Gerhard I of Cambrai

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Gerhard I (* before 980 in Florennes ; † March 14, 1051 ) was Bishop of Cambrai and Arras .

Life

Origin and early years

Gerhard came from a respected and well-to-do family; his father Arnulf was the heir in Florennes and had founded a monastery there. In early youth, Gerhard entered the school in Reims , whose Archbishop Albero was a relative on his mother's side. Here he made friends with the later abbot Richard von St. Vanne zu Verdun , who played an important role in the history of the monastic reform movement at the beginning of the 11th century.

Spiritual career

Unlike Richard, Gerhard did not pursue a career as a monk, but entered the chapel of King Henry II and, although he had only received the diaconal ordination, was appointed successor to Bishop Erlwin of Cambrai in January 1012 . Heinrich had wished that Gerhard let consecrate themselves in Bamberg before the assembled German episcopate Bishop, reflecting the particular circumstances of politically to the German Empire, ecclesiastical but the Archdiocese of Reims belonging Bishopric of Cambrai declined.

Only Gerhard, whose first principle during his almost forty years of rule was to avoid any conflict with prudence if at all possible, refused this proposal and received episcopal consecration in Reims on April 27th. During the reign of Henry II, Gerhard played an essential part in the affairs of the empire, and in particular of its western parts. As early as 1012 or 1013, at his instigation, Gottfried from the house of the Ardennes counts is said to have been appointed Duke of Lower Lorraine, but then he tried in vain to mediate peace between the new Duke and Count Lantbert von Löwen, as he always did later in the Lorraine local feuds Peacemaking was endeavored.

On the other hand, he refused to participate in the civil peace association, which the bishops of the Reims church province concluded around 1020, because by doing so the spiritual authority intervened in the rights and duties of the kingship, to which it was due to keep the peace with a strong hand, and because Invocation of such peace covenants only increases the number of perjuries. In 1012 he took part in the siege of the fortress of Metz by Henry II and in 1021 he attended the court conference in Nijmegen, on which the third procession of Henry II to Italy was decided. In May 1023 he went with the abbot Richard as the emperor's envoy to the French court and arranged for the two rulers to meet at Ivois in August of the same year, during which he accompanied Heinrich.

Political activity

After the death of Henry II, he did not openly join the Lorraine party that had formed against Conrad II , but withholding his recognition of the latter until Christmas 1025 he and the dukes of Lorraine pay homage together could. At the court of Conrad II, Gerard's influence was less important than at that of Henry II, and with Henry III. He was even in a very tense relationship in 1041 and 1042, perhaps due to his resistance to the efforts for the recognition of the peace of God ( Treuga Dei ) , which were favored by the king and transplanted from Aquitaine and Burgundy to northern France and Lorraine .

In the interior of his diocese, Gerhard was in a bitter feud with Chatellain Walter of Cambrai for most of his reign , who often enough intervened in the rights of the bishop with the support of the Margrave of Flanders . Even when Walter was murdered in the Marienkirche in Cambrai in 1041, the conflicts were not over. Since he refused to bury the deceased in consecrated earth, Walter's widow, Ermentrudis, and her second husband, Johannes, Vogt von Arras, continued the hostilities. John occupied Cambrai Castle for his underage stepson, and Gerhard was forced, in order to protect his church property from further devastation, to complete the deceased Chatellain after death and to allow his regular burial. Only the death of Walter's son soon afterwards freed the bishop from these stalkings and compelled John, who wanted the vacant fief to be awarded for himself, to moderate himself, but the matter did not come to a conclusion until the bishop's death.

Last years and death

On the main holdings of his house in Florennes, Gerhard founded a St. John's monastery, which he entrusted to Abbot Richard of St. Vannes. Through this he also had the Peter and Paul Monastery in Hautmont near Maubeuge reformed, expelled the canons who had illegally established themselves here, and protected the abbot Folkuin appointed by Richard against the activities of the expelled clergy. The reform of Lobbes Monastery, ordered by Bishop Wolbodo of Liège, as well as the liberation of the direct imperial monastery of St. Ghislain from the oppression of Count Rainer von Mons by Conrad II and the restitution of the Burtscheid monastery to the diocese of Liège by Henry II, also took place Gerhard's participation. In Cambrai he began in 1023 (1021) the new construction of the small and ruined St. Mary's Cathedral , which was consecrated on October 18, 1030 (1027?). The fortification of Cateau Cambrésis through the construction of a mighty tower made of ashlar and the foundation and endowment of the St. Andrew's Monastery, consecrated on September 22, 1025, are his work. He earned services to the historiography by having a certain Fulbert write the life of Bishop Autbert of Cambrai (633-69?) And also by having a canon of his church close to him who was unknown by name to write the history of the diocese of Cambrai ( Gesta episcoporum Cameracensium ), one of the most important sources for Lorraine relations.

Gerhard died after a long and serious illness on March 14, 1051; his successor was Provost Lietbert , who had been brought up by him.

literature

predecessor Office successor
Erlwin Bishop of Cambrai
1012-1051 		Leutbert
personal data
SURNAME Gerhard I of Cambrai
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman Catholic bishop
DATE OF BIRTH before 980
PLACE OF BIRTH Florennes
DATE OF DEATH March 14, 1051