Gerard I (''Girard'' in French and Catalan, ''Gerardo'' in Spanish), called Guinard, was the count of Roussillon from 1102 to his murder in 1113. He was the son and heir of Giselbert II. He participated in the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

, possibly in the retinue of

Raymond IV of Toulouse Raymond of Saint-Gilles ( 1041 – 28 February 1105), also called Raymond IV of Toulouse or Raymond I of Tripoli, was the count of Toulouse, duke of Narbonne, and margrave of Provence from 1094, and one of the leaders of the First Crusade from ...

, although the database of Riley-Smith, et al., is uncertain of his affiliation. He was at the

Siege of Antioch The siege of Antioch took place during the First Crusade in 1097 and 1098, on the crusaders' way to Jerusalem through Syria (region), Syria. Two sieges took place in succession. The first siege, by the crusaders against the city held by the Sel ...

and was one of the first in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

after the successful siege of 15 July 1099. He returned to Roussillon for the period between 1100 and 1105. He returned to the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

at the request of Raymond, then besieging Tripoli. During his absence, his wife, the Countess Agnes, governed Roussillon. In 1112, Raymond's successor, Bertrand, died and Gerard returned once more to his county. Not long after his return, he was assassinated in unknown circumstances. His son Gausfred III was too young to rule and his brother Arnold Gausfred acted as

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

. His daughter Beatrice married William of Narbonne.

Sources

* Prof. J. S. C. Riley-Smith, Prof, Jonathan Phillips, Dr. Alan V. Murray, Dr. Guy Perry, Dr. Nicholas Morton, A Database of Crusaders to the Holy Land, 1099-1149
available on-line
)

References

Christians of the First Crusade Counts of Roussillon 1113 deaths Assassinated royalty Year of birth unknown 12th-century Catalan people {{Europe-noble-stub