Gil Torres (died 11 November 1254) was a Leonese cleric and the

cardinal-deacon A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

Santi Cosma e Damiano The basilica of Santi Cosma e Damiano is a titular church in Rome, Italy. The lower portion of the building is accessible through the Roman Forum and incorporates original Roman buildings, but the entrance to the upper level is outside the Forum ...

from 1216 until his death. Gil was a native of Zamora. Nothing is known of his life before 1206, when he is recorded among the canons of the

cathedral of Burgos The Cathedral of Saint Mary of Burgos ( es, Santa Iglesia Basílica Catedral Metropolitana de Santa María de Burgos) is a Catholic church dedicated to the Virgin Mary located in the historical center of the Spanish city of Burgos. Its official n ...

. In 1209, he is recorded with the title '' magister'', implying a formal education. In 1210, he was named

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 Burgos and was sent to the Roman ''curia'' as representative of the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

. He was still there during the

Fourth Lateran Council The Fourth Council of the Lateran or Lateran IV was convoked by Pope Innocent III in April 1213 and opened at the Lateran Palace in Rome on 11 November 1215. Due to the great length of time between the Council's convocation and meeting, many bi ...

in 1215.

Peter Linehan Peter Anthony Linehan (11 July 1943 – 9 July 2020) was a British historian of medieval Spain. He was a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, where he was Dean of Discipline, and a fellow of the British Academy. Life Linehan was born in Mor ...

"Gil Torres"
'' Diccionario biográfico español'' (Real Academia de la Historia, 2018). Gil was named to the

college of cardinals The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are appoi ...

with the '' titulus'' of Santi Cosma e Damiano by Pope

Honorius III Pope Honorius III (c. 1150 – 18 March 1227), born Cencio Savelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 July 1216 to his death. A canon at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, he came to hold a number of import ...

in December 1216. He was almost certainly recommended to the pope by Cardinal Pelayo Gaitán and Bishop Melendo of Osma, two fellow Leonese well respected in Rome. Thereafter until his death, Gil remained with the Roman ''curia''. His influence grew quickly. In April 1217, he was described as close to King

Frederick II of Germany Frederick II (German: ''Friedrich''; Italian: ''Federico''; Latin: ''Federicus''; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jerus ...

and King

Philip II of France Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French ...

.Maria João Branco
"Portuguese Ecclesiastics and Portuguese Affairs near the Spanish Cardinals in the Roman Curia, 1213–1254"
in ''Encontro internacional: Carreiras eclesiásticas no ocidente cristão (séc. XII–XIV)'' (Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Centro de Estudos de História Religiosa, 2007), pp. 77–100. In April 1218, King

Afonso II of Portugal Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

claimed him as a friend. He frequently served as an

auditor An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting and au ...

down to 1230, hearing cases from across Europe. In June 1234, Gil was elected to the

archdiocese of Tarragona The Archdiocese of Tarragona (Latin, ''Tarraconensis'') is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory located in north-eastern Spain, in the province of Tarragona, part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The archdiocese heads the ecclesias ...

, but declined. He is especially associated with interventionist policy of Pope

Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV ( la, Innocentius IV; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254. Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universitie ...

regarding

papal provision ''Canonical provision'' is a term of the canon law of the Catholic Church, signifying regular induction into a benefice. Analysis It comprises three distinct acts - the designation of the person, canonical institution, and installation. In variou ...

. In 1245, Innocent assigned him the task of dividing up various sources of income between the chapters of

Ávila Ávila (, , ) is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila. It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m abov ...

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of t ...

Calahorra Calahorra [] ( an, Calagorra, la, Calagurris) is a municipality in the comarca of Rioja Baja, near the border with Navarre on the right bank of the Ebro. During Ancient Rome, Ancient Roman times, Calahorra was a municipium known as ''Calagurris ...

Ciudad Rodrigo Ciudad Rodrigo () is a small cathedral city in the province of Salamanca, in western Spain, with a population in 2016 of 12,896. It is also the seat of a judicial district. The site of Ciudad Rodrigo, perched atop a rocky rise on the right bank ...

, Córdoba, Cuenca,

Plasencia Plasencia () is a walled market city in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Western Spain. , it has a population of 41,047. Situated on the bank of the Jerte River, Plasencia has a historic quarter that is a consequence of the city's stra ...

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...

and

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is in the Inner Plateau (''Meseta central''), near the northern slopes of th ...

so as to ensure an adequate living for the bishops and canons. In 1247, Gil was offered the

archdiocese of Toledo This is a list of Bishops and Archbishops of Toledo ( la, Archidioecesis Metropolitae Toletana).

, but declined. Gil did not subscribe any papal document later than 1246, perhaps on account of old age. In 1253, he supported

Robert Grosseteste Robert Grosseteste, ', ', or ') or the gallicised Robert Grosstête ( ; la, Robertus Grossetesta or '). Also known as Robert of Lincoln ( la, Robertus Lincolniensis, ', &c.) or Rupert of Lincoln ( la, Rubertus Lincolniensis, &c.). ( ; la, Rob ...

's complaint against Innocent IV regarding papal provisions. It is for this reason that

Matthew of Paris Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris ( la, Matthæus Parisiensis, lit=Matthew the Parisian; c. 1200 – 1259), was an English Benedictine monk, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey in ...

calls him a "pillar of truth and justice in the Roman ''curia''" in his ''

Chronica maiora The ''Chronica Majora'' is the seminal work of Matthew Paris, a member of the English Benedictine community of St Albans and long-celebrated historian. The work begins with Creation and contains annals down to the year of Paris' death of 1259. ...

''. Matthew also records, improbably, that he was at least one hundred years old at his death. Gil died in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

on 11 November 1254. His death is recorded in the necrologies of Burgos and Toledo. His will, still extant in 1311, has been lost. The record does survive of his bequest to the

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

house of San Martino al Cimino of the debt that was owed him by the

cathedral of Toledo , native_name_lang = , image = Toledo Cathedral, from Plaza del Ayuntamiento.jpg , imagesize = 300px , imagelink = , imagealt = , landscape = , caption ...

. His executor was Cardinal Giovanni Gaetano Orsini.Linehan, ''The Spanish Church'', p. 217.

Notes

References

{{reflist 12th-century births 1254 deaths People from Zamora, Spain 13th-century cardinals Spanish cardinals