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Name:
Pope Gregory I (the Great)
Preceded by: Pelagius II (579 - 590)
Succeeded by: Sabinian (604 - 606)
Roman Catholic Pope #64
Dates:
Born: 540
Died: March 12, 604
Pope: September 3, 590 - March 12, 604 (13 years, 6 months)
Biography:
Pope Gregory I (590 - 604) was the right man in the right place at the right time. Previously a government official who had sold all of his property in order to become a Benedictine monk, he was elected pope after the death of Pelagius II. Pelagious had gone to great effort to deal with problems like plague, hunger, floods, and advancing Lombard armies.
Already an able administrator, Gregory went right to work - one of his most important achievements was to break the power of the Lombards and thereby putting much of Italy under direct papal rule. The lands now controlled by the church became known as the Patrimony of Saint Peter. With these lands providing revenue and power, the office of the pope became the most powerful position in Italy - and one of the most powerful in Europe.
Religiously, Gregory increased his control over other bishops - although he did not specifically promote papal primacy, he did promote administrative rules which had the same effect. A particular aspect of this was his expansion of the power of religious orders. Gregory gave them some independence from local church officials, making them answerable almost entirely to the pope personally. He was also a strong advocate for the doctrine of celibacy for priests - something which was not commonly accepted at the time, but his efforts helped spread it more widely and gave it the imprimatur of being authoritative.
The later popularity of religious relics owes a lot to Gregory's efforts because he really believed that they were effective for healing of conferring spiritual powers. He was also uncritical when it came to various legends and stories about religious figures. Anything which promoted the Christian faith was fine with him, no matter how improbably or absurd it might sound.
Other accomplishments of his included important aspects of the liturgy - for example, he is thought responsible for arranging the "Gregorian" chants which became central pieces of music in religious services. Gregory also advocated allegorical readings of scriptures and, therefore, that theologians should refrain from focusing simply on literal, obvious interpretations. He also promoted the idea that both kings and popes could only legitimately rule so long as they conformed to the standards of behavior which the Christian faith required of them. This would later be used by many other popes to force European rulers to abhere to papal decrees.
Also Known As: none
Alternate Spellings: none
Common Misspellings: none
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