Gervase of Canterbury

Gervase of Canterbury (/dʒərˈveɪz/; Latin: Gervasus Cantuariensis or Gervasius Dorobornensis) (c. 1141 – c. 1210) was an English chronicler.

If Gervase's brother Thomas, who like himself was a monk of Christ Church, Canterbury, was Thomas of Maidstone, they came of a Kentish family. St. Thomas of Canterbury received his religious profession on February 16, 1163, and perhaps then ordained him. He was certainly one of the monks who buried the saint after his martyrdom, December 29, 1170.

Historical records show that Gervase took a prominent part in the disputes between the monks and Archbishop Baldwin (1185-1191) and was one of the monks sent to announce to the archbishop an appeal to the pope. In 1189 he was again one of a deputation sent to lay the matter before King Richard I. As yet, Gervase, though one of the senior monks, had held no prominent office, but about this time he was made sacristan, for in 1193 he attended the new archbishop, Hubert Walter, in that capacity. He probably ceased to hold this office in 1197 when he speaks of one "Felix", as sacristan.

The rest of Gervase's life is obscure. He was still writing in 1199 and there are slight indications in another chronicle, the Gesta Regum, that he continued to write till 1210, when a sudden change in style and arrangement point to a new chronicler. His death may therefore be assumed in or soon after that year. Gervase has occasionally been confused with others of the same name, notably with Gervase of S. Ceneri, and thus he is described as prior of Dover by Dom Brial, which is impossible on chronological grounds. Thomas Duffus Hardy identified him with Gervase of Chichester, but William Stubbs argued against this theory, as also against confusing him with Gervase of Melkley.

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