GREGORY THE GREAT
...
But Gregory was resolute. He says, in a letter to the Patriarch on this
occasion: "I confidently say, that whoever calls himself universal priest,
or desires in his elation to be called so, is the forerunner of Antichrist"…
INTRODUCTORY BOOK
By Rev. J. Barmby
SEPARATION BETWEEN MONKS AND CLERGY
BOOK I
GREGORY'S LIFE BEFORE HIS PONTIFICATE
By F.Homes Dudden
CHAPTER II
THE WORLD OF GREGORY'S
CHILDHOOD
(a)
Justinian and Theodora. The Rulers of the Roman World.
(b) The Condition of Italy and the Second Gothic War.
(c) Rome in the Sixth Century.
(d) The Papacy in the Sixth Century.
(a) THE QUESTION OF THE THREE CHAPTERS
(b)THE PESTILENCE OF THE YEAR 589 AD
BOOK II
GREGORY'S PONTIFICATE
By F.Homes Dudden
GREGORY'S VIEW OF THE EPISCOPATE
(b)THE QUESTION OF GREGORY'S REFORM OF THE LITURGY
(e) ART AND LITERATURE IN GREGORY'S AGE
CHAPTER III
THE PATRIMONY OF ST. PETER AND THE DIALOGUES
CHAPTER IV
GREGORY PATRIARCH OF THE WEST.
(a) His relations with the churches of the suburbicarian provinces and the islands
CHAPTER V
GREGORY PATRIARCH OF THE WEST.
HIS RELATIONS WITH OTHER WESTERN CHURCHES
(g)
The other Churches of Illyricum.
THOUGH painfully conscious of the
many imperfections of the study of Pope Gregory and his times which I now offer
to the public, I cannot but feel that the attempt itself to give some detailed
account of the most remarkable man of a remarkable age needs no apology.
Gregory the Great is certainly one of the most notable figures in
ecclesiastical history. He has exercised in many respects a momentous influence
on the doctrine, the organization, and the discipline of the Catholic Church.
To him we must look for an explanation of the religious situation of the Middle
Ages: indeed, if no account were taken of his work, the evolution of the form
of mediaeval Christianity would be almost inexplicable. And further, in so far
as the modern Catholic system is a legitimate development of mediaeval
Catholicism, of this too Gregory may not unreasonably be termed the Father. In
recent times an attempt has been made to distinguish the Christianity of the
first six centuries from that of the Schoolmen and the later divines. But to anyone
who will take the trouble to examine the writings of the last great Doctor of
the sixth century, the futility of this arbitrary distinction will soon become
apparent. Almost all the leading principles of the later Catholicism are found,
at any rate in germ, in Gregory the Great.
Nor, again, can those who are
interested only in purely secular history afford to overlook the work of one of
the greatest of the early Popes, whose influence was felt alike by the
Byzantine Emperors, by the Lombard princes, by the kings in Britain, Gaul, and
Spain. Gregory was by far the most important personage of his time. He stood in
the very centre of his world, and overshadowed it. He took an interest and
claimed a share in all its chief transactions; he was in relation, more or less
intimate, with all its leading characters. If the history of the latter part of
the sixth century is to be studied intelligently, it must be studied in close
connection with the life and labours of that illustrious Pontiff, who for many
years was the foremost personage in Europe, and did more, perhaps, than any
other single man to shape the course of European development.
Finally, to Gregory the students of
English history are more especially bound to devote their attention, since it
is he who was the means of introducing Christianity among the English, and of
renewing the broken communications between Britain and the Roman world. How
far-reaching have been the effects of his action it is unnecessary to point
out. I will only remark that, in respect of the history of the doctrine of the
English Church, Gregory's theology is of particular interest. For the system of
dogma which was introduced into our island by Augustine was the system
elaborated by Augustine's revered master.
In view of these considerations, it
is certainly astonishing that a satisfactory English biography of the saint has
not long ago appeared. That none has been given us is perhaps due to the fact
that recent English theologians and ecclesiastical historians have concerned
themselves mainly with the period of the Great Councils and with the period of
the Reformation, and have passed over the intervening centuries from A.D. 500
onwards as less interesting and less worthy of their notice. But whatever the
explanation may be, it is certain that hitherto the life and times of Gregory
have not adequately been dealt with in the English language. Foreign writers,
particularly in Germany, have shown a more just appreciation of the historical
significance of the great Pope, and a few valuable monographs on the subject
have been published, the most important of which I shall enumerate below. But
some of these works are out of print, and otherwise inaccessible, and not one
of them, so far as I know, has been translated for the benefit of English
readers.
Under the circumstances, therefore, I conceive that there is room for a detailed study of the life and times of Gregory. The first two books of my biography deal with the history of the saint, and here I have treated my material in the fullest way, endeavouring to pass over nothing that is really pertinent, and supporting my assertions with ample references to the original authorities. I have further aimed at giving some account of the political, social, and religious characteristics of the age, in the hope that my work may prove of some slight service to those who are interested in historical research. The third book of the biography is concerned exclusively with Gregory's theology, and I think that I may claim that it is the first attempt that has been made in English to set forth systematically the dogmatic utterances of the last of the Latin Doctors.
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