Gilles of Saumur
Gilles of Saumur or Gilles of Tire († April 23, 1266 in Dinant ) was an archbishop of Damiette and Tire . He came from a wealthy family from Saumur and served as a clergyman in the court administration of the French King Louis IX. the saint .
From 1248 Gilles took part in the Sixth Crusade , which led to Egypt . After taking the port city of Damiette in June 1249, Louis IX was there in November of the same year. and the papal legate Odo von Châteauroux founded a Latin archdiocese, whose archbishop Gilles was appointed. He carried out compulsory baptisms among the local population and rededicated the city's great mosque into a Christian cathedral, in which he baptized the king's son Johann Tristan . After the king's defeat in April 1250, Damiette had to be returned to the Muslims. Gilles therefore had to give up his office and accompanied the king to Acre . There he was first appointed royal keeper of the seals and finally elected Archbishop of Tire in 1253 , making him one of the entourage of Louis IX. retired.
In 1263, Gilles was appointed legate of a new crusade by Pope Urban IV and authorized to collect a special tax in the Occident . There, however, the payment of this fee met with broad rejection. Gilles died in Dinant, Flanders, and was buried in the Notre-Dame-de-Nantilly church in Saumur. Due to his longstanding charitable commitment to his hometown, including the building of a hospital, he was venerated as a saint by the population and his grave became a place of pilgrimage. It was rediscovered in 1613 during excavations near the high altar.
literature
- Jean Richard: La fondation d'une église latine en Orient par Saint Louis. Damiette. In: BEC, 120 (1962).
- Jean Richard: Orient et Occident au Moyen Age. Contacts et relations (XIIe-XVe p.). Variorum Reprints, London 1976, ISBN 0902089935 .
Web links
- Gilles de Tyr, sa vie, sa maison, sa tombeau. at saumur-jadis.pagesperso-orange.fr (French)
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Office newly created | Archbishop of Damiette 1249–1250 |
Office expired |
| Niccoló Lercari |
Archbishop of Tire 1253–1266 |
John |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gilles of Saumur |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gilles of Tire; Gilles de Saumur; Gilles de Tyr |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Archbishop of Damiette and Tire, Chancellor of France |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 13th Century |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 23, 1266 |
| Place of death | Dinant |