Gerard was an influential knight in the court of the emperor Frederick II, but fell from grace and the emperor destroyed Roermond in 1213 after a conflict between them. He fought the Bishop of Utrecht Otto II of Lippe over Salland but supported the Bishop in the Battle of Ane. He was captured in this battle in 1227.[citation needed] The chronicle of Johannes de Beke mentions that Gerard was killed in battle.[1] Another source mentions that Gerard was killed in a battle at Zutphen in 1229.[2]