Gerard (died 21 May 1108) wasArchbishop of York between 1100 and 1108 andLord Chancellor of England from 1085 until 1092. ANorman, he was a member of the cathedral clergy atRouen before becoming aroyal clerk under KingWilliam I of England and subsequently his son KingWilliam II Rufus. Gerard was appointed Lord Chancellor by William I, and he continued in that office under Rufus, who rewarded him with theBishopric of Hereford in 1096. Gerard may have been with the king's hunting party when William II was killed, as he is known to have witnessed the first charter issued by the new king,Henry I of England, within days of William's death.

Soon after Henry's coronation Gerard was appointed to the recently vacantsee of York, and became embroiled in the long-running dispute between York and thesee of Canterbury concerning which archbishopric had primacy over England. Gerard managed to securepapal recognition of York's claim to jurisdiction over the church inScotland, but he was forced to agree to a compromise with his counterpart at Canterbury,Anselm, over Canterbury's claims to authority over York, although it was not binding on his successors. In theInvestiture Controversy between the king and the papacy over the right to appoint bishops, Gerard worked on reconciling the claims of the two parties; the controversy was finally resolved in 1107.

Gerard was a patron of learning, to the extent that he urged at least one of his clergy to studyHebrew, a language not commonly studied at that time. He himself was a student ofastrology, which led to suggestions that he was a magician and a sorcerer. Partly because of such rumours, and his unpopular attempts to reform his cathedral clergy, Gerard was denied a burial insideYork Minster after his sudden death in 1108. His successor as archbishop subsequently had Gerard's remains moved into the cathedral church from their initial resting place beside the cathedral porch.

Gerard was the nephew ofWalkelin,Bishop of Winchester, andSimon, Abbot of Ely.^[1] His parents were Osbert and Anna,^[2] and his brother Peter was also a royal clerk.^[3] The places and times of his birth and upbringing are unknown; he is documented ascantor ofRouen Cathedral,^[4] andprecentor of the same cathedral, although the dates of his appointments to either office are unrecorded.^[4] By 1091 he had becomearchdeacon of Rouen.^[4] He served in theroyal chancery under successive kings of England, William I and William II.^[4]

Gerard was appointed Lord Chancellor of England in 1085,^[5] and was present at William I's deathbed in 1087.^[6] He continued as Chancellor to William Rufus until 1092; what precipitated his loss of office is unclear.^[7] He retained the king's trust, for Rufus employed him in 1095 along withWilliam Warelwast on a diplomatic mission to PopeUrban II regarding Archbishop Anselm receiving thepallium, the sign of an archbishop's authority. Rufus offered to recognise Urban as pope rather than theantipopeClement III in return for Anselm's deposition and the delivery of Anselm's pallium into Rufus' custody,^[a] to dispose of as he saw fit. The mission departed for Rome in February 1095 and returned byWhitsun with a papal legate,Walter theCardinalBishop of Albano, who had Anselm's pallium. The legate secured Rufus' recognition of Urban, but subsequently refused to consider Anselm's deposition. Rufus resigned himself to Anselm's position as archbishop, and at the king's court at Windsor he consented to Anselm being given the pallium.^[9]

Although not yetordained, Gerard was rewarded with the Bishopric of Hereford,^[4] and he wasconsecrated by Archbishop Anselm on 8 June 1096;^[10] hisordination as adeacon andpriest had taken place the previous day.^[2][11] He assisted at the consecration ofSt Paul's Cathedral in London on 9 June 1096.^[4] He may have been a member of the hunting party in theNew Forest on 2 August 1100 when Rufus was killed, as he witnessed King Henry I's coronation charter – now known as theCharter of Liberties – three days later at Winchester, close by the New Forest.^[12] Gerard was present at Henry's coronation that same day, along withMaurice, Bishop of London. Henry was probably crowned by Maurice, but the medieval chroniclerWalter Map states that Gerard crowned Henry in return for a promise of the first vacant archbishopric.^[13] Gerard may have assisted Maurice in the coronation ceremony.^[14]

Gerard became Archbishop of York in December 1100.^[15] No source mentions him beinginvested by the king, but as Anselm urged PopePaschal II to give Gerard his pallium, which he would have been unlikely to do if Gerard had been invested by Henry, that possibility seems remote.^[16] At Whitsun in 1101 King Henry I, with Anselm's support, deprivedRanulf Flambard,Bishop of Durham, of the lands of the see of Durham, because Ranulf had defected to Henry's elder brotherRobert Curthose, who also claimed the English throne. Gerard then deposed Ranulf from his bishopric.^[17] Soon after histranslation to York, Gerard began a long dispute with Anselm, claiming equal primacy with the Archbishop of Canterbury and refusing to make a profession of canonical obedience to Anselm, part of the longCanterbury–York dispute. At the 1102Council of Westminster, Gerard reportedly kicked over the smaller chair provided for him as Archbishop of York, and refused to be seated until he was provided with one as large as Anselm's.^[18] He travelled to Rome in 1102 to receive his pallium from the pope,^[1] to whom he presented the king's side against Anselm in the controversy surroundinginvestitures.^[19] The pope decided against the king, but Gerard and two other bishops reported that the pope had assured them that the various papal decrees against the lay investiture of bishops would not be enforced. Their claim was denied by Anselm's representatives and the pope,^[2][20] whoexcommunicated Gerard until he recanted.^[21]

Gerard secured papal recognition of York'smetropolitan see for the Scots.^[b] He subsequently consecrated Roger asBishop of Orkney, but refused to consecrateThurgot to thesee of St Andrews because Thurgot would not recognise the primacy of York. Gerard gave generously to the monasteries of his diocese; the medieval chroniclerHugh the Chantor stated that Thomas II, Gerard's successor, accused Gerard of having dissipated the diocese's endowment.^[2] KingOlaf I of Man and the Isles wrote to "G", Archbishop of York, asking for the consecration of "our bishop" by York, but it does not appear to have taken place under Gerard or his successor.^[23][c]

During the first four years of Henry's reign Gerard was one of the king's chief advisors, along withRobert of Meulan,Count of Meulan in Normandy and laterEarl of Leicester. Gerard was one of Henry's greatest supporters among the bishops during theInvestiture Crisis.^[24] In 1101 Gerard witnessed a treaty between Henry andRobert, theCount of Flanders, which sought as far as possible to distance Robert from any future conflict between Henry and his elder brother Robert Curthose, or between Henry and KingPhilip I of France.^[25] After Gerard's return from Rome he restored Ranulf Flambard to the see of Durham.^[2] In 1102 Anselm refused to consecrate three bishops, two of whom had received investiture from the king; Gerard offered to consecrate them instead, but all except one refused.^[26] From 1105 onwards Gerard slowly began to embrace the papal position on investiture of bishops, which opposed laymen investing bishops with the symbols of episcopal authority. As part of his change of position, Gerard withdrew from court to care for his diocese. Towards the end of 1105 Gerard attempted to joinBohemond of Antioch, who was assembling a crusading force in France, but it appears that King Henry prevented Gerard's departure.^[24] In 1106 Gerard wrote to Bohemond that he was still preparing to go on crusade, but he never did.^[27] At about the same time, Gerard was working to find a mutually acceptable resolution to the Investiture Crisis, writing a number of letters and other works supporting Anselm's and the pope's position. By 1107 King Henry and Anselm had reached an agreement settling the dispute.^[24]

Gerard agreed to a compromise on the matter of obedience to Anselm. King Henry proposed that Anselm accept a witnessed oath from Gerard that he would remain bound by the profession he made to Anselm on his consecration as Bishop of Hereford. Gerard made this oath at the Council of Westminster in 1107. It was a victory for Canterbury, but not a complete one, as Gerard avoided making a written profession, and it was specific to Gerard, not to his office.^[28] Gerard continued to oppose Anselm's attempts to assert Canterbury's primacy, but the two were reconciled before Gerard's death.^[2]

Gerard also had an uneasy relationship with hiscathedral chapter,^[29] after attempting to reform his cathedral clergy by forcing them to give up their wives and concubines and become ordained priests.^[2][d] He wrote to Anselm in 1103 complaining of the intransigence of his clergy and envying Anselm's better relations with Canterbury's chapter, which was composed of monks instead of the secularcanons who made up York Minster's chapter. In this correspondence, Gerard complained that some of the York canons refused to be ordained as priests, thereby hoping to avoid taking the vow of celibacy. He also accused them of acceptingprebends but refusing to live or work at the cathedral, and of focusing on a narrow legal definition of celibacy without actually being celibate. The canons' argument was that they were only required not to maintain women in their own houses, but they were not forbidden to visit or entertain women in houses belonging to others.^[29] It was not only Gerard who complained about the relationship between himself and his canons; the latter accused Gerard of impoverishing York by making gifts of lands to others.^[32]

Gerard was an associate of the anonymous author of theQuadripartitus and theLeges Henrici Primi, two 12th-century law books. The medieval chroniclerWilliam of Malmesbury charged Gerard with immorality, avarice and the practice of magic.^[2][33] Gerard encouraged at least one of his clergy to study Hebrew, a language not normally studied at the time.^[34] Some chroniclers considered his ownership of a Hebrewpsalter to be disturbing, seeing it as a sign of heresy or secret Judaism. Among the sins that Malmesbury imputed to him was the study ofJulius Firmicus Maternus, a late Roman astrologer, every morning, which to Malmesbury meant that Gerard was a sorcerer.^[35] Malmesbury further claimed that Gerard was "lewd and lustful".^[2] In Gerard's favour, Anselm regarded him as learned and highly intelligent.^[24] Some verses composed by Gerard survive in unpublished form, now in theBritish Library manuscript collection^[36] as part of manuscriptCotton Titus D.xxiv.^[37][e] A collection of his letters circulated in the mid-12th century, part of a bequest made toBec Abbey in 1164 byPhilip de Harcourt, theBishop of Bayeux, but it is now lost.^[36]

Gerard died suddenly on 21 May 1108,^[15] atSouthwell,^[1] on his way to London to attend a council. His body was found in an orchard, next to a book of "curious arts",^[35] his copy of Julius Firmicus.^[2] His canons refused to allow his burial within his cathedral,^[33] but their hostility probably owed more to Gerard's attempts to reform their lifestyle than to his alleged interest in sorcery. Gerard was at first buried beside the porch atYork Minster, but his successor, Thomas, moved the remains inside the cathedral church.^[2]

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