St. Gerland

Feastday: Febuary 25
Death: 1100

Bishop ordained by Pope Urban II. He was a relative of Robert Guiscard and Roger the Norman, knights who took Sicily, Italy, from the Arabs. Gerland was the bishop of Girgenti and tried to Christianize Sicily.

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Saint Gerland of Agrigento (Italian: San Gerlando di Agrigento), also known as Gerland of Besançon (d. 25 February 1100) was a bishop of Agrigento in Sicily.

History

Believed to have been a native of Besançon, he was a relative of the Norman Roger I of Sicily. After the expulsion of the Saracens from Sicily, in 1088 (or 1093) Roger summoned Gerland as the first post-Saracen bishop of Agrigento, to re-establish the church throughout the island.

He was canonised in 1159. His relics are in a silver urn in Agrigento Cathedral, which has been dedicated to him since its rebuilding by bishop Bertaldo di Labro in 1305.

His feast day is 25 February.