Gilbert the Great (died 17 October 1167) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

monk and theologian who served as the ninth

abbot of Cîteaux Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

from 1163 until his death.G. R. Evans (2004)
"Gilbert "
''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

''. Retrieved 5 July 2022. Prior to coming to Cîteaux, Gilbert served as the abbot of from 1143. In 1164, he wrote the statutes of the

Order of Calatrava The Order of Calatrava (, ) was one of the Spanish military orders, four Spanish military orders and the first Military order (society), military order founded in Kingdom of Castile, Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bu ...

. In 1165, he received from

Pope Alexander III Pope Alexander III (c. 1100/1105 – 30 August 1181), born Roland (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 September 1159 until his death in 1181. A native of Siena, Alexander became pope after a Papal election, ...

the exemption of the Cistercians from episcopal jurisdiction. When, in 1166, the dispute between King

Henry II of England Henry II () was King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with the ...

and Archbishop

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury fr ...

embroiled the Cistercians, Gilbert asked Becket to leave

Pontigny Abbey Pontigny Abbey (), the church of which in recent decades has also been the cathedral of the Mission de France, otherwise the Territorial Prelature of Pontigny (), was a Cistercian monastery located in Pontigny on the River Serein, in the present ...

, where he was staying. Gilbert was nicknamed "the Great" in his own time, but the reason is unknown. Of his writings, three letters to King

Louis VII of France Louis VII (1120 – 18 September 1180), called the Younger or the Young () to differentiate him from his father Louis VI, was King of France from 1137 to 1180. His first marriage was to Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the wealthiest and ...

are preserved. A biblical commentary and some works on theological distinctions have been attributed to him, but these attributions are uncertain.

John Bale John Bale (21 November 1495 – November 1563) was an English churchman, historian controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory in Ireland. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English (on the subject of King John), and developed and ...

credited him with a commentary on the ''

Song of Songs The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...

''.

References

{{reflist 1167 deaths English Cistercians Cistercian abbots general