Gervase of Tilbury (-c. 1228) was a thirteenth-century canon lawyer, statesman and writer, apparently born in Tilbury, Essex, England. He was of aristocratic stock, supposed to have been related to the Norman kings of England. During his youth he entered the service of Henry of Anjou, later king of England. Then he travelled widely: he studied canon law at Bologna, and until 1189 attended the Norman court in Sicily of William II, who had married Henry's daughter Joan (1177). After the king's death (1189) Gervase settled in Arles and was appointed Marshal of the Kingdom of Arles in 1198 by Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor. Ex officio he accompanied Otto to Rome in 1209 on the occasion of his coronation. Tilbury is located on the north bank of the River Thames, in the borough of Thurrock in England, at the point where the river suddenly narrows to about 800 yards/740 metres in width. ... Essex is a county in the East of England. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages English Capital London Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population –mid-2004... Henry II of England (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189) ruled as Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy, and as King of England (1154–1189) and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland, eastern Ireland, and western France. ... Canon Law is the ecclesiastical law of the Roman Catholic Church. ... Bologna (pronounced , from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in the local dialect) is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, in the Pianura Padana, between the Po River and the Apennines, exactly, between Reno River and Sàvena River. ... William II (1153 - 1189), king of Sicily, was only thirteen years old at the death of his father William I when he was placed under the regency of his mother, Marguerite of Navarre. ... Joan of England (October, 1165 – 4 September 1199) was the seventh child of King Henry II of England and his Queen consort, Eleanor of Aquitaine. ... Map of western Mediterranean, showing location of Arles Ruins at the Roman theatre Les Alyscamps, Falling Autumn Leaves, Vincent van Gogh, 1888 Arles (Arle in Provençal) is a city in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône département, of which it is a sous-pr... Map of western Mediterranean, showing location of Arles Arles (Arle in Provençal) is a city in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône département, of which it is a sous-préfecture, in the former province of Provence. ... Otto IV of Brunswick (died 1218) was King of Germany (1208-1215) and Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 - 1215. ...

The following year Gervase was enmeshed in the papacy's struggle with Gervase's patron Otto, who was excommunicated by Pope Innocent III. Gervase employed the next years, from 1210 to 1214 writing the Otia imperialia ("Recreation for an Emperor") for his patron. In 1214, after the resounding defeat of Otto and his English ally John at the battle of Bouvines, Gervase was forced to retire to the duchy of Braunschweig. Innocent III, born Lotario de Conti di Segni (Gavignano, near Anagni, ca. ... This page deals with the King of England. ... The Battle of Bouvines, July 27, 1214, was the first great international conflict of alliances among national forces in Europe. ... Braunschweig (historic English name Brunswick, Low Saxon Brunswiek) is a city of 245,500 people (as of December 31, 2004), located in Lower Saxony, Germany. ...

His major surviving work, Otia imperialia, was also entitled Liber de mirabilibus mundi, Solatia imperatoris, and Descriptio totius orbis. It was an encyclopedic miscellany of wonders, divided into three parts concerning history, geography, and physics. During the following three centuries it was much read and was twice translated into French in the fourteenth century. Leibniz, who edited parts of it, called it a "bagful of foolish old woman's tales"; its modern Oxford University Press editors less dismissively report "a wealth of accounts of folklore and popular belief", but Catholic apologists respect it most of all, for the support it offers of Innocent's papal claims in his conflicts between Church and Empire (CE). Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (July 1, 1646 in Leipzig - November 14, 1716 in Hannover) was a German philosopher, scientist, mathematician, diplomat, librarian, and lawyer of Sorb descent. ... Oxford University Press (OUP) is a highly-respected publishing house and a department of the University of Oxford in England. ...

References

• S. E. Banks and J. W. Binns, editors, 2002. Gervaise of Tilbury: Otia Imperialia : Recreation for an Emperor (Oxford University Press, Oxford Medieval Texts) ISBN 0198202881 The first English translation.
• Catholic Encyclopedia "Gervase of Tilbury"