[1] Figures 1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 16 are redrawn from
Wasielewski's _Sporozoenkunde_, by permission of the author and of
the publisher, Gustav Fischer, Jena.
GREGOIRE, HENRI (1750-1831), French revolutionist and constitutional
bishop of Blois, was born at Veho near Luneville, on the 4th of December
1750, the son of a peasant. Educated at the Jesuit college at Nancy, he
became cure of Embermenil and a teacher at the Jesuit school at
Pont-a-Mousson. In 1783 he was crowned by the academy of Nancy for his
_Eloge de la poesie_, and in 1788 by that of Metz for an _Essai sur la
regeneration physique et morale des Juifs_. He was elected in 1789 by
the clergy of the _bailliage_ of Nancy to the states-general, where he
soon became conspicuous in the group of clerical and lay deputies of
Jansenist or Gallican sympathies who supported the Revolution. He was
among the first of the clergy to join the third estate, and contributed
largely to the union of the three orders; he presided at the permanent
sitting of sixty-two hours while the Bastille was being attacked by the
people, and made a vehement speech against the enemies of the nation. He
subsequently took a leading share in the abolition of the privileges of
the nobles and the Church. Under the new civil constitution of the
clergy, to which he was the first priest to take the oath (December 27,
1790), he was elected bishop by two departments. He selected that of
Loire-et-Cher, taking the old title of bishop of Blois, and for ten
years (1791-1801) ruled his diocese with exemplary zeal. An ardent
republican, it was he who in the first session of the National
Convention (September 21, 1792) proposed the motion for the abolition of
the kingship, in a speech in which occurred the memorable phrase that
"kings are in the moral order what monsters are in the natural." On the
15th of November he delivered a speech in which he demanded that the
king should be brought to trial, and immediately afterwards was elected
president of the Convention, over which he presided in his episcopal
dress. During the trial of Louis XVI., being absent with other three
colleagues on a mission for the union of Savoy to France, he along with
them wrote a letter urging the condemnation of the king, but omitting
the words _a mort_; and he endeavoured to save the life of the king by
proposing in the Convention that the penalty of death should be
suspended.
When on the 7th of November 1793 Gobel, bishop of Paris, was intimidated
into resigning his episcopal office at the bar of the Convention,
Gregoire, who was temporarily absent from the sitting, hearing what had
happened, hurried to the hall, and in the face of a howling mob of
deputies refused to abjure either his religion or his office. He was
prepared to face the death which he expected; but his courage, a rare
quality at that time, won the day, and the hubbub subsided in cries of
"Let Gregoire have his way!" Throughout the Terror, in spite of attacks
in the Convention, in the press, and on placards posted at the street
corners, he appeared in the streets in his episcopal dress and daily
read mass in his house. After Robespierre's fall he was the first to
advocate the reopening of the churches (speech of December 21, 1794). He
also exerted himself to get measures put in execution for restraining
the vandalistic fury against the monuments of art, extended his
protection to artists and men of letters, and devoted much of his
attention to the reorganization of the public libraries, the
establishment of botanic gardens, and the improvement of technical
education. He had taken during the Constituent Assembly a great interest
in Negro emancipation, and it was on his motion that men of colour in
the French colonies were admitted to the same rights as whites. On the
establishment of the new constitution, Gregoire was elected to the
Council of 500, and after the 18th Brumaire he became a member of the
Corps Legislatif, then of the Senate (1801). He took the lead in the
national church councils of 1797 and 1801; but he was strenuously
opposed to Napoleon's policy of reconciliation with the Holy See, and
after the signature of the concordat he resigned his bishopric (October
8, 1801). He was one of the minority of five in the Senate who voted
against the proclamation of the empire, and he opposed the creation of
the new nobility and the divorce of Napoleon from Josephine; but
notwithstanding this he was subsequently created a count of the empire
and officer of the Legion of Honour. During the later years of
Napoleon's reign he travelled in England and Germany, but in 1814 he had
returned to France and was one of the chief instigators of the action
that was taken against the empire.
To the clerical and ultra-royalist faction which was supreme in the
Lower Chamber and in the circles of the court after the second
Restoration, Gregoire, as a revolutionist and a schismatic bishop, was
an object of double loathing. He was expelled from the Institute and
forced into retirement. But even in this period of headlong reaction his
influence was felt and feared. In 1814 he had published a work, _De la
constitution francaise de l'an 1814_, in which he commented on the
Charter from a Liberal point of view, and this reached its fourth
edition in 1819. In this latter year he was elected to the Lower Chamber
by the department of Isere. By the powers of the Quadruple Alliance this
event was regarded as of the most sinister omen, and the question was
even raised of a fresh armed intervention in France under the terms of
the secret treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. To prevent such a catastrophe
Louis XVIII. decided on a modification of the franchise; the Dessolle
ministry resigned; and the first act of Decazes, the new premier, was to
carry a vote in the chamber annulling the election of Gregoire. From
this time onward the ex-bishop lived in retirement, occupying himself in
literary pursuits and in correspondence with most of the eminent savants
of Europe; but as he had been deprived of his pension as a senator he
was compelled to sell his library to obtain means of support. He died on
the 20th of May 1831.
To the last Gregoire remained a devout Catholic, exactly fulfilling all
his obligations as a Christian and a priest; but he refused to budge an
inch from his revolutionary principles. During his last illness he
confessed to his parish _cure_, a priest of Jansenist sympathies, and
expressed his desire for the last sacraments of the Church. These the
archbishop of Paris would only concede on condition that he would
retract his oath to the civil constitution of the clergy, which he
peremptorily refused to do. Thereupon, in defiance of the archbishop,
the abbe Baradere gave him the _viaticum_, while the rite of extreme
unction was administered by the abbe Guillon, an opponent of the civil
constitution, without consulting the archbishop or the parish cure. The
attitude of the archbishop roused great excitement in Paris, and the
government had to take precautions to avoid a repetition of the riots
which in the preceding February had led to the sacking of the church of
St Germain l'Auxerrois and the archiepiscopal palace. On the day after
his death Gregoire's funeral was celebrated at the church of the
Abbaye-aux-Bois; the clergy of the church had absented themselves in
obedience to the archbishop's orders, but mass was sung by the abbe
Grieu assisted by two clergy, the catafalque being decorated with the
episcopal insignia. After the hearse set out from the church the horses
were unyoked, and it was dragged by students to the cemetery of
Montparnasse, the cortege being followed by a sympathetic crowd of some
20,000 people.
Whatever his merits as a writer or as a philanthropist, Gregoire's name
lives in history mainly by reason of his wholehearted effort to prove
that Catholic Christianity is not irreconcilable with modern conceptions
of political liberty. In this effort he was defeated, mainly because the
Revolution, for lack of experience in the right use of liberty, changed
into a military despotism which allied itself with the spiritual
despotism of Rome; partly because, when the Revolution was overthrown,
the parties of reaction sought salvation in the "union of altar and
throne." Possibly Gregoire's Gallicanism was fundamentally
irreconcilable with the Catholic idea of authority. At least it made
their traditional religion possible for those many French Catholics who
clung passionately to the benefits the Revolution had brought them; and
had it prevailed, it might have spared France and the world that fatal
gulf between Liberalism and Catholicism which Pius IX.'s Syllabus of
1864 sought to make impassable.
Besides several political pamphlets, Gregoire was the author of
_Histoire des sectes religieuses, depuis le commencement du siecle
dernier jusqu'a l'epoque actuelle_ (2 vols., 1810); _Essai historique
sur les libertes de l'eglise gallicane_ (1818); _De l'influence du
Christianisme sur la condition des femmes_ (1821); _Histoire des
confesseurs des empereurs, des rois, et d'autres princes_ (1824);
_Histoire du mariage des pretres en France_ (1826). _Gregoireana, ou
resume general de la conduite, des actions, et des ecrits de M. le
comte Henri Gregoire_, preceded by a biographical notice by Cousin
d'Avalon, was published in 1821; and the _Memoires ... de Gregoire_,
with a biographical notice by H. Carnot, appeared in 1837 (2 vols.).
See also A. Debidour, _L'Abbe Gregoire_ (1881); A. Gazier, Etudes sur
l'histoire religieuse de la Revolution Francaise (1883); L. Maggiolo,
La Vie et les oeuvres de l'abbe Gregoire (Nancy, 1884), and numerous
articles in _La Revolution Francaise_; E. Meaume, _Etude hist. et
biog. sur les Lorrains revolutionnaires_ (Nancy, 1882); and A. Gazier,
_Etudes sur l'histoire religieuse de la Revolution Francaise_ (1887).
GREGORAS, NICEPHORUS (c. 1295-1360), Byzantine historian, man of
learning and religious controversialist, was born at Heraclea in Pontus.
At an early age he settled at Constantinople, where his reputation for
learning brought him under the notice of Andronicus II., by whom he was
appointed Chartophylax (keeper of the archives). In 1326 Gregoras
proposed (in a still extant treatise) certain reforms in the calendar,
which the emperor refused to carry out for fear of disturbances; nearly
two hundred years later they were introduced by Gregory XIII. on almost
the same lines. When Andronicus was dethroned (1328) by his grandson
Andronicus III., Gregoras shared his downfall and retired into private
life. Attacked by Barlaam, the famous monk of Calabria, he was with
difficulty persuaded to come forward and meet him in a war of words, in
which Barlaam was worsted. This greatly enhanced his reputation and
brought him a large number of pupils. Gregoras remained loyal to the
elder Andronicus to the last, but after his death he succeeded in
gaining the favour of his grandson, by whom he was appointed to conduct
the unsuccessful negotiations (for a union of the Greek and Latin
churches) with the ambassadors of Pope John XXII. (1333). Gregoras
subsequently took an important part in the Hesychast controversy, in
which he violently opposed Gregorius Palamas, the chief supporter of the
sect. After the doctrines of Palamas had been recognized at the synod of
1351, Gregoras, who refused to acquiesce, was practically imprisoned in
a monastery for two years. Nothing is known of the end of his life. His
chief work is his _Roman History_, in 37 books, of the years 1204 to
1359. It thus partly supplements and partly continues the work of George
Pachymeres. Gregoras shows considerable industry, but his style is
pompous and affected. Far too much space is devoted to religious matters
and dogmatic quarrels. This work and that of John Cantacuzene supplement
and correct each other, and should be read together. The other writings
of Gregoras, which (with a few exceptions) still remain unpublished,
attest his great versatility. Amongst them may be mentioned a history of
the dispute with Palamas; biographies of his uncle and early instructor
John, metropolitan of Heraclea, and of the martyr Codratus of Antioch;
funeral orations for Theodore Metochita, and the two emperors
Andronicus; commentaries on the wanderings of Odysseus and on Synesius's
treatise on dreams; tracts on orthography and on words of doubtful
meaning; a philosophical dialogue called _Florentius or Concerning
Wisdom_; astronomical treatises on the date of Easter and the
preparation of the astrolabe; and an extensive correspondence.
_Editions_: in Bonn _Corpus scriptorum hist. Byz._, by L. Schopen and
I. Bekker, with life and list of works by J. Boivin (1829-1855); J. P.
Migne, _Patrologia graeca_, cxlviii., cxlix.; see also C. Krumbacher,
_Geschichte der byzantinischen Litteratur_ (1897).
GREGOROVIUS, FERDINAND (1821-1891), German historian, was born at
Neidenburg on the 19th of January 1821, and studied at the university of
Konigsberg. After spending some years in teaching he took up his
residence in Italy in 1852, remaining in that country for over twenty
years. He was made a citizen of Rome, and he died at Munich on the 1st
of May 1891. Gregorovius's interest in and acquaintance with Italy and
Italian history is mainly responsible for his great book, _Geschichte
der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter_ (Stuttgart, 1859-1872, and other
editions), a work of much erudition and interest, which has been
translated into English by A. Hamilton (13 vols., 1894-1900), and also
into Italian at the expense of the Romans (Venice, 1874-1876). It deals
with the history of Rome from about A.D. 400 to the death of Pope
Clement VII. in 1534, and in the words of its author it describes "how,
from the time of Charles the Great to that of Charles V., the historic
system of the papacy remained inseparable from that of the Empire." The
other works of Gregorovius include: _Geschichte des Kaisers Hadrian und
seiner Zeit_ (Konigsberg, 1851), English translation by M. E. Robinson
(1898); _Corsica_ (Stuttgart, 1854), English translation by R. Martineau
(1855); _Lucrezia Borgia_ (Stuttgart, 1874), English translation by J.
L. Garner (1904); _Die Grabdenkmaler der Papste_ (Leipzig, 1881),
English translation by R. W. Seton-Watson (1903); _Wanderjahre in
Italien_ (5 vols., Leipzig, 1888-1892); _Geschichte der Stadt Athen im
Mittelalter_ (1889); _Kleine Schriften zur Geschichte der Kultur_
(Leipzig, 1887-1892); and _Urban VIII. im Widerspruch zu Spanien und dem
Kaiser_ (Stuttgart, 1879). This last work was translated into Italian by
the author himself (Rome, 1879). Gregorovius was also something of a
poet; he wrote a drama, _Der Tod des Tiberius_ (1851), and some
_Gedichte_ (Leipzig, 1891).
His _Romische Tagebucher_ were edited by F. Althaus (Stuttgart, 1892),
and were translated into English as the _Roman Journals of F.
Gregorovius_, by A. Hamilton (1907).
GREGORY, ST (c. 213-c. 270), surnamed in later ecclesiastical tradition
Thaumaturgus (the miracle-worker), was born of noble and wealthy pagan
parents at Neocaesarea in Pontus, about A.D. 213. His original name was
Theodorus. He took up the study of civil law, and, with his brother
Athenodorus, was on his way to Berytus to complete his training when at
Caesarea he met Origen, and became his pupil and then his convert (A.D.
233). In returning to Cappadocia some five years after his conversion,
it had been his original intention to live a retired ascetic life (Eus.
_H.E._ vi. 30), but, urged by Origen, and at last almost compelled by
Phaedimus of Amasia, his metropolitan, neither of whom was willing to
see so much learning, piety and masculine energy practically lost to the
church, he, after many attempts to evade the dignity, was consecrated
bishop of his native town (about 240). His episcopate, which lasted some
thirty years, was characterized by great missionary zeal, and by so much
success that, according to the (doubtless somewhat rhetorical) statement
of Gregory of Nyssa, whereas at the outset of his labours there were
only seventeen Christians in the city, there were at his death only
seventeen persons in all who had not embraced Christianity. This result
he achieved in spite of the Decian persecution (250-251), during which
he had felt it to be his duty to absent himself from his diocese, and
notwithstanding the demoralizing effects of an irruption of barbarians
(Goths and Boranians) who laid waste the diocese in A.D. 253-254.
Gregory, although he has not always escaped the charge of Sabellianism,
now holds an undisputed place among the fathers of the church; and
although the turn of his mind was practical rather than speculative, he
is known to have taken an energetic part in most of the doctrinal
controversies of his time. He was active at the first synod of Antioch
(A.D. 264-265), which investigated and condemned the heresies of Paul of
Samosata; and the rapid spread in Pontus of a Trinitarianism approaching
the Nicene type is attributed in large measure to the weight of his
influence. Gregory is believed to have died in the reign of Aurelian,
about the year 270, though perhaps an earlier date is more probable. His
festival (semiduplex) is observed by the Roman Catholic Church on the
17th of November.
For the facts of his biography we have an outline of his early years
in his eulogy on Origen, and incidental notices in the writings of
Eusebius, of Basil of Caesarea and Jerome. Gregory of Nyssa's
untrustworthy panegyric represents him as having wrought miracles of a
very startling description; but nothing related by him comes near the
astounding narratives given in the _Martyrologies_, or even in the
_Breviarium Romanum_, in connexion with his name.
The principal works of Gregory Thaumaturgus are the _Panegyricus in
Origenem_ ([Greek: Eis Origenen panegyrikos logos]), which he wrote
when on the point of leaving the school of that great master (it
contains a valuable minute description of Origen's mode of
instruction), a _Metaphrasis in Ecclesiasten_, characterized by Jerome
as "short but useful"; and an _Epistola canonica_, which treats of the
discipline to be undergone by those Christians who under pressure of
persecution had relapsed into paganism, but desired to be restored to
the privileges of the Church. It gives a good picture of the
conditions of the time, and shows Gregory to be a true shepherd (cf.
art PENANCE). The [Greek: Ekthesis pisteos] (_Expositio fidei_), a
short creed usually attributed to Gregory, and traditionally alleged
to have been received by him immediately in vision from the apostle
John himself, is probably authentic. A sort of Platonic dialogue of
doubtful authenticity "on the impassivity and the passivity of God" in
Syriac is in the British Museum.
_Editions_: Gerhard Voss (Mainz, 1604), Fronto Ducaus (Paris, 1622),
Migne, Patr. Graec. x. 963.
_Translations_: S. D. F. Salmond in _Ante-Nicene Fathers_, vi.;
_Lives_, by Pallavicini (Rome, 1644); J. L. Boye (Jena, 1709); H. R.
Reynolds (_Dict. Chr. Biog._ ii.); G. Kruger, _Early Chr. Lit._ 226;
Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyk._ vii. (where full bibliographies are given).
GREGORY, ST, OF NAZIANZUS (329-389), surnamed Theologus, one of the four
great fathers of the Eastern Church, was born about the year A.D. 329,
at or near Nazianzus, Cappadocia. His father, also named Gregory, had
lately become bishop of the diocese; his mother, Nonna, exercised a
powerful influence over the religious convictions of both father and
son. Gregory visited successively the two Caesareas, Alexandria and
Athens, as a student of grammar, mathematics, rhetoric and philosophy;
at Athens he had for fellow-students Basil (q.v.), who afterwards became
bishop of Caesarea, and Julian, afterwards emperor. Shortly after his
return to his father's house at Nazianzus (about the year 360) Gregory
received baptism. He resolved to give himself to the service of
religion; but for some time, and indeed more or less throughout his
whole life, was in a state of hesitation as to the form which that
service ought to take. Strongly inclined by nature and education to a
contemplative life spent among books and in the society of congenial
friends, he was continually urged by outward circumstances, as well as
by an inward call, to active pastoral labour. The spirit of refined
intellectual monasticism, which clung to him through life and never
ceased to struggle for the ascendancy, was about this time strongly
encouraged by his intercourse with Basil, who induced him to share the
exalted pleasures of his retirement in Pontus. To this period belongs
the preparation of the [Greek: Philokalia], a sort of chrestomathy
compiled by the two friends from the writings of Origen. But the events
which were stirring the political and ecclesiastical life of Cappadocia,
and indeed of the whole Roman world, made a career of learned leisure
difficult if not impossible to a man of Gregory's position and
temperament. The emperor Constantius, having by intrigue and
intimidation succeeded in thrusting a semi-Arian formula upon the
Western bishops assembled at Ariminum in Italy, had next attempted to
follow the same course with the Eastern episcopate. The aged bishop of
Nazianzus having yielded to the imperial threats, a great storm arose
among the monks of the diocese, which was only quelled by the influence
of the younger Gregory, who shortly afterwards (about 361) was ordained
to the priesthood. After a vain attempt to evade his new duties and
responsibilities by flight, he appears to have continued to act as a
presbyter in his father's diocese without interruption for some
considerable time; and it is probable that his two _Invectives_ against
Julian are to be assigned to this period. Subsequently (about 372),
under a pressure which he somewhat resented, he allowed himself to be
nominated by Basil as bishop of Sasima, a miserable little village some
32 m. from Tyana; but he seems hardly, if at all, to have assumed the
duties of this diocese, for after another interval of "flight" we find
him once more (about 372-373) at Nazianzus, assisting his aged father,
on whose death (374) he retired to Seleucia in Isauria for a period of
some years. Meanwhile a more important field for his activities was
opening up. Towards 378-379 the small and depressed remnant of the
orthodox party in Constantinople sent him an urgent summons to undertake
the task of resuscitating their cause, so long persecuted and borne down
by the Arians of the capital. With the accession of Theodosius to the
imperial throne, the prospect of success to the Nicene doctrine had
dawned, if only it could find some courageous and devoted champion. The
fame of Gregory as a learned and eloquent disciple of Origen, and still
more of Athanasius, pointed him out as such a defender; nor could he
resist the appeal made to him, although he took the step reluctantly.
Once arrived in Constantinople, he laboured so zealously and well that
the orthodox party speedily gathered strength; and the small apartment
in which they had been accustomed to meet was soon exchanged for a vast
and celebrated church which received the significant name of Anastasia,
the Church of the Resurrection. Among the hearers of Gregory were to be
found, not only churchmen like Jerome and Evagrius, but also heretics
and pagans; and it says much for the sound wisdom and practical tact of
the preacher that he set himself less to build up and defend a doctrinal
position than to urge his flock to the cultivation of the loving
Christian spirit which cherishes higher aims than mere heresy hunting or
endless disputation. Doctrinal, nevertheless, he was, as is abundantly
shown by the famous five discourses on the Trinity, which earned for him
the distinctive appellation of [Greek: theologos]. These orations are
the finest exposition of the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity as
conceived by the orthodox teachers of the East, and they were directed
especially against the Eunomians and Macedonians. "There is perhaps no
single book in Greek patristic literature to which the student who
desires to gain an exact and comprehensive view of Greek theology can be
more confidently referred." With the arrival of Theodosius in 380 came
the visible triumph of the orthodox cause; the metropolitan see was then
conferred upon Gregory, and after the assembling of the second
ecumenical council in 381 he received consecration from Meletius. In
consequence, however, of a spirit of discord and envy which had
manifested itself in connexion with this promotion, he soon afterwards
resigned his dignity and withdrew into comparative retirement. The rest
of his days were spent partly at Nazianzus in ecclesiastical affairs,
and partly on his neighbouring patrimonial estate at Arianzus, where he
followed his favourite literary pursuits, especially poetical
composition, until his death, which occurred in 389 or 390. His festival
is celebrated in the Eastern Church on the 25th and 30th of January, in
the Western on the 9th of May (duplex).
His extant works consist of poems, epistles and orations. The poems,
which include epigrams, elegies and an autobiographical sketch, have
been frequently printed, the _editio princeps_ being the Aldine
(1504). Other editions are those of Tollius (1696) and Muratori
(1709); a volume of _Carmina selecta_ also has been edited by Dronke
(1840). The tragedy entitled [Greek: Christos paschon] usually
included is certainly not genuine. Gregory's poetry did not absorb his
best energies; it was adopted in his later years as a recreation
rather than as a serious pursuit; thus it is occasionally delicate,
graphic, beautiful, but it is not sustained. Of the hymns none have
passed into ecclesiastical use. The letters are entitled to a higher
place in literature. They are always easy and natural; and there is
nothing forced in the manner in which their acute, witty and profound
sayings are introduced. Those to Basil introduce us to the story of a
most romantic friendship, those to Cledonius have theological value
for their bearing on the Apollinarian controversy. As an orator he was
so facile, vigorous and persuasive, that men forgot his small stature
and emaciated countenance. Forty-five orations are extant. Gregory was
less an independent theologian than an interpreter. He was influenced
by Athanasius in his Christology, by Origen in his anthropology, for,
though teaching original sin and deriving human mortality from the
Fall, he insists on the ability of the human will to choose the good
and to co-operate in the work of salvation with the will of God.
Though possessed neither of Basil's gift of government nor of Gregory
of Nyssa's power of speculative thought, he worthily takes a place in
that triumvirate of Cappadocians whom the Catholic Church gratefully
recognizes as having been, during the critical struggles in the latter
half of the 4th century, the best defenders of its faith. The _Opera
omnia_ were first published by Hervagius (Basel, 1550); the
subsequent editions have been those of Billius (Paris, 1609, 1611;
aucta ex interpretatione Morelli, 1630), of the Benedictines (begun in
1778, but interrupted by the French Revolution and not completed until
1840, Caillau being the final editor) and of Migne. The _Theological
Orations_ (edited by A. J. Mason) were published separately at
Cambridge in 1899.
Scattered notices of the life of Gregory Nazianzen are to be found in
the writings of Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret and Rufinus, as well as
in his own letters and poems. The data derived from these sources do
not always harmonize with the account of Suidas. The earlier modern
authorities, such as Tillemont (_Mem. Eccl._ t. ix.) and Leclerc
(_Bib. Univ._ t. xviii.), were used by Gibbon. See also C. Ullmann,
_Gregorius von Nazianz, der Theologe_ (1825; Eng. trans. by G. F.
Coxe, M.A., 1857); A. Benoit, _St Gregoire de Nazianze; sa vie, ses
oeuvres, et son epoque_ (1877); Montaut, _Revue critique de quelques
questions historiques se rapportant a St Gregoire de Nazianze_ (1879);
F. W. Farrar, _Lives of the Fathers_, i. 491-582, and F. Loofs in
Hauck-Herzog's _Realencyk. fur prot. Theologie_, vii. 138.
GREGORY, ST, OF NYSSA (c. 331-c. 396), one of the four great fathers of
the Eastern Church, designated by one of the later ecumenical councils
as "a father of fathers," was a younger brother of Basil (the Great),
bishop of Caesarea, and was born (probably) at Neocaesarea about A.D.
331. For his education he was chiefly indebted to his elder brother. At
a comparatively early age he entered the church, and held for some time
the office of anagnost or reader; subsequently he manifested a desire to
devote himself to the secular life as a rhetorician, an impulse which
was checked by the earnest remonstrances of Gregory of Nazianzus.
Finally, in 371 or 372 he was ordained by his brother Basil to the
bishopric of Nyssa, a small town in Cappadocia. Here he is usually said
(but on inadequate data) to have adopted the opinion then gaining ground
in favour of the celibacy of the clergy, and to have separated from his
wife Theosebia, who became a deaconess in the church. His strict
orthodoxy on the subject of the Trinity and the Incarnation, together
with his vigorous eloquence, combined to make him peculiarly obnoxious
to the Arian faction, which was at that time in the ascendant through
the protection of the emperor Valens; and in 375, the synod of Ancyra,
convened by Demetrius the Arian governor of Pontus, condemned him for
alleged irregularities in his election and in the administration of the
finances of his diocese. In 376 he was deprived of his see, and Valens
sent him into exile, whence he did not return till the publication of
the edict of Gratian in 378. Shortly afterwards he took part in the
proceedings of the synod which met at Antioch in Caria, principally in
connexion with the Meletian schism. At the great ecumenical council held
at Constantinople in 381, he was a conspicuous champion of the orthodox
faith; according to Nicephorus, indeed, the additions made to the Nicene
creed were entirely due to his suggestion, but this statement is of
doubtful authority. That his eloquence was highly appreciated is shown
by the facts that he pronounced the discourse at the consecration of
Gregory of Nazianzus, and that he was chosen to deliver the funeral
oration on the death of Meletius the first president of the council. In
the following year, moreover (382), he was commissioned by the council
to inspect and set in order the churches of Arabia, in connexion with
which mission he also visited Jerusalem. The impressions he gathered
from this journey may, in part at least, be gathered from his famous
letter _De euntibus Hierosolyma_, in which an opinion strongly
unfavourable to pilgrimages is expressed. In 383 he was probably again
in Constantinople; where in 385 he pronounced the funeral orations of
the princess Pulcheria and afterwards of the empress Placilla. Once more
we read of him in 394 as having been present in that metropolis at the
synod held under the presidency of Nectarius to settle a controversy
which had arisen among the bishops of Arabia; in the same year he
assisted at the consecration of the new church of the apostles at
Chalcedon, on which occasion there is reason to believe that his
discourse commonly but wrongly known as that [Greek: Eis ten heautou
cheirotonian] was delivered. The exact date of his death is unknown;
some authorities refer it to 396, others to 400. His festival is
observed by the Greek Church on the 10th of January; in the Western
martyrologies he is commemorated on the 9th of March.
Gregory of Nyssa was not so firm and able an administrator as his
brother Basil, nor so magnificent an orator as Gregory of Nazianzus, but
he excelled them both, alike as a speculative and constructive
theologian, and in the wide extent of his acquirements. His teaching,
though strictly trinitarian, shows considerable freedom and originality
of thought; in many points his mental and spiritual affinities with
Origen show themselves with advantage, as in his doctrine of [Greek:
apokatastasis] or final restoration. There are marked pantheistic
tendencies, e.g. the inclusion of sin as a necessary part of the
cosmical process, which make him akin to the pantheistic monophysites
and to some modern thinkers.
His style has been frequently praised by competent authorities for
sweetness, richness and elegance. His numerous works may be classified
under five heads: (1) Treatises in doctrinal and polemical theology.
Of these the most important is that _Against Eunomius_ in twelve
books. Its doctrinal thesis (which is supported with great philosophic
acumen and rhetorical power) is the divinity and consubstantiality of
the Word; incidentally the character of Basil, which Eunomius had
aspersed, is vindicated, and the heretic himself is held up to scorn
and contempt. This is the work which, most probably in a shorter
draft, was read by its author when at Constantinople before Gregory
Nazianzen and Jerome in 381 (Jerome, _De vir. ill._ 128). To the same
class belong the treatise _To Ablavius_, against the tritheists; _On
Faith_, against the Arians; _On Common Notions_, in explanation of the
terms in current employment with regard to the Trinity; _Ten
Syllogisms_, against the Manichaeans; _To Theophilus_, against the
Apollinarians; an _Antirrhetic_ against the same; _Against Fate_, a
disputation with a heathen philosopher; _De anima et resurrectione_, a
dialogue with his dying sister Macrina; and the _Oratio catechetica
magna_, an argument for the incarnation as the best possible form of
redemption, intended to convince educated pagans and Jews. (2)
Practical treatises. To this category belong the tracts _On Virginity_
and _On Pilgrimages_; as also the _Canonical Epistle_ upon the rules
of penance. (3) Expository and homiletical works, including the
_Hexaemeron_, and several series of discourses _On the Workmanship of
Man_, _On the Inscriptions of the Psalms_, _On the Sixth Psalm_, _On
the first three Chapters of Ecclesiastes_, _On Canticles_, _On the
Lord's Prayer_ and _On the Eight Beatitudes_. (4) Biographical,
consisting chiefly of funeral orations. (5) Letters.
The only complete editions of the whole works are those by Fronton le
Duc (Fronto Ducaus, Paris, 1615; with additions, 1618 and 1638) and by
Migne. G. H. Forbes began an excellent critical edition, but only two
parts of the first volume appeared (Burntisland, 1855 and 1861)
containing the _Explicatio apologetica in hexaemeron_ and the _De
opificio hominis_. Of the new edition projected by F. Oehler only the
first volume, containing the _Opera dogmatica_, has appeared (1865).
There have been numerous editions of several single treatises, as for
example of the _Oratio catechetica_ (J. G. Krabinger, Munich, 1838; J.
H. Crawley, Cambridge, 1903), _De precatione_ and _De anima et
resurrectione_.
See F. W. Farrar, _Lives of the Fathers_, ii. 56-83, the monograph by
J. Rupp (_Gregors, des Bischofs von Nyssa, Leben und Meinungen_,
Leipzig, 1834), and compare P. Heyns (_Disputatio historico-theologica
de Greg. Nyss._, 1835), C. W. Moller (_Gregorii Nyss. doctrinam de
hominis natura et illustravit et cum Origeniana comparavit_, 1854) and
J. N. Stigler, _Die Psychologie des h. Gregors von Nyssa_ (Regensburg,
1857), and many smaller monographs cited in Hauck-Herzog's _Realencyk.
fur prot. Theol._ vii. 149.
GREGORY, ST, OF TOURS (538-594), historian of the Franks, was born in
the chief city of the Arverni (the modern Clermont-Ferrand) on the 30th
of November 538. His real name was Georgius Florentius, Georgius being
his grandfather's name and Florentius his father's. He was called
Gregory after his maternal great-grandfather, the bishop of Langres.
Gregory belonged to an illustrious senatorial family, many of whose
members held high office in the church and bear honoured names in the
history of Christianity. He was descended, it is said, from Vettius
Epagathus, who was martyred at Lyons in 177 with St Pothinus; his
paternal uncle, Gallus, was bishop of Clermont; his maternal
grand-uncle, Nicetius (St Nizier), occupied the see of Lyons; and he was
a kinsman of Euphronius, bishop of Tours.
Gregory lost his father early, and his mother Armentaria settled in the
kingdom of Burgundy on an estate belonging to her near Cavaillon, where
her son often visited her. Gregory was brought up at Clermont-Ferrand by
his uncle Gallus and by his successor, Avitus, and there he received his
education. Among profane authors he read the first six books of the
_Aeneid_ and Sallust's history of the Catiline conspiracy, but his
education was mainly religious. The principles of religion he learnt
from the Bible, Sulpicius Severus and some lives of saints, but to
patristic literature and the subtleties of theology he remained a
stranger. In 563, at the age of twenty-five, he was ordained deacon.
Falling seriously ill, he went to Tours to seek a cure at the tomb of St
Martin. At Tours he lived with Euphronius, and so great was the young
man's popularity that, on the death of Euphronius in 573, the people
unanimously designated him bishop.
At that time Tours belonged to Austrasia, and King Sigebert hastened to
confirm Gregory's election. After the assassination of Sigebert (575),
the province was ruled by Chilperic for nine years, during which period
Gregory displayed the greatest energy in protecting his town and church
from the Frankish king. He had to contend with Count Leudast, the
governor of Tours; despite all the king's threats, he refused to give up
Chilperic's son Meroving, who had sought refuge from his father's wrath
at the sanctuary of St Martin; and he defended Bishop Pretextatus
against Chilperic, by whom he had been condemned for celebrating the
marriage of Merovech and Queen Brunhilda. In 580 Gregory was himself
accused before a council at Berny of using abusive language against
Queen Fredegond, but he cleared himself of the charge by an oath and was
acquitted. On the death of Chilperic, Tours remained for two years
(584-585) in the hands of Guntram, but when Guntram adopted his nephew
Childebert, Sigebert's son, it again became Austrasian. This change was
welcome to Gregory, who often visited the court. In 586 he was at
Coblenz, and on his return to Yvois (the modern Carignan) visited the
stylite Wulfilaic; in 588 we hear of him at Metz and also at
Chalon-sur-Saone, whither he was sent to obtain from King Guntram the
ratification of the pact of Andelot; in 593 he was at Orleans, where
Childebert had just succeeded his uncle Guntram. In the intervals of
these journeys he governed Tours with great firmness, repressing
disorders and reducing the monks and nuns to obedience. He died on the
17th of November 594.
Gregory left many writings, of which he himself gives an enumeration at
the end of his _Historia Francorum_: "Decem libros Historiarum, septem
Miraculorum, unum de Vita Patrum scripsi; in Psalterii tractatu librum
unum commentatus sum; de Cursibus etiam ecclesiasticis unum librum
condidi." The ten books of history are discussed below. The seven books
of miracles are divided into the _De gloria martyrum_, the _De
virtutibus sancti Juliani_, four books of _Miracula sancti Martini_, and
the _De gloria confessorum_, the last dealing mainly with confessors who
had dwelt in the cities of Tours and Clermont. The _Vitae patrum_
consists of twenty biographies of bishops, abbots and hermits belonging
to Gaul. The commentary on the Psalms is lost, the preface and the
titles of the chapters alone being extant. The treatise _De cursibus
ecclesiasticis_, discovered in 1853, is a liturgical manual for
determining the hour of divers nocturnal offices by the position of the
stars. Gregory also left a life of St Andrew, translated from the Greek,
and a history of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, translated from Syriac.
His most important work, however, is the _Historia Francorum_, which is
divided into three parts. The first four books, which were composed at
one time, cover the period from the creation of the world to the death
of Sigebert in 575. The first book, which is a mere compilation from the
chronicles of St Jerome and Orosius, is of no value. The second book,
from 397 to 511, deals with the invasions of the Franks, and is based on
the histories of Sulpicius Alexander and Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus,
now lost; on the catalogues of the bishops of Clermont and Tours; on
some lives of saints, e.g. Remigius and Maxentius, now lost; on the
annals of Arles and Angers, now lost; and on legends, either collected
by Gregory himself from oral tradition, or cantilenes or epics written
in the Latin and Germanic languages. In the third and fourth books the
earlier part is based on materials collected from men older than
himself; of the later events he was himself an eye-witness. The fifth
and sixth books, up to the death of Chilperic (584), deal with matters
within his own experience. The first six books are often separate in the
MSS., and it was these alone that were used by the chronicler
Fredegarius in his abridgment of Gregory's history. To the first six
books Gregory subsequently added chapters on the bishops Salonius and
Sagittarius, and on his quarrels with Felix of Nantes. The authenticity
of these chapters has been undeservedly attacked by Catholic writers.
Books vii. to x., from 584 to 591, were written in the form of a diary;
of each important event, as it occurred, he inserted an account in his
book. The last six books are of great historical value.
Gregory had an intimate knowledge of contemporary events. He was
frequently at court, and he found Tours an excellent place for
collecting information. The shrine of St Martin attracted the sick from
all quarters, and the basilica of the saint was a favourite sanctuary
for political refugees. Moreover, Tours was on the high road between the
north and south of France, and was a convenient stage for travellers,
the ambassadors going to and from Spain frequently halting there.
Gregory plied every one with questions, and in this way gathered a great
mass of detailed information. He was, besides, at great pains to be an
impartial writer, but was not always successful. His devotion to
Austrasia made him very bitter against, and perhaps unjust to, the
sovereigns of Neustria, Chilperic and Fredegond. As an orthodox
Christian, he had no good word for the Arians. He excuses the crimes of
kings who protected the church, such as Clovis, Clotaire I. and Guntram,
but had no mercy for those who violated ecclesiastical privileges. This
attitude, no doubt, explains his hatred for Chilperic. But if Gregory's
historical judgments are suspect, he at least concealed nothing and
invented nothing; and we can correct his judgments by his own narrative.
His history is a curious compound of artlessness and shrewdness. He was
ignorant of the rules of grammar, confused genders and cases, and wrote
in the vernacular Latin of his time, apart from certain passages which
are especially elaborated and filled with poetical and elegant
expressions. But in spite of his shortcomings he is an exceedingly
attractive writer, and his mastery of the art of narrative has earned
for him the name of the Herodotus of the barbarians.
T. Ruinart brought out a complete edition of Gregory's works at Paris
in 1699. The best modern complete edition is that of W. Arndt and B.
Krusch in _Mon. Germ. hist. script. rer. Merov._ (vol. i., 1885). Of
the many editions of the _Historia Francorum_ may be mentioned those
of Guadet and Taranne in the _Soc. de l'hist. de France_ (4 vols.,
with French translation, 1836-1838), of Omont (the first six books; a
reproduction of the Corvey MS.) and of G. Collon (the last four books;
a reproduction of the Brussels MS. No. 9, 403). Gregory's hagiographic
works were published by H. Bordier in the _Soc. de l'hist. de France_
(4 vols., with French translation, 1857-1864). Cf. J. W. Lobell,
_Gregor von Tours und seine Zeit_ (2nd ed., Leipzig, 1868); G. Monod,
"Etudes critiques sur les sources de l'histoire merovingienne" in the
_Bibl. de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes_ (1872); G. Kurth, "Gregoire de
Tours et les etudes classiques au VI^e siecle" in the _Revue des
questions historiques_ (xxiv. 586 seq., 1878); Max Bonnet, _Le Latin
de Gregoire de Tours_ (Paris, 1890). For details, see Ulysse
Chevalier, _Biobibliographie_ (2nd ed.). (C. Pf.)
GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR, the reputed founder of the Armenian Church. His
legend is briefly as follows. His father Anak, head of the Parthian clan
of Suren, was bribed about the time of his birth (c. 257) by the
Sassanid king of Persia to assassinate the Armenian king, Chosroes, who
was of the old Arsacid dynasty, and father of Tiridates or Trdat, first
Christian king of Armenia. Anak was slain by his victim's soldiers;
Gregory was rescued by his Christian nurse, carried to Caesarea in
Cappadocia, and brought up a Christian. Grown to manhood he took service
under Tiridates, now king of Armenia, in order by his own fidelity to
atone for his father's treachery. Presently at a feast of Anahite
Gregory refused to assist his sovereign in offering pagan sacrifice, and
his parentage being now revealed, was thrown into a deep pit at
Artashat, where he languished for fourteen years, during which
persecution raged in Armenia.
The scene of the legend now shifts to Rome, where Diocletian falls in
love with a lovely nun named Ripsime; she, rather than gratify his
passion, flees with her abbess Gaiana and several priests to Armenia.
Diocletian asks her back of Tiridates, who meanwhile has fallen in love
with her himself. He too is flouted, and in his rage tortures and slays
her and her companions. The traditional date of this massacre is the 5th
of October, A.D. 301. Providence, incensed at such cruelty, turns
Tiridates into a wild boar, and afflicts his subjects with madness; but
his sister, Chosrowidukht, has a revelation to bring Gregory back out of
his pit. The king consents, the saint is acclaimed, the bodies of the
thirty-seven martyrs solemnly interred, and the king, after fasting
five, and listening to Gregory's homilies for sixty days, is healed.
This all took place at Valarshapat, where Gregory, anxious to fix a site
on which to build shrines for the relics of Ripsime and Gaiana, saw the
Son of God come down in a sheen of light, the stars of heaven attending,
and smite the earth with a golden hammer till the nether world resounded
to his blows. Three chapels were built on the spot, and Gregory raised
his cross there and elsewhere for the people to worship, just as St Nino
was doing about the same time in Georgia. There followed a campaign
against the idols whose temples and books were destroyed. The time had
now come for Gregory, who was still a layman and father of two sons, to
receive ordination; so he went to Caesarea, where Leontius ordained and
consecrated him catholicos or vicar-general of Armenia. This was
sometime about 290, when Leontius may have acceded, though we first hear
of him as bishop in 314.
Gregory's ordination at Caesarea is historical. The vision at
Valarshapat was invented later by the Armenians when they broke with the
Greeks, in order to give to their church the semblance, if not of
apostolic, at least of divine origin.
According to Agathangelus, Tiridates went to Rome with Gregory,
Aristaces, son of Gregory, and Albianos, head of the other priestly
family, to make a pact with Constantine, newly converted to the faith,
and receive a pallium from Silvester. The better sources make Sardica
the scene of meeting and name Eusebius (of Nicomedia) as the prelate who
attended Constantine. There is no reason to doubt that some such visit
was made about the year 315, when the death of Maximin Daza left
Constantine supreme. Eusebius testifies (_H.E._ ix. 8) that the
Armenians were ardent Christians, and ancient friends and allies of the
Roman empire when Maximin attacked them about the year 308. The
conversion of Tiridates was probably a matter of policy. His kingdom was
honeycombed with Christianity, and he wished to draw closer to the West,
where he foresaw the victory of the new faith, in order to fortify his
realm against the Sassanids of Persia. Following the same policy he sent
Aristaces in 325 to the council of Nice. Gregory is related to have
added a clause to the creed which Aristaces brought back; he became a
hermit on Mount Sebuh about the year 332, and died there.
Is the Ripsime episode mere legend? The story of the conversion of
Georgia by St Nino in the same age is so full of local colour, and
coheres so closely with the story of Ripsime and Gaiana, that it seems
over-sceptical to explain the latter away as a mere doublet of the
legend of Prisca and Valeria. The historians Faustus of Byzant and Lazar
of Pharp in the 5th century already attest the reverence with which
their memory was invested. We know from many sources the prominence
assigned to women prophets in the Phrygian church. Nino's story reads
like that of such a female missionary, and something similar must
underlie the story of her Armenian companions.
The history of Gregory by Agathangelus is a compilation of about 450,
which was rendered into Greek 550. Professor Marr has lately published
an Arabic text from a MS. in Sinai which seems to contain an older
tradition. A letter of Bishop George of Arabia to Jeshu, a priest of the
town Anab, dated 714 (edited by Dashian, Vienna, 1891), contains an
independent tradition of Gregory, and styles him a Roman by birth.
In spite of legendary accretions we can still discern the true outlines
and significance of his life. He did not really illumine or convert
great Armenia, for the people were in the main already converted by
Syrian missionaries to the Adoptionist or Ebionite type of faith which
was dominant in the far East, and was afterwards known as Nestorianism.
Marcionites and Montanists had also worked in the field. Gregory
persuaded Tiridates to destroy the last relics of the old paganism, and
carried out in the religious sphere his sovereign's policy of detaching
Great Armenia from the Sassanid realm and allying it with the
Graeco-Roman empire and civilization. He set himself to Hellenize or
Catholicize Armenian Christianity, and in furtherance of this aim set up
a hierarchy officially dependent on the Cappadocian. He in effect turned
his country into a province of the Greek see of Cappadocia. This
hierarchical tie was soon snapped, but the Hellenizing influence
continued to work, and bore its most abundant fruit in the 5th century.
His career was thus analogous to that of St Patrick in Ireland.
AUTHORITIES.--S. Weber, _Die Catholische Kirche in Armenien_
(Freiburg, 1903, with bibliography); Bollandii, _Acta sanctorum sept._
tom. 8; A. Carriere, _Les Huit Sanctuaires de l'Armenie_ (Paris,
1899); "Chrysostom" in Migne, _P. Gr._ tom. 63, col. 943 foll.; C.
Fortescue, _The Armenian Church_ (London, 1872); H. Gelzer, _Die
Anfange der armenischen Kirche_ (Leipzig, 1895) (_Sachs. Gesells. der
Wissensch._); and s.v. "Armenien" in Herzog-Hauck (Leipzig, 1897); v.
Gutschmid, _Kleine Schriften_ (Leipzig, 1892); Himpel, _Gregor der
Erleuchter_, Kl. v.; Issaverdenz, _Hist. of Arm. Church_ (Venice,
1875); de Lagarde, _Agathangelos_ (Gottingen, 1888); Arshak Ter
Mikelian, _Die arm. Kirche_ (Leipzig, 1892); Palmieri, "La Conversione
ufficiale degli Iberi," _Oriens Christ._ (Rome, 1902); Ryssel, _Ein
Brief Gregors, ubersetzt, Studien und Kritiken_, 56, Bd. (1883);
Samuelian, _Bekehrung Armeniens_ (Vienna, 1844); Vetter, "Die arm.
Vater," in Nischl's _Lehrbuch der Patrol._ iii. 215-262, (Mainz,
1881-1885); Malan, _S. Gregory the Illuminator_ (Rivingtons, 1868).
(F. C. C.)
GREGORY (_Gregorius_), the name of sixteen popes and one anti-pope.
SAINT GREGORY, surnamed the Great (_c._ 540-604), the first pope of that
name, and the last of the four doctors of the Latin Church, was born in
Rome about the year 540. His father was Gordianus "the regionary," a
wealthy man of senatorial rank, owner of large estates in Sicily and of
a palace on the Caelian Hill in Rome; his mother was Silvia, who is
commemorated as a saint on the 3rd of November. Of Gregory's early
period we know few details, and almost all the dates are conjectural. He
received the best education to be had at the time, and was noted for his
proficiency in the arts of grammar, rhetoric and dialectic. Entering on
a public career he held, about 573, the high office of prefect of the
city of Rome; but about 574, feeling irresistibly attracted to the
"religious" life, he resigned his post, founded six monasteries in
Sicily and one in Rome, and in the last--the famous monastery of St
Andrew--became himself a monk. This grateful seclusion, however, he was
not permitted long to enjoy. About 578 he was ordained "seventh deacon"
(or possibly archdeacon) of the Roman Church, and in the following
spring Pope Pelagius II. appointed him "apocrisiarius," or resident
ambassador, at the imperial court in Constantinople. Here he represented
the interests of his church till about 586, when he returned to Rome and
was made abbot of St Andrew's monastery. His rule, though popular, was
characterized by great severity, as may be inferred from the story of
the monk Justus, who was denied Christian burial because he had secreted
a small sum of money. About this time Gregory completed and published
his well-known exposition of the book of Job, commenced in
Constantinople: he also delivered lectures on the Heptateuch, the books
of Kings, the Prophets, the book of Proverbs and the Song of Songs. To
this period, moreover, Bede's incident of the English slave-boys (if
indeed it be accepted as historical) ought to be assigned. Passing one
day through the Forum, Gregory saw some handsome slaves offered for
sale, and inquired their nation. "Angles," was the reply. "Good," said
the abbot, "they have the faces of angels, and should be coheirs with
the angels in heaven. From what province do they come?" "From Deira."
"Deira. Yea, verily, they shall be saved from God's ire (_de ira_) and
called to the mercy of Christ. How is the king of that country named?"
"Aella." "Then must Allelulia be sung in Aella's land." Gregory
determined personally to undertake the conversion of Britain, and with
the pope's consent actually set out upon the mission, but on the third
day of his journey he was overtaken by messengers recalling him to Rome.
In the year 590 Pelagius II. died of the plague that was raging in the
city; whereupon the clergy and people unanimously chose Gregory as his
successor. The abbot did his best to avoid the dignity, petitioned the
emperor Maurice not to ratify his election, and even meditated going
into hiding; but, "while he was preparing for flight and concealment, he
was seized and carried off and dragged to the basilica of St Peter," and
there consecrated bishop, on the 3rd of September 590.
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
writing some composition worthy of the church, or in searching out the
secrets of heaven by the grace of contemplation." His mode of life was
simple and ascetic in the extreme. Having banished all 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 pastoral zeal, frequently appointing
"stations" and delivering sermons; nor was he less solicitous in
providing for their physical necessities. Deaconries (offices of alms)
and guest-houses were liberally endowed, and free distributions of 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 Italy, the adjacent islands, Gaul, Dalmatia and Africa.
These extensive domains were usually administered by specially appointed
agents,--rectors and defensors,--who resided on the spot; but the
general superintendence devolved upon the pope. In this 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 principal 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 treasury of the Roman Church by
his unlimited charities.
Within the strict bounds of his patriarchate, i.e. the churches of the
suburbicarian provinces and the islands, it was Gregory's policy to
watch with particular care over the election and discipline of the
bishops. With wise toleration he was willing to recognize local
deviations from Roman usage (e.g. in the ritual of baptism and
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 holy orders should not cohabit with their
wives or permit any 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 ministry of the 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 northern Italy, Spain, Gaul, Africa and
Illyricum and also in the East, Gregory consistently used his influence
to increase the prestige and authority of the Roman See. In his view
Rome, as the see of the Prince of the Apostles, was by divine right "the
head of all the churches." The decrees of 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 patriarch of
Constantinople: all bishops, including the patriarchs, if guilty of
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 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 the bishops of Ravenna concerning the use of the
pallium, with Maximus the "usurping" bishop of Salona, and with the
patriarchs of Constantinople in respect of the title "ecumenical
bishops"), contributed greatly to build up the system of papal
absolutism. Moreover this consolidation of spiritual authority coincided
with a remarkable development of the temporal power of the papacy. In
Italy Gregory occupied an almost regal position. Taking advantage of the
opportunity which circumstances offered, he boldly stepped into the
place which the emperors had left vacant and the Lombard kings had not
the strength to seize. For the first time in history the pope appeared
as a political power, a temporal prince. He appointed governors to
cities, issued orders to generals, provided munitions of war, sent his
ambassadors to negotiate with the Lombard king and actually dared to
conclude a private peace. In this direction Gregory went farther than
any of his predecessors: he laid the foundation of a political influence
which endured for centuries. "Of the medieval papacy," says Milman, "the
real father is Gregory the Great."
The first monk to become pope, Gregory was naturally a strong supporter
of monasticism. He laid himself out to diffuse the system, and also to
carry out a reform of its abuses by enforcing a strict observance of the
Rule of St Benedict (of whom, it may be noted, he was the earliest
biographer). Two slight innovations were introduced: the minimum age of
an 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 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 control of their diocesans and brought them under
the direct authority of the Holy See. Moreover Gregory strictly forbade
monks to minister in 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 discharge them. It is
therefore very improper that one man should be considered fit to
discharge the duties of both, and that by this means the ecclesiastical
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. Most important
was the two-fold mission to Britain--of St Augustine in 596, of
Mellitus, Paulinus and others in 601; but Gregory also made strenuous
efforts to uproot paganism in Gaul, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica,
Arianism in Spain, Donatism in Africa, Manichaeism in Sicily, the heresy
of the Three Chapters in Istria and northern Italy. In respect of the
methods of conversion which he advocated he was not less intolerant than
his contemporaries. Towards the 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, be repeatedly
attacked; and against the Gallican abuse of promoting laymen to
bishoprics he protested with vigour.
The extent and character of Gregory's works in connexion with the
liturgy and the music of the church is a subject of dispute. If we are
to credit a 9th century biographer, Gregory abbreviated and otherwise
simplified the Sacramentary of Gelasius, producing a revised edition
with which his own name has become associated, and which represents the
groundwork of the modern Roman Missal. But though it is certain that he
introduced three changes in the liturgy itself (viz. the addition of
some words in the prayer _Hanc igitur_, the recitation of the Pater
Noster at the end of the Canon immediately before the fraction of the
bread, and the chanting of the Allelulia after the Gradual at other
times besides the season of Easter) and two others in the ceremonial
connected therewith (forbidding deacons to perform any musical portion
of the service except the chanting of the gospel, and subdeacons to wear
chasubles), neither the external nor the internal evidence appears to
warrant belief that the Gregorian Sacramentary is his 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 cantorum_. 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 extension.
Finally, as Fourth Doctor of the Latin Church, Gregory claims the
attention of theologians. He is the link between two epochs. The last of
the great Latin Fathers and the first representative of medieval
Catholicism he brings the dogmatic theology of Tertullian, Ambrose and
Augustine into relation with the Scholastic speculation of later ages.
"He connects the Graeco-Roman with the Romano-Germanic type of
Christianity." His teaching, indeed, is neither philosophical,
systematic nor truly original. Its importance lies mainly in its simple,
popular summarization of the doctrine of Augustine (whose works Gregory
had studied with 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 demonology, on purgatory, the
Eucharistic Sacrifice, and the efficacy of 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 Scholasticism.
He gave to theology a tone and emphasis which could not be disregarded.
From his time to that of Anselm no teacher of equal eminence arose in
the Church.
Gregory died on the 12th of March 604, and was buried the same day in
the portico of the basilica of St Peter, in front of the sacristy.
Translations took place in the 9th, 15th and 17th centuries, and the
remains now rest beneath the altar in the chapel of 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 fair fame is his adulatory congratulation of the murderous
usurper Phocas; though his correspondence with the Frankish queen
Brunhilda, and the series of letters to and concerning the renegade monk
Venantius also present problems which his admirers find difficult of
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
noble and unselfish. His life was entirely dominated by the religious
motive. His sole desire was to promote the glory of God and of his
church. At all times he strove honestly to live up to the light that was
in him. "His goal," says Lau, "was always that which he acknowledged as
the best." Physically, Gregory was of medium height and good figure. His
head was large and bald, surrounded with a fringe of dark hair. His face
was well-proportioned, with brown eyes, aquiline nose, thick and red
lips, high-coloured cheeks, and prominent chin sparsely covered with a
tawny 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 xxxv._, _Regulae
pastoralis liber_, _Dialogorum libri iv._, _Homiliarum in Ezechielem
prophetam libri ii._, _Homiliarum in Evangelia libri ii._ These are
all printed in Migne's _Patrologia Latina_. The _Epistolae_, however,
have been published separately by P. Ewald and L. M. Hartmann in the
_Monumenta Germaniae historica_ (Berlin, 1887-1899), and this splendid
edition has superseded all others. The question of the chronological
reconstruction of the _Register_ is dealt with by Ewald in his
celebrated article in the _Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft fur altere
deutsche Geschichtskunde_, iii. pp. 433-625; and briefly by T.
Hodgkin, _Italy and her Invaders_, v. 333-343. For information about
these writings of Gregory, consult especially G. J. T. Lau, _Gregor I.
der Grosse_, pt. ii. chap. i. _Die Schriften Gregors_ and F. Homes
Dudden, _Gregory the Great_ (see 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 _Concordia quorundam teslimoniorum s. scripturae_. But (with the
possible exception of the first) none of these treatises are of
Gregorian authorship. See the discussions in Migne, Lau and Dudden.
AUTHORITIES.--(a) The principal ancient authorities for the life and
works of Gregory are given in their chronological order. They are:
Gregory of Tours, _Historia Francorum_, x. 1; _Liber pontificalis_,
"Vita Gregorii Magni"; Isidore of Seville, _De vir. illustr._ 40, and
Ildefonsus of Toledo, _De vir. illustr._ i.; an anonymous _Vita
Gregorii_ (of English authorship) belonging to the monastery of St
Gall, discovered by Ewald and published by F. A. Gasquet, _A Life of
Pope St Gregory the Great_ (1904); Bede, _Historia ecclesiastica_, ii.
c. 1; Paul the Deacon, _Vita Gregorii Magni_ (770-780); John the
Deacon, _Vita Gregorii_ (872-882). (b) Recent Literature: J. Barmby,
_Gregory the Great_ (1892); T. Bonsmann, _Gregor I. der Grosse, ein
Lebensbild_ (1890); F. Homes Dudden, _Gregory the Great: his place in
History and Thought_ (2 vols., 1905); G. J. T. Lau, _Gregor I. der
Grosse nach seinem Leben und seiner Lehre geschildert_ (1845); C.
Wolfsgruber, _Gregor der Grosse_ (1897). See also F. Gregorovius,
_Rome in the Middle Ages_ (Eng. trans.) ii. 16-103; T. Hodgkin, _Italy
and her Invaders_, v. cc. 7-10; H. K. Mann, _The Lives of the Popes_,
i. 1-250; F. W. Kellett, _Pope Gregory the Great and his Relations
with Gaul_; L. Pingaud, _La Politique de Saint Gregoire le Grand_; W.
Wisbaum, _Die wichtigsten Richtungen und Ziele der Tatigkeit des
Papstes Gregors des Grossen_; W. Hohaus, _Die Bedeutung Gregors des
Grossen als liturgischer Schriftsteller_; E. G. P. Wyatt, _St Gregory
and the Gregorian Music_; and the bibliographies of Gregory in
Chevalier, _Repertoire des sources historiques du moyen age_, and A.
Potthast, _Bibliotheca historica medii aevi_. (F. H. D.)
GREGORY II., pope from 715 to 731, succeeded Constantine I., whom he
accompanied from Constantinople in 710. Gregory did all in his power to
promote the spread of Christianity in Germany, and gave special
encouragement to the mission of St Boniface, whom he consecrated bishop
in 722. He was a staunch adherent of the East Roman empire, which still
exercised sovereignty over Rome, Ravenna and some other parts of Italy,
and he impeded as far as possible the progress of the Lombards. About
726, however, he became involved in a conflict with the emperor Leo the
Isaurian on account of the excessive taxation of the Italians, and,
later, on the question of image worship, which had been proscribed by
the government of Constantinople. Leo endeavoured to rid himself of the
pope by violence, but Gregory, supported by the people of Rome and also
by the Lombards, succeeded in eluding the emperor's attacks, and died
peacefully on the 11th of February 731.
GREGORY III., pope from 731 to 741. He condemned the iconoclasts at a
council convened at Rome in November 731, and, like his predecessor
Gregory II., stimulated the missionary labours of St Boniface, on whom
he conferred the pallium. Towards the Lombards he took up an imprudent
attitude, in support of which he in vain invoked the aid of the Frankish
prince Charles Martel.