Gervase of Tilbury (Latin:Gervasius Tilberiensis;c. 1150–1220) was an Englishcanon lawyer, statesman and cleric. He enjoyed the favour ofHenry II of England and later of Henry's grandson,Emperor Otto IV, for whom he wrote his best known work, theOtia Imperialia.[1]
Gervase was of the son of a knight of theHonor of Rayleigh.[2][a] He was born around 1150 inWest Tilbury, inEssex, a manor in the hands of Henry of Essex,[b] although some say that he was brought up in Rome, this is highly improbable[2]
He travelled widely, studied and taughtcanon law atBologna. He was in Venice in 1177, at the reconciliation ofPope Alexander III andFrederick Barbarossa. He spent some time in the service ofHenry II of England, and of his son, "Henry the Young King". For Henry, he composed aLiber facetiarum (‘Book of entertainment’), now lost, as well as the basis for what would become theOtia Imperialia. He also servedWilliam of the White Hands, the brother of the Count of BloisWilliam of Champagne,Archbishop of Reims, where Gervase's famous attempt to seduce an unwilling girl precipitated her condemnation by the archbishop as aCathar.[1]
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Some time after 1183 Gervase found service at the court ofWilliam II, the Norman king of Sicily, who had married Henry's daughterJoan. William gifted him a villa atNola, in Campania.[4] After the King of Sicily's death in 1189, Gervase moved toArles and became a judge of canon law. In 1198, Otto – the Holy Roman Emperor after 1209– appointed Gervase Marshal of theKingdom of Burgundy-Arles. Gervase married into a local family, and they bought him a palace. Gervase accompanied Otto to Rome in 1209 on the occasion of his Imperial coronation.[4]
In 1210, Gervase was enmeshed in the papacy's struggle with his patron Otto, who wasexcommunicated byPope Innocent III. Gervase spent the next years, from 1210 to 1214, writing theOtia Imperialia ("Recreation for an Emperor") for his patron. He also wrote aVita abbreviata et miracula beatissimi Antonii ("Shortened life and miracles of the most blessed Antony") and aLiber de transitu beate virginis et gestis discipulorum ("Book of the passing of the blessed virgin and acts of the disciples").[4]
Details of his latter years are uncertain. It has been suggested that, after the resounding defeat of Otto and his English allyJohn at theBattle of Bouvines (1214), Gervase was forced to retire to the duchy ofBraunschweig, where he became provost of Ebstorf. He later died there. It is apparent that his work was known to the authors of theEbstorf world map (c. 1234–40).[5][c] It is recorded byRalph of Coggeshall that he became a canon in later life, and other evidence suggests that he may have been a member of thePremonstratensians of l'Huveaune.
