Saint Gilbert of Sempringham | |
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![]() Seal of the master of Sempringham, depicting St Gilbert | |
Born | ca. 1085 Sempringham, Lincolnshire, Kingdom of England |
Died | 4 February 1189 Sempringham, Lincolnshire, Kingdom of England (Aged 104 or 105) |
Venerated in | Catholic Church, Church of England |
Canonized | 1202, Rome by Pope Innocent III |
Feast | 4 February |
Attributes | cross portate[1] |
Gilbert of Sempringham (c. 1085 – 4 February 1189)[2] was an English Catholic who founded the Gilbertine Order. He was the only medieval Englishman to found a conventual order, mainly because the Cîteaux Abbey declined his request to assist him in organising a group of nuns living with lay brothers and sisters.[3] He founded a double monastery of canons regular and nuns in spite of such a foundation being contrary to canonical practice.