Gentile (or Gentilis) (died 1171) was the

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 ...

from 1154 to his death. He has been described as a ''prélat aventureux et vagabond'', an "adventurous and vagabond prelate" (Chalandon 1907). A Tuscan by birth, he originally served as an ambassador from

Géza II of Hungary Géza II ( hu, II. Géza; hr, Gejza II; sk, Gejza II; 113031 May 1162) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1141 to 1162. He was the oldest son of Béla the Blind and his wife, Helena of Serbia. When his father died, Géza was still a child a ...

, but decided to remain in Sicily after a diplomatic mission. There he became bishop of Agrigento and a noted courtier. Noted, that is, for his luxury and debauchery. He threw lavish banquets, which he used to begin a whispering campaign against

Richard Palmer, Bishop of Syracuse Richard Palmer, an Englishman, was the bishop of Syracuse from 1169 and archbishop of Messina from 1182. Palmer first rose to prominence in 1160 as one of the triumvirate of grandees who replaced the assassinated Admiral Maio of Bari. He was "a ma ...

, a rival candidate for the vacant archbishopric of

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

(1166). Ironically, he complained of the Syracusan bishops foreign, English origins. Likewise, he convinced the Grand Protonotary

Matthew of Ajello Matthew of Ajello ( it, Matteo d'Aiello) was a high-ranking member of the Norman court of the Kingdom of Sicily in the 12th century. His brother John was a bishop. Career He first appears as the notary of the Admiral Maio of Bari who drew up th ...

that Palmer was planning to kill him and very nearly started a blood feud. The archbishopric was filled by

Stephen du Perche Stephen du Perche (1137 or 1138 – 1169) was the chancellor of the Kingdom of Sicily (1166–68) and Archbishop of Palermo (1167–68) during the early regency of his cousin, the queen dowager Margaret of Navarre (1166–71). Stephen is desc ...

, also a foreigner, and Gentile was the first ecclesiastic to join the large conspiracy against him. Nevertheless, Gentile swore an oath of fealty to Stephen just before the latter moved the court to

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

, where the conspiracy was uncovered and the "leader" of the group,

Henry, Count of Montescaglioso Henry (before 1144–1173×77), born Rodrigo according to Hugo Falcandus, was an alleged son of the Navarrese king García Ramírez and his wife, Margaret of L'Aigle, and brother of the Sicilian queen dowager Margaret, who made him Count of Mon ...

, arrested and imprisoned. Gentile himself had avoided the court proceedings, but hurried with Matthew of Ajello back to Palermo to await Stephen's return. Once again, the conspiracy was uncovered and Gentile fled to his diocese, where the people handed him over to a royal

justiciar Justiciar is the English form of the medieval Latin term ''justiciarius'' or ''justitiarius'' ("man of justice", i.e. judge). During the Middle Ages in England, the Chief Justiciar (later known simply as the Justiciar) was roughly equivalent ...

come to arrest him. The bishop was imprisoned in

San Marco d'Alunzio San Marco d'Alunzio ( scn, San Marcu, Ancient Greek: ( Ptol.) or ( Dion.), Latin: ''Aluntium'' or ''Haluntium'') is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, near the north coast of th ...

, the first

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 ...

fortress on the island. On Stephen's fall later in 1168, Gentile was released and was a guarantor of the deal whereby Stephen's life was spared should he immediately leave Sicily, which he did. The "old voluptuary", as

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

calls him, was passed over again for the vacant archdiocese,

Walter of the Mill Walter Ophamil or Offamil ( fl. 1160–1191), italianised as Gualtiero Offamiglio or Offamilio from Latin ''Ophamilius'', was the archdeacon of Cefalù, dean of Agrigento, and archbishop of Palermo (1168–1191), called "''il primo minist ...

being elected instead. Nonetheless, Gentile's penchant for conspiracy and sedition had apparently been satisfied and he took no part in any more such quarrels, dying early in 1171 and succeeded by Bartholomew.

References

* Norwich, John Julius. ''The Kingdom in the Sun 1130–1194''. Longman: London, 1970. * Chalandon, Ferdinand. ''Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicile''. Paris, 1907. 12th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops 1171 deaths Year of birth unknown {{12C-Italy-RC-bishop-stub