Gilbert of Sempringham

Gilbert of Sempringham (c. 1085 – 4 February 1189) was an English Catholic who founded the Gilbertine Order. He was the only medieval Englishman to found a conventual order, mainly because the Cîteaux Abbey declined his request to assist him in organising a group of nuns living with lay brothers and sisters. He founded a double monastery of canons regular and nuns in spite of such a foundation being contrary to canonical practice.

Life Gilbert was born at Sempringham, near Bourne in Lincolnshire, the son of Jocelin, an Anglo-Norman lord of the manor, and an unnamed Anglo-Saxon mother. He had a brother, Roger, and a sister, Agnes.

Unusually for that period, his father actively prevented his son from becoming a knight, instead sending him to France, probably the University of Paris but possibly under Anselm of Laon, 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 Robert Bloet, Bishop of Lincoln, started a school for boys and girls (the existing primary school at Pointon is still named after him) and was ordained by Robert's successor, Alexander. Offered the archdeaconry of Lincoln, he refused, saying that he knew no surer way to perdition.

In the period 1115 -1123 he was given both the vacant churches of Sempringham and West Torrington, near Wragby, by his father, Jocelin. In 1129 he became the Vicar of both St Andrew's, Sempringham and St Mary's, West Torrington having been instituted by Robert Bloet, Bishop of Lincoln.

The only religious order of English origin founded during the Middle Ages, it thrived until the dissolution of the monasteries under King Henry VIII.

Veneration

Gilbert was canonised in 1202 by Pope Innocent III. His liturgical feast day is on 4 February, commemorating his death, as it remains also in the Church of England (commemoration). According to the order of Hubert Walter, the bishops of England celebrated his feast, and his name was added to the wall of the church of the Four Crowned Martyrs. His Order did not outlast the English Reformation, however, and despite being influenced by Continental models, it did not maintain a foothold in Europe. There are, however, at least three primary schools in England named after him: in Pointon, Stamford, Lincolnshire and Winton, Greater Manchester.