Gerard of Florennes

Who is Gerard of Florennes?

Gerard of Florennes, bishop of Cambrai as Gerard I, had formerly been chaplain to Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor, and helpful to the latter in his political negotiations with Robert the Pious, King of France. In 1024 Gerard called a synod in Arras to confront a purported heresy fomented by the Gundulfian heretics, who denied the efficacy of the Eucharist. The records of this synod, the Acta Synodi Atrebatensis, preserve a summary of orthodox Christian doctrine of the early eleventh century, as well contemporary peace-making practices. According to this text's author, the heretics were convinced by Gerard's explanation of orthodoxy, renounced their heresy, and were reconciled with the church.

Gerard was the second son of Arnold, seigneur of Florennes in the county of Namur, the son of Godefroi, count of Hainaut, and thus a member of the high nobility of the Low Countries.

He was a student of the great Gerbert of Aurillac, the leading theologian of the tenth century, and a supporter of the monastic reformer Richard of Verdun, abbot of Saint-Vanne. In 1012, while he was a canon at Reims he founded the Abbey of Saint-Jean at Florennes, with Richard as its first abbot.