Gervais, Count of Rethel (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

11th century) was a French archbishop and nobleman. He was the son of Count

Hugh I Hugh I may refer to: * Hugh I of Lusignan (c. 885–c. 930) * Hugh I, Count of Maine (died 933) * Hugh I, Viscount of Châteaudun (died 989 or after) * Hugh I of France (c. 939–996), a.k.a. Hugh Capet, first King of the Franks of the Capetian dy ...

and his wife Melisende of Crécy. He succeeded his father as

Count of Rethel This is a list of counts and dukes of Rethel. The first counts of Rethel ruled independently, before the county passed first to the Counts of Nevers, then to the Counts of Flanders, and finally to the Dukes of Burgundy. In 1405 the County became par ...

Biography

Gervais served as an

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

of Rheims before being nominated as Archbishop of Rheims by the King's supporters against Raoul the Green in 1106. The next year Paschall II declared him unfit, quashed his election and Gervais resigned as archbishop in 1109, returning to his former role as archdeacon. Upon the death of his elder brother, Manasser, in 1115, Gervais resigned from the clergy and married Elisabeth, daughter of

Godfrey I, Count of Namur Godfrey of Namur (attested in 1080; died 19 August 1139) was a Lotharingian nobleman. He was Count ''jure uxoris'' of Porcéan from 1097 until his death. From 1102, he was also Count of Namur. He was the oldest son of Count Albert III and his ...

and in 1118 he succeeded his father as Count of

Rethel Rethel () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture and third-most important city and economic center in the department. It is situated on the river Aisne, near the northern border of Champagne and 37& ...

. Gervais died in 1124 and his widow Elizabeth remarried to Roger Clarembauld, Lord of Rosoi in Thierache who gave the hand of his step-daughter to Robert Marmion, Baron of Tamworth. Because Gervais' younger brother

Baldwin Baldwin is a Germanic name, composed of the elements ''bald'' "bold" and ''win'' "friend". People * Baldwin (name) Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, Qu ...

was in the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

, where he served as

King of Jerusalem The King of Jerusalem was the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, a Crusader states, Crusader state founded in Jerusalem by the Latin Church, Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade, when the city was Siege of Jerusalem (1099), conqu ...

, he was succeeded as ruler of Rethel by his sister

Matilda Matilda or Mathilda may refer to: Animals * Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder * Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse * Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...

and her husband

Odo of Vitry Odo of Vitry (Eudes) (died 1158) was a French nobleman. Count of Rethel and Châtelain de Vitry. His parenthood is unclear. It is sometimes stated that he was a son of André, castellan of Vitré and of Agnès de Mortain, but this appears to be ...

.''Kingship, Identity and Name-giving in the Family of Baldwin of Bourcq'', Alan V. Murray, ''Knighthoods of Christ: Essays on the History of the Crusades and the Knights Templar'', ed. Norman Housely, (Ashgate Publishing, 2007), 31.

Family and Issue

He was married to Elisabeth, a daughter of

. According to the Chronicle of Alberic of Trois-Fontaines they had a single daughter:- * Melisende de Rethel (Millicent) married to Robert Marmion (d.1181) and forebear of all three English Marmion Baronys. Married secondly to Richard de Camville, with at least one son,

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gervais Rethel Counts of Rethel 1124 deaths People from Rethel 11th-century French people 12th-century French people Bishops of Rouen 12th-century Roman Catholic bishops