Gilbert of Sempringham

Saint

Gilbert of Sempringham
Seal of the master of Sempringham, depicting St Gilbert
Bornca. 1085
Sempringham, Lincolnshire, Kingdom of England
Died4 February 1189
Sempringham, Lincolnshire, Kingdom of England (Aged 104 or 105)
Venerated inCatholic Church, Church of England
Canonized1202, Rome by Pope Innocent III
Feast4 February
Attributescross portate[1]

Gilbert of Sempringham (c. 1085 – 4 February 1189)[2] the founder of the Gilbertine Order, was the only Medieval Englishman to found a conventual order, mainly because the Abbot of Cîteaux declined his request to assist him in organising a group of women who wanted to live as nuns, living with lay brothers and sisters, in 1148.[3] He founded a double monastery of canons regular and nuns in spite of such a foundation being contrary to canonical practice.

  1. ^ "St. Gilbert's Cross or Portate Cross". seiyaku.com. Retrieved 29 October 2006.
  2. ^ Iredale (pp. 7, 54) says 1189 but this is probably according to the Old Style calendar, which began the year on Lady Day, in March. By the time England abandoned this, the discrepancies of the Julian calendar had moved it into April by modern reckoning.
  3. ^ Iredale places this in 1147 (p. 4). Again, the difference between Old and New style calendars may account for this.