Editing Gilbert of Sempringham (section)

==The Gilbertines==
[[File:St.Gilbert's well - geograph.org.uk - 528617.jpg|thumb|St Gilbert's well at Sempringham]]
When his father died in 1130, Gilbert became [[lord of the manor]] of Sempringham and West Torrington. In 1131 he founded the [[Gilbertine Order]], and with the help of Alexander constructed at Sempringham a dwelling and cloister for nuns, at the north of the church of St Andrew.<ref name=butler/> Eventually he had a chain of twenty-six convents, [[monasteries]] and [[Mission (station)|missions]]. A custom developed in the houses of the order called "the plate of the Lord Jesus", whereby the best portions of the dinner were put on a special plate and shared with the poor.<ref name=foley/> In 1148 he approached the [[Cistercians]] for help. They refused because he included women in his order. The male part of the order consisted of [[Canons Regular]].

In 1165 Gilbert was charged with having aided [[Thomas Becket]] when Thomas fled from King [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] after the council of Northampton, but he was eventually found innocent.<ref name=butler/> In 1174 some of his lay brothers revolted, but he received the backing of [[Pope Alexander III]]. Gilbert resigned his office late in life because of blindness and died at Sempringham in about 1190, at the claimed age of 106.<ref name=":1">[[Rose Graham (historian)|Graham, Rose]] S. ''Gilbert of Sempringham and the Gilbertines: a history of the only English monastic order'' (London: Elliott Stock, 1903)</ref>

The only religious order of English origin founded during the Middle Ages, it thrived until the [[dissolution of the monasteries]] under King [[Henry VIII]].<ref name=foley>[http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1293 Foley O.F.M., Leonard. "St. Gilbert of Sempringham", ''Saint of the Day, Lives, Lessons and Feast'', (revised by Pat McCloskey O.F.M.), Franciscan Media]</ref>