Saint Gerland of Agrigento ( it, San Gerlando di Agrigento), also known as Gerland of Besançon (d. 25 February 1100) was a

bishop of Agrigento The Italian Catholic Archdiocese of Agrigento ( la, Archidioecesis Agrigentina), in Sicily, was elevated to archiepiscopal status in 2000.

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

History

Believed to have been a native of

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzer ...

, he was a relative of the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

Roger I of Sicily Roger I ( it, Ruggero I, Arabic: ''رُجار'', ''Rujār''; Maltese: ''Ruġġieru'', – 22 June 1101), nicknamed Roger Bosso and The Great, was a Norman nobleman who became the first Count of Sicily from 1071 to 1101. He was a member of the ...

. After the expulsion of the

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

s from Sicily, in 1088 (or 1093) Roger summoned Gerland as the first post-Saracen

bishop of Agrigento The Italian Catholic Archdiocese of Agrigento ( la, Archidioecesis Agrigentina), in Sicily, was elevated to archiepiscopal status in 2000.

, to re-establish the church throughout the island. He was canonised in 1159. His

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tang ...

are in a silver urn in Agrigento Cathedral, which has been dedicated to him since its rebuilding by bishop Bertaldo di Labro in 1305. His feast day is 25 February.

References

Sources and external links

Santi e Beati: San Gerlando

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerland of Agrigento Bishops in Sicily People from Agrigento 1100 deaths Sicilian saints Year of birth unknown Religious leaders from the Province of Agrigento