February 4medievalRoman

Gilbert of Sempringham

Priest and Founder

Lifec. 1085 AD — c. 1189 ADSempringham, Lincolnshire, EnglandFounder of the GilbertinesApostle of LincolnshireGilbertine Order English monasticism

Gilbert of Sempringham founded the only monastic order of English origin, living to approximately 104 years old — long enough to see his twenty-six convents flourish across England. A Norman lord's son sent to study theology in France rather than bear arms, he built a double monastery at Sempringham that united nuns, canons, lay brothers, and sisters under a single rule — a structure no English founder had attempted before.

Their Story

Life & Times

Early Life

Son of an Anglo-Norman lord, Gilbert was sent to France to study theology rather than take up arms — an unusual path that shaped his lifelong commitment to learning and pastoral reform.

Turning Point

When his father died in 1130, Gilbert inherited the family manors and immediately channelled them into founding a double monastery at Sempringham in 1131 — the first and only conventual order to emerge from medieval England.

Legacy

He led the Gilbertines for nearly sixty years, weathered royal accusation over Thomas Becket and an internal rebellion among his lay brothers, and died around age 104 — his twenty-six houses outlasting him by three and a half centuries until Henry VIII's dissolution.

Key Moments

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1085

Birth at Sempringham

Born in Sempringham, Lincolnshire, to Jocelin, an Anglo-Norman lord, and an Anglo-Saxon mother — a dual inheritance that may have shaped his attention to those on the margins of English society.

1120

Return from France

After studying theology in France — at the Paris cathedral schools, decades before any formal university existed — Gilbert returned to Lincolnshire and entered the household of Bishop Robert Bloet of Lincoln, where he founded a school.

1123

Ordained Priest

Ordained by Alexander of Lincoln, Robert Bloet's successor, Gilbert took on parish responsibilities that gave practical shape to the pastoral instincts he would later build an entire order upon.

1129

Appointed Vicar

Became vicar of St Andrew's in Sempringham and St Mary's in West Torrington — the local ministry from which a network of twenty-six monasteries would eventually spring.

1131

The Gilbertine Order Founded

Gilbert established the Gilbertine Order at Sempringham, uniquely combining canons regular with nuns, lay brothers, and sisters — the only conventual order ever founded by a medieval Englishman.

1148

Rebuffed by the Cistercians

Seeking Cistercian affiliation for his growing order, Gilbert was refused because he had included women. He returned to England and pressed forward alone, vindicated by subsequent papal approval.

1165

Accused over Thomas Becket

Faced with royal accusations of sheltering the exiled Archbishop Thomas Becket, Gilbert held firm and received the backing of Pope Alexander III — a signal vindication of his integrity.

1174

Lay Brothers' Rebellion

A revolt within his own order tested Gilbert's leadership; he managed the crisis with papal support and emerged with the Gilbertine houses still standing and their rule intact.

1189

Death at Sempringham

Gilbert died at Sempringham at approximately 104 years old, leaving twenty-six convents flourishing across the land he never left.

1202

Canonized by Pope Innocent III

Declared a saint thirteen years after his death, Gilbert's relics were enshrined at Sempringham and his feast fixed on February 4 — the day of his death.

1085

Historical Context

Gilbert of Sempringham was born around 1085 in Sempringham, Lincolnshire, the son of Jocelin, an Anglo-Norman lord, and an Anglo-Saxon mother. His father, unusually for the era, discouraged a military career and sent him instead to study theology in France — at the Paris cathedral schools — an education that would prove formative. Returning to Lincolnshire around 1120, Gilbert entered the household of Robert Bloet, Bishop of Lincoln, and founded a school there. He was ordained priest by Bloet's successor, Alexander of Lincoln, and in 1129 became vicar of St Andrew's in Sempringham and St Mary's in West Torrington. When his father died in 1130, Gilbert inherited the family manors and used that inheritance to launch a venture no English churchman had attempted before. In 1131, at Sempringham, he founded the Gilbertine Order — a double monastery that placed canons regular, nuns, lay brothers, and lay sisters under a single governance. The arrangement was structurally unprecedented in England and would prove canonically contentious. When Gilbert travelled to the General Chapter of Cîteaux in 1148 seeking Cistercian oversight for his growing houses, the chapter refused him outright because he had admitted women. He returned to England and continued alone. Papal support proved more forthcoming than Cistercian solidarity. Gilbert received approval from Rome and navigated two major crises under Pope Alexander III's protection: in 1165, King Henry II accused him of sheltering the exiled Archbishop Thomas Becket, and Gilbert refused to yield; in 1174, a revolt among his lay brothers threatened the order's internal cohesion. Both crises passed without destroying what he had built. By his death the order operated twenty-six houses across England. Gilbert died at Sempringham around 1189, aged approximately 104 — having led his order for nearly six decades. Pope Innocent III canonized him in 1202, and his feast was fixed on February 4, the day of his death. His relics were enshrined at Sempringham. The Gilbertine Order survived until Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries in the sixteenth century, making it the longest-lived purely English monastic foundation. Gilbert remains the only medieval Englishman to have founded a conventual order.

Canonization: saint Wikipedia

Life Locations

Words & Wisdom

document

Rule of the Gilbertine Order

Gilbert's foundational rule for the double monastery — uniting canons regular, nuns, lay brothers, and sisters under a single governance — the only conventual rule composed by a medieval Englishman.

Prayers

"The traditional prayer invoking Gilbert's intercession — drawing on his founding vision, his pastoral steadfastness, and his century-long fidelity to a radical calling."

O God, who called your servant Gilbert to build a house of prayer that welcomed women and men alike, grant us through his intercession the courage to serve those whom others exclude, the patience to persevere through accusation and rebellion, and the wisdom to see that no life given wholly to you is ever wasted. May we, like Gilbert, live long in faithfulness and die leaving the world more holy than we found it. Amen.

Founder's StaffRepresents Gilbert's role as spiritual father and founder of the Gilbertines — guiding nuns and canons alike under a rule no English founder had dared to write before him.

Monastic HabitThe Gilbertine white habit with black cloak — emblem of the double monastery Gilbert built despite Cistercian refusal and canonical precedent.

Related Saints

Connections in the communion of saints

Influenced By

Bernard of Clairvaux

Gilbert sought Cistercian affiliation for his Gilbertine Order in 1148 — during Bernard's era as the order's most influential voice — but was refused because his rule included women.

Explore

Contemporary

Aelred of Rievaulx

Gilbert and Aelred were exact contemporaries working within miles of each other in twelfth-century Lincolnshire — both building new communities, both shaped by the same wave of English monastic renewal.