- Gilbert of Sempringham
Infobox Saint
name=Saint Gilbert of Sempringham
birth_date=c. 1083
death_date=February 4, 1190
feast_day=February 16
venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church
imagesize=250px
caption=
birth_place=Sempringham ,Lincolnshire ,England
death_place=Sempringham, Lincolnshire, England
titles=Founder of the Gilbertines
beatified_date=
beatified_place=
beatified_by=
canonized_date=1202
canonized_place=Rome
canonized_by=Pope Innocent III
attributes=
patronage=
major_shrine=
suppressed_date=
issues=Saint Gilbert of Sempringham (about 1083—
February 4 1190 ) became the onlyEnglishman to found aconvent , mainly because theCistercian monks atCiteaux declined his request to assist him in helping a group of women living with lay brothers and sisters, in 1148. As such he founded a monastery ofCanons Regular Biography
He was born at
Sempringham inLincolnshire , the son of Jocelin, anAnglo-Norman lord of the manor , who bucked the usual trend of the day and actively prevented his son from becoming a knight, instead packing him off to theUniversity of Paris to study theology. Some physical deformity may have made him unfit for military service, making an ecclesiastical career the best option. When he returned in 1120 he became a clerk in the household of BishopRobert Bloet of Lincoln, started a school for boys and girls (the existing primary school at Sempringham is still named after him) and was finally ordained by Robert's successor, Alexander.When his father died in 1130 he became lord of the manor of Sempringham, and immediately began using his inherited wealth to fund expansion of the
Gilbertine s, his new order. Eventually he had a chain of 26convents ,monasteries andmissions , and it was at this point, 1148, that he approached the Cistercians for help. They refused because he included women in his order. The male part of the order consisted ofCanons Regular .He was imprisoned in 1165 on a charge of aiding St. Thomas of Canterbury when Thomas had fled from King Henry II after the council of Northampton, but was eventually found innocent. Then when he was 90 some of his lay brothers revolted, but he received the backing of
Pope Alexander III . Gilbert resigned his office late in life because ofblindness and died at Sempringham in about 1190, at the age of 106.Veneration
He was
canonized in 1202. His liturgicalfeast day is onFebruary 4 , commemorating his death.External links
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06557b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: "St. Gilbert of Sempringham"]
* [http://www.catholicforum.com/saints/saintg30.htm Catholic Forum: "St. Gilbert of Sempringham"]
* [http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=654 "St. Gilbert of Sempringham"]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.