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SAINT GREGORY

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 568 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SAINT See also:GREGORY , surnamed the See also:Great (c. 540-604), the first See also:pope of that name, and the last of the four doctors of the Latin See also:Church, was See also:born in See also:Rome about the See also:year 540. His See also:father was Gordianus " the regionary," a wealthy See also:man of senatorial See also:rank, owner of large estates in See also:Sicily and of a See also:palace on the Caelian See also:Hill in Rome; his See also:mother was Silvia, who is commemorated as a saint on the 3rd of See also:November. Of Gregory's See also:early See also:period we know few details, and almost all the See also:dates are conjectural. He received the best See also:education to be had at the See also:time, and was noted for his proficiency in. the arts of See also:grammar, See also:rhetoric and See also:dialectic. Entering on a public career he held, about 573, the high See also:office of See also:prefect of the See also:city of Rome; but about 574, feeling irresistibly attracted to the " religious " See also:life, he resigned his See also:post, founded six monasteries in Sicily and one in Rome, and in the last—the famous monastery of St See also:Andrew—became himself a See also:monk. This grateful seclusion, however, he was not permitted See also:long to enjoy. About 578 he was ordained " seventh See also:deacon " (or possibly See also:archdeacon) of the See also:Roman Church, and in the following See also:spring Pope See also:Pelagius II. appointed him " apocrisiarius," or See also:resident See also:ambassador, at the imperial See also:court in See also:Constantinople. Here he represented the interests of his church till about 586, when he returned to Rome and was made See also:abbot of St Andrew's monastery. His See also:rule, though popular, was characterized by great severity, as may be inferred from the See also:story of the monk Justus, who was denied See also:Christian See also:burial because he had secreted a small sum of See also:money. About this time Gregory completed and published his well-known exposition of the See also:book of See also:Job, commenced in Constantinople: he also delivered lectures on the Heptateuch, the, books of See also:Kings, the Prophets, the book of See also:Proverbs and the See also:Song of Songs. To this period, moreover, See also:Bede's incident of the See also:English slave-boys (if indeed it be accepted as See also:historical) ought to be assigned.

Passing one See also:

day through the See also:Forum, Gregory saw some handsome slaves offered for See also:sale, and inquired their nation. " Angles," was the reply. " See also:Good," said the abbot, " they have the faces of angels, and should be coheirs with the angels in See also:heaven. From what See also:province do they come ?" " From See also:Deira." " Deira. Yea, verily, they shall be saved from See also:God's ire (de ira) and called to the See also:mercy of See also:Christ. How is the See also:king of that See also:country named ?" " iE1la." " Then must Allelulia be sung in IElla's See also:land." Gregory determined personally to undertake the See also:conversion of See also:Britain, and with the pope's consent actually set out upon the See also:mission, but on the third day of his See also:journey he was overtaken by messengers recalling him to Rome. In the year 590 Pelagius II. died of the See also:plague that was raging in the city; whereupon the See also:clergy and See also:people unanimously See also:chose Gregory as his successor. The abbot did his best to avoid the dignity, petitioned the See also:emperor See also:Maurice not to ratify his See also:election, and even meditated gcing into hiding; but, " while he was preparing for See also:flight and concealment, he was seized and carried off and dragged to the See also:basilica of St See also:Peter," and there consecrated See also:bishop, on the 3rd of See also:September 59o. The fourteen years of Gregory's pontificate were marked by extraordinary vigour and activity. " He never rested," writes a biographer, "he was always engaged in providing for the interests of his people, or in See also:writing some See also:composition worthy of the church, or in searching out the secrets of heaven by the See also:grace of contemplation." His mode of life was See also:simple and ascetic in the extreme. Having banished all See also:lay attendants from his palace, he surrounded himself with clerics and monks, with whom he lived as though he were still in a monastery. To the spiritual needs of his people he ministered with See also:pastoral zeal, frequently appointing "stations" and delivering sermons; nor was he less solicitous in providing for their See also:physical necessities.

Deaconries (offices of See also:

alms) and See also:guest-houses were liberally endowed, and See also:free distributions of See also:food were made to the poor in the convents and basilicas. The funds for these and similar purposes were supplied from the Patrimony of St Peter—the papal estates in See also:Italy, the adjacent islands, See also:Gaul, See also:Dalmatia and See also:Africa. These extensive domains were usually administered by specially appointed agents,—rectors and defensors,—who resided on the spot; but the See also:general superintendence devolved upon the pope. In this See also:sphere Gregory manifested rare capacity. He was one of the best of the papal landlords. During his pontificate the estates increased in value, while at the same time the real grievances of the tenants were redressed and their general position was materially improved. Gregory's See also:principal See also:fault as a man of business was that he was inclined to be too lavish of his revenues. It is said that he even impoverished the See also:treasury of the Roman Church by his unlimited charities. Within the strict See also:bounds of his patriarchate, i.e. the churches of the suburbicarian provinces and the islands, it was Gregory's policy to See also:watch with particular care over the election and discipline of the bishops. With See also:wise See also:toleration he was willing to recognize See also:local deviations from Roman usage (e.g. in the See also:ritual of See also:baptism and See also:confirmation), yet he was resolute to withstand any unauthorized usurpation of rights and privileges. The following rules he took pains to enforce: that clerics in See also:holy orders should not cohabit with their wives or permit any See also:women, except those allowed by the canons, to live in their houses; that clerics accused on ecclesiastical or lesser criminal charges should be tried only in the ecclesiastical courts; that clerics in holy orders who had lapsed should " utterly forfeit their orders and never again approach the See also:ministry of the See also:altar "; that the revenues of each church should be divided by its bishop into four equal parts, to be assigned to the bishop, the clergy, the poor and the repair of the fabric of the church. In his relations with the churches which lay outside the strict limits of his patriarchate, in See also:northern Italy, See also:Spain, Gaul, Africa and Illyricum and also in the See also:East, Gregory consistently used his See also:influence to increase the See also:prestige and authority of the Roman See.

In his view Rome, as the see of the See also:

Prince of the Apostles, was by divine right " the See also:head of all the churches." The decrees of See also:councils would have no binding force " without the authority and consent of the apostolic see ": appeals might be made to Rome against the decisions even of the See also:patriarch of Constantinople: all bishops, including the patriarchs, if guilty of See also:heresy or uncanonical proceedings, were subject to correction by the pope. " If any fault is discovered in a bishop," Gregory wrote, " I know of no one who is not subject to the apostolic see." It is true that Gregory respected the rights of metropolitans and disapproved of unnecessary interference within the sphere of their See also:jurisdiction canonically exercised; also that in his relations with certain churches (e.g. those in Africa) he found it expedient to abstain from any obtrusive assertion of Roman claims. But of his general principle there can be no doubt. His sincere belief in the apostolic authority of the see of St Peter, his outspoken assertion of it, the consistency and firmness with which in practice he maintained it (e.g. in his controversies with thebishops of See also:Ravenna concerning the use of the See also:pallium, witl See also:Maximus the " usurping " bishop of Salona, and with the patriarchs of Constantinople in respect of the See also:title " ecumenical bishops "), contributed greatly to build up the See also:system of papal See also:absolutism. Moreover this consolidation of spiritual authority coincided with a remarkable development of the temporal See also:power of the papacy. In Italy Gregory occupied an almost See also:regal position. Taking See also:advantage of the opportunity which circumstances offered, he boldly stepped into the See also:place which the emperors had See also:left. vacant and the Lombard kings had not the strength to seize. For the first time in See also:history the pope appeared as a See also:political power, a temporal prince. He appointed See also:governors to cities, issued orders to generals, provided munitions of See also:war, sent his ambassadors to negotiate with the Lombard king and actually dared to conclude a private See also:peace. In this direction Gregory went farther than any of his predecessors: he laid the See also:foundation of a political influence which endured for centuries. "Of the See also:medieval papacy," says See also:Milman, "the real father is Gregory the Great." The first monk to become pope, Gregory was naturally a strong supporter of See also:monasticism. He laid himself out to diffuse the system, and also to carry out a reform of its abuses by en-forcing a strict observance of the Rule of St See also:Benedict (of whom, it may be noted, he was the earliest biographer).

Two slight innovations were introduced: the minimum See also:

age of an See also:abbess was fixed at sixty, and the period of novitiate was prolonged from one year to two. Gregory sought to protect the monks from episcopal oppression by issuing privilegia, or charters in See also:restraint of abuses, in accordance with which the jurisdiction of the bishops over the monasteries was confined to spiritual matters, all illegal aggressions being strictly prohibited. The documents are interesting as marking the beginning of a revolution which eventually emancipated the monks altogether from the See also:control of their diocesans and brought them under the See also:direct authority of the Holy See. Moreover Gregory strictly forbade monks to See also:minister in See also:parish churches, ordaining that any monk who was promoted to such ecclesiastical cure should lose all rights in his monastery and should no longer reside there. " The duties of each office separately are so weighty that no one can rightly See also:discharge them. It is therefore very improper that one man should be considered See also:fit to discharge the duties of both, and that by this means the ecclesiastical See also:order should interfere with the monastic life, and the rule of the monastic life in turn interfere with the interests of the churches." Once more, Gregory is remembered as a great organizer of missionary enterprise for the conversion of heathens and heretics. Mose important was the two-See also:fold mission to Britain—of St See also:Augustine in 596, of See also:Mellitus, See also:Paulinus and others in 6or; but Gregory also made strenuous efforts to uproot paganism in Gaul, Italy, Sicily, See also:Sardinia and See also:Corsica, Arianism in Spain, Donatism in Africa, See also:Manichaeism in Sicily, the heresy of the Three Chapters' in See also:Istria and northern Italy. In respect of the methods of conversion which he advocated he was not less intolerant than his contemporaries. Towards the See also:Jews, however, he acted with exceptional lenity, protecting them from persecution and securing them the enjoyment of their legal privileges. The so-called " simoniacal heresy," particularly prevalent in Gaul, Illyricum and the East, he repeatedly attacked; and against the Gallican abuse of promoting laymen to bishoprics he protested with vigour. The extent and See also:character of Gregory's See also:works in connexion with the See also:liturgy and the See also:music of the church is a subject of dispute. If we are to See also:credit a 9th See also:century biographer, Gregory abbreviated and otherwise simplified the Sacramentary of See also:Gelasius, producing a revised edition with which his own name-has become associated, and which represents the groundwork of the See also:modern Roman See also:Missal.

But though it is certain that he introduced three changes in the liturgy itself (viz. the addition of some words in the See also:

prayer N_anc igilur, the recitation of the See also:Pater Noster at the end of the See also:Canon immediately before the fraction of the See also:bread, and the chanting of the Allelulia after the See also:Gradual at other times besides the See also:season of See also:Easter) and two others in the ceremonial connected therewith (forbidding deacons to perform any musical portion of the service except the chanting of the See also:gospel, and subdeacons to See also:wear chasubles), neither the See also:external nor the See also:internal See also:evidence appears to See also:warrant belief that the Gregorian Sacramentary is his See also:work. Ecclesiastical tradition further ascribes to Gregory the compilation of an Antiphonary, the revision and rearrangement of the system of church music, and the foundation of the Roman schola cantorurn,. It is highly doubtful, however, whether he had anything to do either with the Antiphonary or with the invention or revival of the cantus planus; it is certain that he was not the founder of the Roman singing-school, though he may have interested himself in its endowment and See also:extension. Finally, as See also:Fourth See also:Doctor of the Latin Church, Gregory claims the See also:attention of theologians. He is the See also:link between two epochs. The last of the great Latin Fathers and the first representative of medieval Catholicism he brings the dogmatic See also:theology of See also:Tertullian, See also:Ambrose and Augustine into relation with the Scholastic See also:speculation of later ages. " He connects the Graeco-Roman with the Romano-Germanic type of See also:Christianity." His teaching, indeed, is neither philosophical, systematic nor truly See also:original. Its importance lies mainly in its simple, popular summarization of the See also:doctrine of Augustine(whose works Gregory had studied with See also:infinite care, but not always with insight), and in its detailed exposition of various religious conceptions which were current in the Western Church, but had not hitherto been defined with precision (e.g. the views on angelology and See also:demonology, on See also:purgatory, the Eucharistic See also:Sacrifice, and the efficacy of See also:relics). In his exposition of such ideas Gregory made a distinct advance upon the older theology and influenced profoundly the dogmatic development of the future. He imparted a life and impulse to prevailing tendencies, helping on the construction of the system hereafter to be completed in Scholastic-ism. He gave to. theology a See also:tone and emphasis which could not be disregarded. From his time to that of See also:Anselm no teacher of equal See also:eminence arose in the Church.

Gregory died on the 12th of See also:

March 604, and was buried the same day in the See also:portico of the basilica of St Peter, in front of the See also:sacristy. See also:Translations took place in the 9th, 15th and 17th centuries, and the remains now See also:rest beneath the altar in the See also:chapel of See also:Clement VIII. In respect of his character, while most historians agree that he was a .really great man, some deny that he was also a great saint. The worst blot on his See also:fair fame is his adulatory congratulation of the murderous usurper See also:Phocas; though his See also:correspondence with the Frankish See also:queen See also:Brunhilda, and the See also:series of letters to and concerning the renegade monk Venantius also See also:present problems which his admirers find difficult of See also:solution. But while it may be admitted that Gregory was inclined to be unduly subservient to the great, so that at times he was willing to shut his eyes to the vices and even the crimes of persons of rank; yet it cannot fairly be denied that his character as a whole was singularly See also:noble and unselfish. His life was entirely dominated by the religious See also:motive. His See also:sole See also:desire was to promote the See also:glory of God and of his church. At all times he strove honestly to live up to the See also:light that was in him. " His See also:goal," says Lau, " was always that which he acknowledged as the best." Physically, Gregory was of See also:medium height and good figure. His head was large and bald, surrounded with a fringe of dark See also:hair. His See also:face was well-proportioned, with See also:brown eyes, aquiline See also:nose, thick and red lips, high-coloured cheeks, and prominent See also:chin sparsely covered with a tawny See also:beard. His hands, with tapering fingers, were remarkable for their beauty.

Gregory's Works.—The following are now universally admitted to be genuine:—Epistolarum libri xiv., Moralium libri xxxy., Regulae pastoralis See also:

liber, Dialogorum libri iv., Homiliarum in Ezechielem prophetam libri ii., Homiliarum in Evangelia libri ii. These are all printed in See also:Migne's Patrologia See also:Latina. The Epistolae, however, have been published separately by P. See also:Ewald and L. M. See also:Hartmann in the Monumenta Germaniae historica (See also:Berlin, 1887–1899), and this splendid edition has superseded all others. The question of the See also:chronological reconstruction of the See also:Register is dealt with by Ewald in his celebrated See also:article in the Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft See also:fur altere deutsche Geschichtskunde, iii. pp. 433-625; and briefly by T. See also:Hodgkin, Italy and her Invaders, v. 333-343. Forinformation about these writings of Gregory, consult especially G. J.

T. Lau, Gregor I. der See also:

Grosse, pt. ii. See also:chap. i. See also:Die Schriften Gregors and F. Homes Dudden, Gregory the Great (see See also:Index II. B.). In addition to the above-mentioned works there are printed under Gregory's name in Migne's Patrologia Latina, vol. lxxix., the following :—Super Cantico Canticorum expositio, In librum primum Regum variarum expositionum libri vi., In septem psalmos poenitentiales expositio and See also:Concordia quorundam testimoniorum s. scripturae. But (with the possible exception of the first) none of these See also:treatises are of Gregorian authorship. See the discussions in Migne, Lau and Dudden.

End of Article: SAINT GREGORY

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