GREGORY
21
GREGORY
in Christ's Death a crime committed by the Jews; in
the Resurrection, on the other hand, it seemed to liim
he beheld the Redemption of mankind. From the
psalms he had learned that Jesus had saved the world
by His blood, but Gregory's idea of Christ was not
that of the Lamb slain for the sins of "the world"; it
was rather that of a great king who had left an inheri-
tance to his people. Generally speaking liis theological
writings exhibited the influence of the Prankish idea
of royalty. He does not seem to have been deeply
versed in the teaching and the writings of the Fathers
•jn the Incarnation and Death of Christ. This is evi-
dent from the story he tells of a discussion he had one
day in the presence of King Chilperic with a Jewish
merchant. The Jew had questioned the possibility of
the fact of the Incarnation and Death of Jesus, and
Gregory, without making a direct reply, went on to as-
sert that the Incarnation and Death of the Son of God
were necessary, seeing that guilty man was in the power
of the Devil and could only be saved by an incarnate
God. The Jew, pretending to be convinced, made
answer: " But where was the necessity for God to suf-
fer in order to redeem man?" Gregory reminded him
that sin was an offence, and that the death of Jesus
was the only means of placating God. The Jew in
turn asked why God could not have sent a prophet or
an apostle to win mankind back to the path of salva-
tion, rather than humble Himself by taking human
flesh. Gregory could only reply by lamenting the
incredulity of those who would not believe the proph-
ets, and who put those who preached penance to death.
And so the Jew remained unanswered. This contro-
versy displays Gregory's lack of dialectical and theo-
logical skill.
The edition of Ruinart in P. L., LXXI, is now replaced by that of Arndt and Krusch: Scriplores Rerum Meroiingi- varum in Mon. Germ. Hist. (1SS4-5). I, pt. I. pp. 1-30; Lobell, Gregor von Tours und seine Zeit (2nd ed., Leipzig, 1S69); Wolal.v, Sludien zur Gesch. des U. und 5. Jahrhunderts (Meldorf, 1901); Weimann, Die sittlichen Begriffe in Greg. v. Tours His- toria Francorum (Duisburg, 1900); Bonnet, Le Lati/i de Gregoire de Tours (Paris, 1890); (^iorini. Defense de VEglise (1866), n, 390-449; A. Hauck, Kirehengesckichte Deutschlands, I, passim; Jacobs, Geographic de Gregoire de Tours (Paris, 1858); KuHTH, S. Gregoire de Tours et les etudes classigues au sixi^me sif'cle in Revue des Questions Historique.^ (1S7S), XXIV, 586-593: Lecot de la Marche, De Vautorite de Gregoire de Tours (Paris, 1S61). For a more extensive bibliography see Chevalieh, Bio-Bibl. (Paris, 1905), cols. 1887-89.
H. Leclercq.
Gregory of Utrecht, Saint, Abbot; b. about 707 or 70S; d. 775 or 780. Gregory was born of a noble family at Trier. His father Alberic was the son of Addula, who, as widow, was Abbess of Pfalzel (Pala- tiolum) near Trier. On account of the similarity of names, and in consequence of a forged last will, .\ddula has been frequently confounded with Adala (Adela), daughter of Dagobert II of Austrasia, — thus falsely making Gregory a scion of the royal house of the Merovingians. He received hLs early education at Pfalzel. When, in 722, St. Boniface passed through Trier on his way from Frisia to Hessia and Thuringia, he rested at this convent. Gregory was called upon to read the Sacred Scriptures at the meals. St. Boniface gave an explanation and dwelt upon the merits of an apostolic life, in such warm and convincing terms that the heart of Gregory was filled with enthiisiasm. He announced his intention of going with St. Boniface and nothing could move him from his resolution. He now became the disciple and in time the helper of the great Apostle of Germany, sharing his hardships and labours, accompanying him in all his missionary tours, and learning from the saint the secret of sanc- tity. In 7.38 St. Boniface made his third journey to Rome; Gregory went with him and brought back many valuable additions for his library. About 750 Gregory was made Abbot of St. Martin's, in Utrecht In 744 St. Willibrord, the first Bishop of Utrecht, had died but had received no successor. St. Boniface had
taken charge and had appointed an administrator.
In 754 he started on his last missionary trip and took
with him the administrator, St. Eoban, who was to
share his crown of martyrdom. After this Pope
Stephen II (III) and Pepin ordered Gregory to look
after the diocese. For this reason some (even the
Mart. Rom.) call him bishop, though he never re-
ceived episcopal consecration. The school of his
abbey, a kind of missionary seminary, was now a centre
of piet}' and learning. Students flocked to it from all
sides: Franks, Frisians, Saxons, even Bavarians and
Swabians. England, though it had splendid schools
of its own, sent scholars. Among his disciples St.
Liudger is best known. He became the first Bishop of
Munster later, and wrote the life of Gregory. In it
(Acta SS., Aug., V, 240) he extols the virtues of Gre-
gory, his contempt of riches, his sobriety, his forgiving
spirit and his almsdeeds. Some three years before
Gregory's death, a lameness attacked his left side and
gradually spread over his entire body. At the approach
of death he had himself carried into church and there
breathed his last. His relics were religiously kept at
Utrecht, and in 1421 and 1597 were examined at epis-
copal visitations. A large portion of his head is in the
church of St. Amelberga at Sustern, where an official
recognition took place 25 Sept., 1885, by the Bishop
of lioermond (.\nal. Boll., V, 162). A letter written
by St. Lullus, Bishop of Mainz, to St. Gregory is still
extant (P. L., XCVI, 821).
Bennett, in Diet, Chr. Biog., s. v. Gregorius (70). St.; Butler, Lives of the Saints; Hauck, Kirchengesch. Deutschlands, II, 344 and passim.
Francis Mershman.
Gregory of Valencia, professor of the University of Ingolstadt, b. at Medina, Spain, March, 1550 (1540, 1551?); d. at Naple-s, 25 April, 1603. The " Annales Ingolstadiensis Academiie" formally announce in 1598: "During the current year the faculty of theol- ogy lost a celebrated man and a veteran teacher, Gregory of Valencia, who left Ingolstadt 14 Feb.; the General of the Society of Jesus had summoned him to Rome to take part in the discussions concerning grace which were to be hekl in presence of the pope. When Duke Maximilian heard of this he requested Gregory to travel to Italy by way of Munich, where he supplied him with horses, servants, and money for the journey, thus showing his high regartl for the man who, during twenty-four years, had rendered such important ser- vices to the university, to Bavaria, and to the Catholic cause in general." In its tribute to him the theo- logical faculty has this statement: " Gregory of Valen- cia, S. J., a native of Medina, Spain, and doctor of theology, was sent by his superiors to Rome in 1598. He was a peer among the learnetl theologians of his time; Paris was eager to secure him as was also Ste- phen, King of Poland; he was an ornament to our university in which he spent twenty-four years; for sixteen years as professor of theology he gave general satisfaction and contributed to the progress of science. In the controversies of the day, he took a prominent part, combating error, and always with success, by means of his polemical writings. His work in four volumes, covering the whole field of scholastic theol- ogy, won him permanent renown. He taught theology at Rome for a numlier of years and held the position of prefect of studies in the Roman College until, broken in health through incessant work, he died at Naples, at the age of fifty-four years. Pope Clement VIII honoured him with the" significant title of Doctor doctorum."
If this estimate of his age (54) be correct — and it coincides with the necrology of the Neapolitan prov- ince of the Society of Jesus — it would follow, since March is given as the month of his liirth, that he was born in March, 15.50. Southwell in his "Bihlioth. scriptorum S. J." says he was born in 1551, but he also states in two different places, " mortuus, anno
