GREaORY
785
GREGORY
without the exarch's aid. Whatever the theory may refer to the famous letters to the Emperor Phocas on
have been, there is no doubt about the fact that, be- his usurpation, and the allusions in them to the mur-
sides his spiritual jurisdiction, Gregory actually exer- dered Emperor Maurice (Epp., XIII, xxxiv, xli, xlii).
cised no small amount of temporal power. Every kind of judgment has been passed upon
Of Gregory's relations with the Franks there is no Gregory for writing these letters, but the question
need to write at length, as the intercourse he estab- remains a difficult one. Probably the pope's conduct
lished with the Frankish kings practically lapsed at herein was due to two things: first, his ignorance of the
his death, and was not renewed for about a hundred way in which Phocas had reached the throne; and
years. On the other hand he exercised a great in- second, his view that the emperor was God's repre-
fluence on Frankish monasticism, which he did much sentative on earth, and therefore deserving of all
to strengthen and reshape, so that the work done by possible respect in his official capacity, his personal
the monasteries in civilizing the wild Franks may be character not coming into the question at all. It
attributed ultimately to the first monk-pope. should be noted, also, that he avoids any direct flattery
(5) Helalions u-ith the Imperial Government. — The towards the new emperor, merelj' using the exagger-
reign of Gregory the Great
marks an epoch in papal his-
tory, and this is specially the
case in respect of his attitude
towards the imperial Govern-
ment centred at Constanti-
nople. Gregory seems to have
looked upon Church and State
as co-operating to form a
united whole, which acted in
two distinct spheres, ecclesias-
tical and secular. Over this
commonwealth were the pope
and the emperor, each su-
preme in his own department,
care being taken to keep these
as far as possible distinct
and independent. This latter
point was the difficulty. Greg-
ory definitely held that it was
a duty of the secular ruler to
protect the Church and pre-
serve the "peace of the faith"
(Mor., XXXI, viii), and so he
is often found to call in the aid
of the secular arm, not merely
to suppress schism, heresy, or
idolatry, but even to enforce
discipline among monks and
clergy (Epp., I, l.xxii ; II, xxix ;
III, lix ; I V, vii, xxxii : V, xxxii ;
VIII, iv; XI, xii,xxxvii; XIII,
xxxvi). If the emperor inter-
fered in church matters the
pope's policy was to acquiesce
if possible, unless obedience
■was sinful, according to
the principle laid down in
St. Gregory the CiRE.\t
kIocus of (jheiit (?), Barberini Palace, Ro
ated phrases of respect then
customary, and expressing
the high hopes he entertains
of the new regime. More-
over, his allusions to Maurice
refer to the sufferings of the
people under his government,
and do not reflect on the dead
emperor himself. Had the
empire been sound instead of
in a hopelessly rotten state
when Ciregory became pope,
it is hard to say how his views
might have worked out in
practice. As it was, his line
of strong independence, his
efficiency, and his courage
carried all before them, and
when he died there was no
longer any question as to who
was the first power in Italy.
1(5) Missionary Work. — Gregory's zeal for the con- version of the heathen, and in )i;irticular of the Angles, has ill (II mentioned alreadj-, and ilnr.i is no need to dwell at lin,i;ih OR the latter subject, as it has been fully treated imder Augustine ofC.\nter- EUHY, S.M.NT. In justice to the great pope, however, it nuist be added that he lost no opportunity for the exercise of his missionary zeal, mak- ing every effort to root out paganism in Gaul, Donatism
in Africa, and the f^chism of
Epp." XI, xxix; Quod ipse [sc. imperator] fecerit, si the Three Chapters in North Italy and Istria. In
canonicumest, sequimur;si verocanonicumnon est.in his treatment of heretics, schismatics, and pagans his
quantum sine peccato nostro, portamus." In taking method was to try every means — persuasions, exhorta-
this line Gregory was undoubtedly influenced by
his deep reverence for the emperor, whom he regarded
as the representative of God in all things secular, and
who must still be treated with all possible respect.
tions, threats — before resorting to force; but, if gentler
treatment failed, he had no hesitation, in accordance
with the ideas of his age, in resorting to compulsion,
and invoking the aid of the secular arm therein. It is
even when he encroached on the borders of the papal curious, therefore, to find him acting as a champion
authority. On his side, although he certainly re- and protector of the Jews. In Epp., I, xlv, he e.x-
garded himself as "superior in place and rank" to the pressly deprecates the compulsory baptism of Jews,
exarch (Epp., II, xlv), Gregory objected strongly to and many instances appear in which he insists on their
the interference of ecclesiastical authorities in matters right to liberty of action, so far as the law permitted,
secular. As supreme guardian of Christian justice, both in civil affairs and in the worship of the syna-
the pope was always ready to intercede for, or protect, gogue (Epp., I, xxxiv; II, vi; VIII, xxv; IX, xxx\-iii,
anyone who suffered unjust treatment (Epp., I, XXXV, cxcv; XIII, xv). He was equally strong, however.
xxxvi, xh-ii, Ux; III, v;V, xxxviii; IX, iv,xlvi,lv,cxiii,
clx-xxii; XI, iv), but at the same time he used the
utmost tact in approaching the imperial officials. In
Epp., I, xxxix a, he explains for the benefit of his Si-
cilian agent the precise attitude to be adopted in such
matters. Still, in conjunction with all this deference,
Gregory retained a spirit of independence which
enabled him, when he considered it necessary, to
address even the emperor in terms of startling direct-
ness. Space makes it impossible to do more than
VI.— 50
in preventing the Jews from exceeding the rights
granted to them by the imperial law, especially with
regard to the o^\'nership b)- them of Christian slaves
(Epp., II, vi; III, xxxvii; IV, i.x, .x.xi; VI, xxix; VII,
xxi: VIII, xxi; IX, civ, ccxiii, ccxv). We shall pro-
bably be right, therefore, in attributing Gregory's
protection of the Jews to his respect for law and
justice, rather than to any ideas of toleration differing
from those current at the tiiue.
(7) Gregory and Monasticism. — Although the first
