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 für ältere 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 Grégoire le Grand; W. Wisbaum, Die wichtigsten Richtungen und Ziele der Tätigkeit 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, Répertoire des sources historiques du moyen âge, 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.
Gregory IV., pope from 827 to 844, was chosen to succeed Valentinus in December 827, on which occasion he recognized the supremacy of the Frankish emperor in the most unequivocal manner. His name is chiefly associated with the quarrels between Lothair and Louis the Pious, in which he espoused the cause of the former, for whom, in the Campus Mendacii (Lügenfeld, field of lies), as it is usually called (833), he secured by his treachery a temporary advantage. The institution of the feast of All Saints is usually attributed to this pope. He died on the 25th of January 844, and was succeeded by Sergius II.
Gregory V. (Bruno), pope from 996 to 999, a great-grandson of the emperor Otto the Great, succeeded John XV. when only twenty-four years of age, and until the council of Pavia (997) had a rival in the person of the anti-pope John XVI., whom the people of Rome, in revolt against the will of the youthful emperor Otto III., had chosen after having expelled Gregory. The most memorable acts of his pontificate were those arising out of the contumacy of the French king, Robert, who was ultimately brought to submission by the rigorous infliction of a sentence
