Gilo of Toucy

Gilo of Toucy,[1] also called Gilo of Paris or Gilo of Tusculum (died 1139×1142), was a French poet and cleric. A priest before he became a monk at Cluny, he was appointed cardinal-bishop of Tusculum sometime between 1121 and 1123. He served as a papal legate on four occasions: to Poland and Hungary around 1124, to Carinthia in 1126, to the Crusader states in 1128 or 1129 and to Aquitaine from 1131 until 1137. He took the side of the Antipope Anacletus II in the papal schism of 1130 and was deposed as cardinal-bishop by the Second Lateran Council in 1139.

An accomplished Latin stylist, Gilo wrote the majority of the Historia de via Hierosolymitana, a verse history of the First Crusade (1096–1099). He also wrote the Vita sancti Hugonis abbatis Cluniacensis, a biography of Abbot Hugh of Cluny (1024–1109). A couple of letters he wrote in connection with his third legation have also survived and are highly regarded for their style and eloquence.

  1. ^ Pawel Derecki, "Gilo of Toucy", in Graeme Dunphy and Cristian Bratu (eds.), Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle (Brill, online 2016), retrieved 12 January 2020.