Gilbert of Sempringham

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Gilbert of Sempringham (about 1083—4 February 1189/90) became the only Englishman to found a convent, mainly because the Cistercian monks at Citeaux declined his request to assist him in helping a group of women living with lay brothers and sisters, in 1148.

[edit] Biography

He was born at Sempringham in Lincolnshire, the son of Jocelin, an Anglo-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 the University 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 Bishop Robert 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 the inherited wealth to fund expansion of his new order. Eventually he had a chain of 26 convents, monasteries and missions, and it was at this point, 1148, that he approached the Cistercians for help. They refused because he included women in his order.

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 of blindness and died at Sempringham in about 1190.

[edit] Veneration

He was canonized in 1202. His liturgical feast in on February 4, commemorating his death.