Gervais de Château-du-Loir explained

Gervais de Château-du-Loir (1007 - 1067) was a French nobleman, bishop, and a powerful figure of his time in Northern France. He was Bishop of Le Mans from 1036 and Archbishop of Reims from 1055.

His father was Aimon de Château-du-Loir,[1] whilst his mother was Hildeburge de Bellême, daughter of Yves de Bellême.[2] His maternal uncle, Avesgaud de Bellême, Bishop of Le Mans,[3] raised Gervais and groomed him to succeed to the Bishopric of Le Mans.[1] He was a strong supporter of the family of Blois, and opposed to the Angevins. At one point, he had to seek refuge at the court of William, Duke of Normandy.[4] Henry I appointed him Archbishop of Reims in 1055.[1] As Archbishop, he crowned Philip I of France in 1059. Philip's father, Henry I of France, was then alive but died in 1060. Gervais was then regent with Baldwin V, Count of Flanders until 1066.[1] Gervais died in 1067 and was buried in Reims Cathedral.[1]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Julien Remi Pesche, Biographie et bibliographie du Maine et du département de la Sarthe (Le Mans, Paris, 1828), p. xxx
  2. Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band III Teilband 4 (Verlag von J. A. Stargardt, Marburg, Germany, 1989), Tafel 636
  3. Richard Ewing Barton, Lordship in the County of Maine, c. 890-1160 (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2004), p. 42, n. 57
  4. David Bates, William the Conqueror (Stroud: Tempus, 2004), p. 60.