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Gregory the Great (Pope Gregory I)

Type Figure Region Rome Time 540–604 Also known as Pope St Gregory I、Great Pope Gregory

Pope from 590 to 604, born 540 in Rome; he reformed church administration, promoted Gregorian chant and the mission to England, and wrote a Life of B…

Timeline

  1. 540–574Rome · LazioGregory came from a senatorial-class Roman family and received a good legal and administrative education. He served as prefect of Rome (Praefectus Urbi) around 572–574, the peak of his administrative career; his father Gordianus was a wealthy landowner and the family had deep ties to the Church.
  2. 574–579Rome · LazioAfter his father's death Gregory converted the family estate on the Caelian Hill into the Monastery of Sant'Andrea and used his remaining Sicilian property to found six monasteries, entering one himself to live a strict Benedictine-style monastic life.
  3. 579–586Constantinople · ThracePope Pelagius II sent Gregory to Constantinople as permanent apocrisiarius, representing the Roman Church at the Byzantine court and seeking military aid against the Lombard invasion of Italy; there he studied theology deeply and began his commentary on Job (the first draft of the Moralia).
  4. 586–590Rome · LazioBack in Rome Gregory became abbot of Sant'Andrea, continuing theological writing and assisting the pope with church affairs. A plague ravaged Rome in 590, killing Pelagius II, and Gregory was promptly elected pope.
  5. 590–604Rome · LazioGregory reigned 14 years, vigorously reforming church finances and discipline, sending Augustine's monks to England to missionize (597), systematizing liturgical music (later called 'Gregorian chant'), and writing major works including the Pastoral Rule, Moralia and Dialogues—the second book of the Dialogues being a Life of Benedict. His elevation of papal authority laid the foundation for the medieval papacy.

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