernard sought refuge in the sea republic of Amalfi following the uprising and war of the time, abandoning the family seat in central Italy.

He was invited to represent and defend the interests of the Amalfi people in Jerusalem due to his expertise in warfare, his strength anhis cunning.

And it was right here that, in 1098, he had been living for some time. However, With the encroaching first army only steps away, the Islamic rulers in Jerusalem forced all christians to abandon the city and so Bernard moved north with a handful of knights.

He crossed paths with the armies at Antioch, becoming friends with Tancredi di Altavilla and offered him wise advice on how to get through to Jerusalem without offering his services directly to the army. He spent the next three years warring against the Arabs between Cilicia and Syria.

In the winter of 1102 Bernard governed the city of Tarsus which he had conquered when the Count of Toulouse, Raymond of St. Gilles, disembarked, arriving from Constantinopole.

Raymond had earlier disgraced himself by escaping from the battle fields of Marsivan, leaving the Lombards, led by him, to total massacre. Bernard, indignant at the vile behaviour of the Count of Toulouse, had him arrested and handed him over to Tancredi upon payment of a ransome shortly thereafter. Tancredi, at this time was governing Antioch in the absence of his uncle Boemondo.

Too much was happening in that part of the world for Bernard's liking and so he decided to leave the middle east and leave for the Italian coast.

In cyprus the Dux Manuel Voutomites asked him if he could entrust him with an imperial message of the utmost importance and secrecy for the Prior of the Chossoviotissa monastery in Amorgos. Bernard, out of esteem for and friendship towards the Dux of Cyprus accepted to carry out this embassy.

The evening before leaving, along the harbour wall at Paphos, he found a monk before him who blessed him thus: "stranger always and never, where the flower meets the sword there you will build a fortress, to guard over the orient and to guard over the west. Be strong, restless soul."

The venetian ship carrying Bernard, its knights and its load moored in a bay to the south of Amorgos and from here Bernard headed towards the monastery.

It is said that after having delivered the message, Bernard was struck by the icon of the Chossoviotissa Madonna which was held there.

Nobody has ever known why that face should have perturbed a stranger, without faith, so profoundly.

It could have been that something was enticing him towards new dreams or awakening old memories or perhaps it was that the chossoviotissa calmed his rebelliousness. Whatever it was, on leaving the monastery, he felt a need to spend a night in meditating solitude before returning to the ship. He found refuge in a shepherd's hut on the hillside near the monastery. Having spent many hours contemplating the stars he set about preparing a place to lay his head with straw, restihg his sword on the ground in a corner of the hut. Upon his awakening he realised, surprised, that where he had left his sword now grew, miraculously, a bush of white oleander and that its only flower lay on the blade, He took his sword and stepped back discovering that the view from the top of the hill was extraordinary and that from that point it was possible to survey both east and west coasts of Amorgos island. Tradition says that Bernard noticed a large rock nearby and with the oleander blossom, picked from the plant, engraved in the stone surface "Castelmorgo". Taking another rock and placing it over the first he then pronounced "Castelmorgo, with the sword and the flower".

Following this his handful of knights disembarked and together they began to build a fortified watchtower on the site.

Bernard remained many years on Amorgos, defending the island and especially the monastery and the icon of the Chossoviotissa from frequent saracen pirate attacks.

Now no longer young but as strong as he had ever been he led his few knights and a small byzantine garrison into battle at Arkessini where, it is rumoured, more than 1000 saracens lost their lives. In time and without apparent reason Bernard prepared himself to leave Amorgos.

As a sign of his profound affection for the island Bernard buried his sword under the door at the entrance to the castle before leaving.

Bernard the unknown then left Amorgos the exact same day and month as his arrival eleven years before.

On raising the anchor and heading west the castle disappeared, leaving upon the ground signs which, according to legend, a knight with the blood and spirit of Bernard would be able to find and interpret in the future. From that time Bernard and Castelmorgo have been much discussed all over the meditterranean but nobody knows yet where he was heading.