Gervase of Blois

Gervase of Blois was the Abbot of Westminster in England between 1138 and around 1157. Historically, Gervase has a bad reputation for mismanaging the abbey, although modern historians have re-evaluated his performance as abbot.

Gervase of Blois was the illegitimate son of King Stephen and his mistress, Damette.^[1] His father ensured that he was appointed as the Abbot of Westminster Abbey in the second half of 1138; the abbey would have hoped to receive additional royal funding as a result.^[2] Gervase was very young to be appointed abbot, but despite this probably attended the Second Lateran Council the following year.^[3] Working with the Prior Osbert of Clare, Gervase unsuccessfully attempted to have King Edward the Confessor canonized; the abbey held the remains of the king which would have brought in valuable pilgrims had he been canonised.^[4]

Pope Innocent II ordered Gervase to reform the estate management of the abbey; historians have disagreed over the years about whether the Pope was referring to long-standing issues of malpractice, or ones that had appeared during his term of office.^[5] Pope Eugene III appears to have thought Gervase a reasonable abbot, granting the abbey privileges in the 1140s, and Gervase got on well with his fellow senior clergy.^[6]

In 1154, however, Stephen died, being replaced by his former rival, King Henry II, putting Gervase's position at risk.^[7] Gervase was accused by Henry of mishandling the abbey's estates and he was dismissed from post in 1157, albeit without trial, dying shortly afterwards.^[8] He was replaced by Master Laurence from Durham, a supporter of the new king.^[9]

• Barlow, Frank. (1970) Edward the Confessor. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-01671-2
• Mason, Emma. (1996) Westminster Abbey and its people, c.1050-c.1216. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-85115-396-4