Guérin (Chancellor)

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Brother Guérin or Garin , called the chosen one (Latin: Garinus ; † 1227 ), was a bishop of Senlis as well as keeper of the seals and chancellor of France .

Guérin was of low origin and a knight of the Hospitaller Order . Under what circumstances he came to the royal court of France is unclear. Presumably he joined King Philip II August when he was in the Holy Land in 1191 on the occasion of the third crusade .

This episcopal crook from the second half of the 12th century is attributed to Bishop Guérin. Musee de Laon.

For the first time in the vicinity of the king Guérin was mentioned in the Chroniques de Flanders in 1197 when he was commissioned by him to persuade Count Rainald I of Dammartin (Rainald von Boulogne) to return to the royal court after this him had left after a quarrel with the Count of Saint-Pol . In the following years Guérin became one of the most influential advisors to the king, whom he supported in the repudiation of Ingeborg from Denmark . Appointed royal seal keeper in 1203, he also became the king's chancellery. In 1213 he was elected Bishop of Senlis, but not yet consecrated, which gave him his nickname, and the following year he played a decisive role in the victory at the Battle of Bouvines . The Saint-Victor abbey, called la Victoire , which was then founded by the king near Senlis , was subordinated to the diocese of Senlis. In 1219 Guérin accompanied Crown Prince Louis VIII the Lion on the Albigensian Crusade against the city of Marmande . In the final years of King Philip II's reign, Guérin effectively managed state affairs like a viceroy. In 1226 he accompanied the now King Louis VIII on a new tour south, took part in the siege of Avignon and was in Montpensier on the king's deathbed. Until his death a year later, Guérin was in the government of the still underage King Louis IX. (the saint) participated and supported the Queen Mother Blanka of Castile in taking over the reign.

As head of the chancellery, Guérin was instrumental in setting up the royal archives ( Trésor des chartes ) in Paris . Since then, the documents issued by the king have been given the new title “King of France” ( rex Franciae ), while the old “King of the Franks” ( rex Francorum ) has been dropped. In his work, he created a register named after him ( registrum Guarini ), in which he archived his office documents. This register became an administrative memory book for King Louis IX, who had a copy made of it, which he took with him on his crusade to Egypt and probably also to Tunis. The register was used until 1276, i.e. until the reign of King Philip III. of the bold , carried on. It is still in the French National Archives (JJ 26), which emerged from the Royal Archives. The copy of Louis IX. located in the National Library (Ms. latin 9778).

The author Charles Petit-Dutaillis wrote of him: "Guérin was not a Richelieu , but he was a great man of his day."

literature

  • Charles Petit-Dutaillis: L'Étude sur La Vie et Le Règne de Louis VIII. (1187-1226) . Paris, 1894.
  • Georges Duby : Le Dimanche de Bouvines . 1973. (Eng. The Sunday of Bouvines - The day on which France was born . Wagenbach, Berlin 2002.)
  • Jacques Le Goff : Saint Louis . Gallimard, Paris 1996. (German Ludwig the Saint . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2000.)
predecessor Office successor
Geoffroy II. Bishop of Senlis
1213–1227
Adam de Chambly