Gerald of Sales (c.1055 or 1070 – 1120) was a French monastic reformer from
Salles, Lot-et-Garonne near
Bergerac, Dordogne
Bergerac (; ) is a subprefecture of the Dordogne department, in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. In 2018, the commune had a population of 26,823, which made it the department's second-most populated after the prefecture ...
in the south-west of France. His feast day is on April 20.
Monastic reformer
Gerald of Salles was ruler of Salles near Bergerac in Dordogne, France. According to a tradition going back to his ''Vita'', he became a
canon regular
The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religiou ...
of St. Avitus, from the
diocese of Périgueux, and the monastery of Saint-Avit,
A friend of
Robert of Arbrissel
Robert of Arbrissel ( 1045 – 1116) was an itinerant preacher, and founder of Fontevraud Abbey. He was born at Arbrissel (near Retiers, Brittany) and died at Orsan Priory in the present department of Cher.
Sources
Robert's life is primarily ...
, and follower of
Vitalis of Savigny
Vitalis of Savigny ( – 16 September 1122) was the canonized founder of Savigny Abbey in Manche and of the Congregation of Savigny (1112).
Biography
Early life and work as chaplain
He was born in Normandy at Tierceville near Bayeux about 1060 ...
; like
Bernard of Thiron
Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname.
The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern ...
, Gerard set up
Benedictine
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
houses, or groups of
hermit
A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions.
Description
In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...
s, mostly in the west of France, and was important in the later spread of the
Cistercian
The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...
s, from their beginnings in
Burgundy
Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...
.
[Berman, Constance H., ''Medieval Agriculture, the Southern French Countryside, and the Early Cistercians: A Study of Forty-three Monasteries'', American Philosophical Society, 2007]
, p. 32 Following a spirituality very close to that of the Cistercians, Gerald of Salles monasteries progressively joined them.
[
]
Foundations
Most of Gerald's foundations were south of the Loire; all were founded under the Rule of St. Benedict. Among his attributed foundations, of which there are traditionally said to be nine, were:
* Absie Abbey (1120)
* Sainte-Marie d'Ardorel[
* ]Belleperche Abbey
Belleperche Abbey (bella pertica) is a former Cistercian abbey in Tarn-et-Garonne, Occitanie, in France, about 7 kilometres south of Castelsarrasin and 20 kilometres west of Montauban, situated on the Garonne.
History
The monastery was founded ...
* Abbaye Notre-Dame de l'Assomption du Bournet (1113)
* Cadouin Abbey
Cadouin Abbey ( or ''Abbaye Notre-Dame de la Nativité de Cadouin'') was a Cistercian monastery founded as a hermitage in 1115 by Gerald of Salles, in the name of Robert of Arbrissel, in what is now the commune of Le Buisson-de-Cadouin in the D ...
(c.1115)
* L’abbaye Notre-Dame des Châtelliers (1119)
* Dalon Abbey (1114)
* Fontdouce Abbey (1117)
* Grandselve Abbey (1114)
* Valmagne Abbey
Valmagne Abbey () is a former Benedictine monastery located near Villeveyrac, Hérault, in south-central France. It is a designated historic monument (monument historique).
Valmagne Abbey was founded as a Benedictine abbey in 1138 but only twen ...
Loc-Dieu Abbey
Loc-Dieu Abbey is a Cistercian abbey located near Martiel, 9 km west from Villefranche-de-Rouergue, in the department of Aveyron in France.
History
Founded in 1123 in a place formerly called ''Locus Diaboli'' (Latin for "devil's place") due ...
belonged to a series of monasteries reformed by Gerald of Salles.["Loc-Dieu Abbey", Cister.net]
/ref>
Like Grandselve, the monastery of Sainte-Marie d'Ardorel near Albi
Albi (; ) is a commune in France, commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department, on the river Tarn (river), Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ...
, and its daughter house, Valmagne Abbey, were established as independent Benedictine houses before being absorbed into the Cistercian system.
Veneration
He was beatified in 1249, and was reburied in a marble tomb,[Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, ''Histoire et mémoires de l'institut royal de France'' (1846), p. 488.] south of the altar at Châtelliers Abbey.
Notes
References
Sources
*Marie-Odile Lenglet, ''L'implantation cistercienne dans la Marche Limousine, de Géraud de Sales à saint Bernard'', MSSNAC, vol. 46 (1997), p. 258-268
*Marie-Odile Lenglet, ''La biographie du bienheureux Géraud de Sales'', in Cîteaux. Commentani Cisterciences, 29, 1978, p. 7-40
*Marie-Odile Lenglet, ''Un pauvre du Christ, Géraud de Sales dit Saint Giraud'', Cîteaux Commentarii Cistercienses, t. XXIX, 1978, pp. 5–40
*Marie-Odile Lenglet, ''Géraud de Salles, ses fondations monastiques, leur évolution vers l’ordre cistercien à la fin de XIIème siècle'', Bulletin de la Société Historique et Archéologique du Périgord, t. CXIV, 1987, pp. 33–50.
Biography of Giraud de Salles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerald Of Salles
1120 deaths
Year of birth unknown
Year of birth uncertain