Gerard, Preceptor of Rouen

Gerard (died 21 May 1108) was an English clergyman who eventually became Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor of England.

Early life and chancellor

Gerard undertook missons to Pope Urban II, seen here preaching the First Crusade in a illustration from the Grand Chronicle of France, a work from about 1455.

He was a nephew of Walkelin, Bishop of Winchester, and of Simon, Abbot of Ely.^[1] His parents were Osbert and Anna,^[2] and were in some manner connected with the royal family. His brother Peter was also a royal clerk.^[3] Originally a precentor in Rouen cathedral,^[4] he was archdeacon of Rouen by 1091.^[5] He served in the royal chancery under both King William I and King William II Rufus.^[5]

Bishop of Hereford

He served as Lord Chancellor from 1085 to 1092,^[6] and was present at William I's deathbed.^[7] He continued as Chancellor to William Rufus until 1092, but it is unclear what caused his loss of office in that year.^[8] He retained the king's trust, for Rufus employed him in 1095 along with William Warelwast on a diplomatic mission to Pope Urban II about how Archbishop Anselm should receive the pallium. Rufus offered that he would recognize Urban as pope instead of Antipope Clement III in return for the delivery of the pallium into Rufus' custody, to dispose as he saw fit. The embassy departed for the pope in February of 1095 and returned by Whitsun, with a papal legate, Walter cardinal bishop of Albano, who had the pallium for the king. The legate secured Rufus' recognition of Urban, but refused to consider the deposition of Anselm, and at the king's court held at Windsor, Rufus consented to Anselm receiving the pallium.^[9]

Death of William II, as depicted in Ridpath's Universal History, Copyright 1895. Gerard may have been present with the hunting party.

Gerard's success was rewarded with the Bishopric of Hereford,^[5] and he was consecrated by Archbishop Anselm on 8 June 1096,^[10] having been ordained deacon and priest on the previous day.^[11][2] He assisted at the consecration of St Paul's Cathedral in London on June 9 1096.^[5] He may have been present with the hunting party in the New Forest on the day of Rufus' death, for Gerard witnessed the charter that King Henry I issued when he was crowned three days after Rufus' death.^[12] Gerard was also present at Henry's coronation on August 5 1100, along with Maurice, Bishop of London. Probably, Henry was crowned by Maurice, but Walter Map stated that Gerard crowned Henry, in return for Henry's promise of the first vacant archbishopric. More likely, Gerard assisted Maurice in the coronation ceremony.^[13]

Archbishop

After the accession of Henry I, in December of 1100, he was made Archbishop of York^[14] No source mentions Gerard being invested by the king with the see of York, and as Anselm urged Pope Paschal II to give Gerard his pallium, it is difficult to see Anselm doing so if Gerard had been invested by Henry.^[15] At Whitsun in 1101 King Henry I, with Anselm's support, deprived Ranulf Flambard, the bishop of Durham, of the lands of the see of Durham, because Ranulf had defected to Henry's brother Robert Curthose's side. Gerard then deposed Ranulf from the bishopric.^[16] Soon after his translation Gerard began a long contest with Anselm, in which he claimed equal primacy with Canterbury and refused to make a profession of canonical obedience to Anselm. At the Council of Westminster in 1102, Gerard is reported to have kicked over the smaller chair that was provided for him as Archbishop of York, and refused to be seated until he was provided with a chair as large as Anselm's.^[17] When he journeyed to Rome for the pallium in 1102,^[1] he was entrusted with the mission of representing the king against Anselm in the controversy about investitures.^[18] The pope's decision was against the king, but Gerard and two other bishops professed to have received private assurances that the decrees would not be enforced. This was denied by the monks who represented St. Anselm; and the pope, when appealed to, repudiated the statement^[19][2] and excommunicated Gerard until he confessed his error and made satisfaction.^[20] Gerard had also secured from the pope a recognition that York was the metropolitan see for the Scots.^[21] Later, he consecrated Roger as bishop of Orkney, but refused to do so for Thurgot to the see of St Andrews because Turgot would not recognize the primacy of York. Gerard also attempted to reform his cathedral clergy and force them to give up their wives and concubines and become ordained priests. He also gave generously to the monasteries of his diocese, and later Hugh the Chantor stated that Thomas II, Gerard's successor accused Gerard of having disipated the diocese's endowment.^[2] King Olaf I of Man and Isles wrote to "G", archbishop of York, asking for the consecration of "our bishop" by York, but this consecration does not appear to have taken place under Gerard or his successor.^[22] During the first four years of Henry's reign, Gerard was one of the king's chief advisors, along with Robert of Meulan, count of Meulan in Normandy and later earl of Leicester. During this time frame, Gerard was one of Henry's greatest supporters among the bishops of the king's side of the Investiture Crisis.^[23] After Gerard's return from Rome, he restored Ranulf Flambard to the see of Durham.^[2] In 1102, when Anselm refused to consecrate three bishops, two of whom had received investiture from the king, Gerard attempted to perform the consecration, but two of the bishops refused to accept consecration at his hands.^[24] Later, however, from about 1105 Gerard slowly began to support the Gregorian reforms more and more, and withdrew from court to take care of his diocese. Towards the end of 1105, Gerard attempted to join Bohemond of Antioch who was assembling a crusading force in France, but it appears that King Henry prevented Gerard's departure. Gerard then worked hard to craft a compromise in the Investiture Crisis, and by 1107, King Henry and Anselm had reached an agreement.^[23] Eventually he professed obedience to Anselm, but it was a compromise, for King Henry proposed that Anselm accept a witnessed oath from Gerard that the previous profession of obedience sworn when Gerard was consecrated Bishop of Hereford would continue in force as long as Gerard was Archbishop of York. Gerard did so at the Council of Westminster in 1107. It was mostly a victory for Canterbury, but not complete, as Gerard avoided making a written profession, and it was specific to Gerard, not to his office.^[25] However, he continued to assert the independence of York. The pope reprimanded him for his opposition to the primate, and finally the two prelates were reconciled.^[2]

Death and legacy

Gerard carried out many reforms in York, though by his action against Anselm he incurred great unpopularity, and William of Malmesbury charged him with immorality, avarice, and the practice of magic. He was associated with the author of the Quadripartitus and the Leges Henrici Primi.^[26] He also encouraged at least one of his clergy to study Hebrew,^[27] and some people considered his ownership of a Hebrew psalter to be disturbing. Among the sins that William of Malmesbury imputed to him was the study of Julius Firmicus Maternus every morning, which to Malmsbury meant that Gerard was a sorcerer.^[28] Anselm regarded Gerard as learned and very intelligent.^[23] Some Latin verses by him are preserved in the British Museum. William of Malmesbury also held that Gerard was "lewd and lustful".^[2] He died suddenly on May 21 1108^[14] at Southwell^[1] on the way to London to attend a council, and his death without sacraments was regarded as a Divine judgment. His body was found in his orchard and next to his body was a book of "curious arts,"^[28] which was his copy of Julius Firmicus.^[2] The canons refused to bury him within the cathedral,^[26] and the people pelted the hearse with stones. The hostility of the canons was probably related more to Gerard's attempts to reform their lifestyle than to Gerard's alleged interest in sorcery. Gerard was at first buried beside the porch at York Minster, but his successor Thomas moved the remains inside the cathedral church.^[2]

See also

• List of the Bishops of the Diocese of Hereford, England and its precursor offices
• List of Archbishops of York
• List of Lord Chancellors and Lord Keepers

Notes

References

• British History Online Archbishops of York accessed on September 14, 2007
• British History Online Bishops of Hereford accessed on September 14, 2007
• Barlow, Frank The English Church 1066-1154 New York: Longman 1979 ISBN 0-582-50236-5
• Barlow, Frank William Rufus Berkeley: University of California Press 1983 ISBN 0-520-04936-5
• Bartlett, Robert England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings: 1075-1225 Oxford: Clarendon Press 2000 ISBN 0-19-822741-8
• Broun, Dauvit, "The church of St Andrews and its foundation legend in the twelfth century: recovering the full text of version A of the foundation legend" in Simon Taylor (ed), Kings, Clerics and Chronicles in Scotland, 500–1297: essays in honour of Marjorie Ogilvie Anderson on the occasion of her ninetieth birthday. Dublin: Four Courts Press 2000 ISBN 1-85182-516-9
• Cantor, Norman F. Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture in England 1089-1135 Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press 1958
• Hollister, C. Warren Henry I ed. by Amanda Clark Frost New Haven:Yale University Press 2001 ISBN 0-300-08858-2
• Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde Handbook of British Chronology 2nd. ed. London: Royal Historical Society 1961
• Vaughn, Sally N. Anselm of Bec and Robert of Meulan Berkeley: University of California Press 1987 ISBN 0-520-05674-4
• Watt, D. E. R., "Bishops of the Isles before 1203: Bibliography and Biographical Lists" in The Innes Review, volume XLV, number 2, Autumn 1994. ISSN 0020-157X

External links

• Gerard at Catholic Encyclopedia Online

This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.