Gilbert Foliot
Medieval English monk and Bishop of London · Religious Figures · Lived 1110 to 1187 · aged 77
Gilbert Foliot was a medieval English monk and prelate, successively Abbot of Gloucester, Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of London. Born to an ecclesiastical family, he became a monk at Cluny Abbey in France at about the age of twenty.
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Photos 8
Pope Innocent II (left) from a mosaic in Rome
Matilda's seal
12th-century manuscript illustration of King Stephen
Engraving from Old St. Paul's Cathedral by William Benham, 1902
12th-century depiction of Becket with King Henry II
15th century ivory carving depicting Becket meeting Pope Alexander III at Sens in 1164.
Medieval seal of Arbroath Abbey depicting the death of BecketAbout this person
After holding two posts as prior in the Cluniac order he was appointed Abbot of Gloucester Abbey in 1139, a promotion influenced by his kinsman Miles of Gloucester. During his tenure as abbot, he acquired additional land for the abbey and may have helped to fabricate some charters - legal deeds attesting property ownership - to gain advantage in a dispute with the Archbishops of York. Although Foliot recognised Stephen as the King of England, he may have also sympathised with the Empress Matilda's claim to the throne. He joined Matilda's supporters after her forces captured Stephen, and continued to write letters in support of Matilda even after Stephen's release.
