Tailoring his sermons to his audience, Gerson gained
fame as an orator who could preach with eloquence
to both kings and the laity at large. He succeeded his
friend and mentor Pierre d’Ailly as chancellor of the
university in 1395, taking over the duties in the midst
of the Great Schism (1378–1417). Although Gerson
opposed the withdrawal of French obedience from the
Avignon pope, Benedict XIII, and worked to restore
it in 1403, he nevertheless sought a reconciliation be-
tween the two contending popes by suggesting that both
claimants resign. In 1407, the Roman pope, Gregory
XII, indicated a willingness to meet with Benedict
and discuss mutual resignation. Gerson was chosen to
head the French delegation and facilitate the meeting,
which was, however, a failure. With the aim of restoring
church unity, Gerson supported a move to resolve the
confl ict through a church council. The Council of Pisa,
held in 1409, was not successful. Although it elected
a new pope, Alexander V, this strategy served only to
introduce a third contender. The Council of Constance
(1415–18) fi nally put an end to the Schism with the
election of Martin V. Writing numerous treatises to jus-
tify the work of the council, Gerson was an outspoken
proponent of conciliarism, setting out the limitations
of papal authority.
Gerson was also strenuous in efforts to eradicate
heresy. Critical of the writings of Wyclif and Hus,
Gerson was an adviser to Pierre d’Ailly, who served
on the commission that condemned Hus to death. Also
interested in secular affairs, Gerson openly opposed the
Burgundian assassination of the duke of Orléans in 1407,
attacking and condemning Jean Petit’s Apologia for
favoring tyrannicide in justifi cation of the Burgundian
deed. His position so angered the duke of Burgundy,
who had previously been one of Gerson’s strongest
protectors, that he was prevented from returning to Paris
after the Council of Constance. Gerson retired to Lyon,
living fi rst at a Celestine monastery where his youngest
brother, also named Jean, who became his copyist and
editor, was prior, and then at the church of Saint-Paul.
During his exile, however, Gerson continued to write
as he had before on such subjects as spiritual renewal,
church reform, Christian education, and the integra-
tion of mystical and speculative theology. His writings
have not received extensive attention from historians,
although they offer insights into the culture of the late
Middle Ages. His work, for example, on the Christian
education of the young provides important information
on medieval attitudes on children and childhood.
Gerson was also a Latin poet of notable talent and
skill. Infl uenced by Petrarch, his eclogue on the Schism
is perhaps the fi rst humanist work produced in France.
Other works include De vita spirituali animae, in which
he locates ecclesiastical authority in church councils
rather than in the pope; De unitate ecclesiae, one of
twenty-seven extant treatises on the church; Mémoire
sur la réforme de la faculté de théologie, which outlines
his pedagogy; and informal writings on the spiritual life,
such as the Montague de contemplation. Although it is
often attributed to him, Gerson did not write the Imitatio
Christi. Among his last writings is a defense of Jeanne
d’Arc, Puella Aurelianensi (1429).
See also D’ailly, Pierre; Eriugena, Johannes
Scottus; Jeanne d’Arc; Petrarca, Francesco;
Wyclif, JohnFurther Reading
Gerson, Jean. Œuvres complètes de Jean Gerson, ed. Palémon
Glorieux. 10 vols. Paris: Desclée, 1960–73.
Combes, André. La théologie mystique de Gerson. 2 vols. Rome:
Editores Pontifi cii, 1965.
Delaruelle, Étienne, L.R. Labande, and Papul Ourliac. L’église
au temps du Grand Schisme et de la crise conciliaire (1378–
1449). 2 vols. Paris: Blond et Gay, 1962.
Morrall, John B. Gerson and the Great Schism. Manchester:
Manchester University Press, 1960.
E. Kay HarrisGERTHENER, MADERN
(1360/1370–1430)
Named with his father, Johann, among the stone ma-
sons of Frankfurt in 1387, Gerthener had taken over
his father’s shop by 1391. In 1395 he was taken onto
the city payroll. In 1415 he calls himself “der stadt
frankenfurd werkmeister” (master of the works of the
city of Frankfurt), a position he had probably already
held for some time. Most of his documented career was
spent working on the church of St. Bartholomew: he was
appointed head of the works in 1408. After fi nishing the
transept here, he designed and, in 1415, began building
the single tower that stood as a symbol of the city’s in-
dependence. An octagonal story topped by a dome and
an elaborate lantern surmounts the two lower stories
on a square plan. The tracery decoration and especially
the corner buttresses become increasingly ornate with
each succeeding story. On the two portals we see the
innovative uses of tracery forms, specifi cally hanging
tracery and tracery vaults, that would become hallmarks
of Gerthener’s style.
In addition to his work on St. Bartholomew’s,
Gerthener was also involved in other projects in and
around Frankfurt. In 1399 he guaranteed his work on the
Alte Brücke (Old Bridge) across the Main, and in 1411
his work on the city wall is documented. Gerthener’s
mastery of the forms of late Gothic architecture, plus
his visibility as head of the works on the coronation
cathedral, drew his work to the attention of other pa-
trons, and by the 1410s his reputation reached outside
the city. Payments to Gerthener in 1407 from the funds
of the so-called Gelnhausen tax, to which only King
Ruprecht von der Pfalz (1400–1410) had access, mayGERTHENER, MADERN