Gervase_of_Blois

Gervase of Blois

Gervase of Blois

12th-century Abbot of Westminster Abbey

Gervase of Blois was the Abbot of Westminster in England between 1138 and around 1157. Historically, Gervase has a bad reputation for mismanaging the abbey, although modern historians have re-evaluated his performance as abbot.

Biography

Gervase of Blois was the illegitimate son of King Stephen and his mistress, Damette.[1] His father ensured that he was appointed as the Abbot of Westminster Abbey in the second half of 1138; the abbey would have hoped to receive additional royal funding as a result.[2] Gervase was very young to be appointed abbot, but despite this probably attended the Second Lateran Council the following year.[3] Working with the Prior Osbert of Clare, Gervase unsuccessfully attempted to have King Edward the Confessor canonized; the abbey held the remains of the king which would have brought in valuable pilgrims had he been canonised.[4]

Pope Innocent II ordered Gervase to reform the estate management of the abbey; historians have disagreed over the years about whether the Pope was referring to long-standing issues of malpractice, or ones that had appeared during his term of office.[5] Pope Eugene III appears to have thought Gervase a reasonable abbot, granting the abbey privileges in the 1140s, and Gervase got on well with his fellow senior clergy.[6]

In 1154, however, Stephen died, being replaced by his former rival, King Henry II, putting Gervase's position at risk.[7] Gervase was accused by Henry of mishandling the abbey's estates and he was dismissed from post in 1157, albeit without trial, dying shortly afterwards.[8] He was replaced by Master Laurence from Durham, a supporter of the new king.[9]

Notes

  1. [1]
    Mason, pp.37, 58.
  2. [2]
    Mason, p.37.
  3. [3]
    Mason, p.38.
  4. [4]
    Mason, p.38.
  5. [5]
    Mason, p.40.
  6. [6]
    Mason, pp.45–6.
  7. [7]
    Mason, p.49.
  8. [8]
    Mason, p.51.
  9. [9]
    Barlow, p.277.

Bibliography

  • Barlow, Frank. (1970) Edward the Confessor. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-01671-2
  • Mason, Emma. (1996) Westminster Abbey and its people, c.1050-c.1216. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-85115-396-4
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