He was educated and trained at the Abbey of Fulda, where he was selected to be the deacon and provost of Neuenberg in 1018.

Towards the end of March in 1029 the Emperor Conrad visited Fulda, who appointed him in the following year the Abbot of Werden.

As archbishop, Bardo is said to have spent much of his time in the company of the Salian Emperors.

In 1041 he accompanied King Henry the Black on campaign against Bohemia.

He consecrated the churches and chapels in the vacant sees of Germany, and he presided over the Synod of Mainz in 1049 in the presence of Henry which denounced simony and priest marriage.