Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 6.djvu/870

 GREGORY

784

GREGORY

one tittle; on the contrarj', he did ever}'thing in his power to maintain, strengthen, and extend what he regarded as the just prerogatives of the papacy. It is true that he respected the privileges of the Western metropolitans, and disapproved of unnecessary inter- ference within the sphere of their jurisdiction canon- ically exercised. . . . But of his general principle there can be no doubt whatever" (Dudden, I, 475). In view of later developments Gregory's dealings with the Oriental Churches, and with Constantinople in particular, have a special importance. There cannot be the smallest doubt that Gregory claimed for the Apostolic See, and for himself as pope, a primacy not of honour, but of supreme authority over the Church Universal. In Epp., XIII. 1, he speaks of '' the Apostolic See, which is the head of all Churches", and in Epp., V, xliv, he says: "I, albeit unworthy, have been set up in command of the Church. " As successor of St. Peter, the pope had received from God a primacy over all Churches (Epp., II, xlvi; III, xxx; V, xxxvii; VII, xxxvii). His approval it was which gave force to the decrees of councils or synods (Epp., IX, clvi), and his authority could annul them (Epp., V, xxxLx, xli, xliv). To him appeals might be made even against other patriarchs, and by him bishops were judged and corrected if need were (Epp., II, 1; III, Hi, Ixiii; IX, xxvi, xxvii). This position naturally made it impossible for him to permit the use of the title (Ecumenical Bishop assumed by the Patriarch of Con- stantinople, John the Faster, at a sjTiod held in 588. Gregory protested, and a long controversy followed, the question being still at issue when the pope died. A discussion of this controversy is needless here, but it is important as showing how completely Gregory regarded the Eastern patriarchs as being subject to himself; "As regards the Church of Constantinople," he writes in Epp., IX, xxvi, "who can doubt that it is subject to the Apostolic See? Why, both our most rehgious lord the emperor, and our brother the Bishop of Constantinople continually acknowledge it." At the same time the pope was most careful not to inter- fere with the canonical rights of the other patriarchs and bishops. With the other Oriental patriarchs his relations were most cordial, as appears from his letters to the patriarchs of Antioch and Alexandria.

(4) Relations with the Lomlmrds and the Franks. — Gregory's consecration as pope preceded by a few days only the death of Authari, King of the Lombards, whose queen, the famous Tlieodelinde, then married Agilulf, Duke of Turin, a warlike and energetic prince. With Agilulf and the Dukes Ariulf of Spoleto and Arichis of Benevento, Gregory soon had to deal, as, when difficulties arose, Romanus, the e.xarch, or representative, of the emperor, preferred to remain in sulky inactivity at Ravenna. It soon became clear that, if any successful resistance was to be made against the Lombards, it must be by the pope's own exertions. How keenly he felt the difficulty and danger of his position appears in some of the earliest letters (Epp., I, iii, viii, xxx); but no actual hostilities began till the summer of 592, when the pope received a threatening letter from Ariulf of Spoleto, which was followed almost immediately by the appearance of that chief before the walls of Rome. At the same time Arichis of Benevento advanced on Naples, which happened at the moment to have no bishop nor any officer of high rank in command of the garrison. Gregory at once took the surprising step of appointing a tribune on his own authority to take command of the city (Epp., II, xxxiv), and, when no notice of this strong action was taken by t he imperial authorities, the pope conceived the idea of himself arranging a separate peace with the Lombards (Epp., II, xlv). No details of this peace have come down to us, but it seems certain that it was actually concluded (Epp., V, xxxvi). Dr. Ilodgkin (Italy and lier Invaders, v, 366) pronounces Gregory's action herein to have been wise and states-

manlike, but, at the same time, undoubtedly ultra Hres, being quite beyond any legal competency then possessed by the pope, who thus "made a memorable stride towards complete independence". Gregory's independent action had the effect of rousing up Ro- manus the exarch. Wholly ignoring the papal peace, he gathered all his troops, attacked and regained Perugia, and then marched to Rome, where he was received with imperial honours. The next spring, however, he quitted the city and took away its garri- son with him, so that both pope and citizens were now more exasperated against him than Ijefore. More- over, the exarch's campaign had roused the Northern Lombards, and King Agilulf marched on Rome, ar- riving there probably some time in Jime, 593. The terror aroused by his advance is still mirrored for us in Gregory's homilies on the Prophet Ezechiel, which were delivered at this time. The siege of the city was soon abandoned, however, and Agilulf retired. The con- tinuator of Prosper (Mon. Germ. SS. Antiq., IX, 339) relates that Agilulf met the pope in person on the steps of the Basilica of St. Peter, which was then outside the city walls, and "being melted by Gregory's prayers and greatly moved by the wisdom and religious grav- ity of this great man, he broke up the siege of the city"; but, in view of the silence both of Gregory himself and of Paul the Deacon on the point, the story .seems scarcely probable. In Epp., V. xxxix, Gregory refers to himself as " the paymaster of the Lombards", and most likely a large payment from the papal treas- ury was the chief inducement to raise the siege. The pope's great desire now was to secure a lasting peace with the Lombards, which could onl)- be achieved by a proper arrangement between the imperial authorities and the Lombard chiefs. On Queen Theodelinde, a Catholic and a personal friend, Gregory placed all his hopes. The exarch, however, looked at the whole affair in another light, and, when a whole j-ear was passed in fruitless negotiations, Gregory began once again to meditate a private treaty. Accordingly, in May, 595, the pope wrote to a friend at Ravenna a letter (Epp., V, xxxiv) threatening to make peace with Agilulf even without the consent of the Exarch Ro- manus. This threat was speedily reported to Con- stantinople, where the exarch was in high favour, and the Emperor Maurice at once sent off to Gregory a violent letter, now lost, accusing him of being both a traitor and a fool. This letter Gregory received in June, 595. Luckily the pope's answer has been pre- served to us (Epp., V, xxxvi). It must be read in its entirety to be appreciated fully; probably very few emperors, if any, have ever received such a letter from a subject. Still, in spite of his scathing reply, Gregory seems to have realized that independent action could not secure what he wished, and we hear no more about a separate peace. Gregory's relations with the Exarch Romanus became continually more and more strained until the latter's death in the year 596 or early in 597. The new exarch, Callinicus, was a man of far greater ability and well disposed towards the pope, whose hopes now revived. The official peace negotiations were pushed on, and, in spite of delays, the articles were at length signed in 599, to Gregory's great joy. This peace lasted two years, but in 601 the war broke out again through an aggressive act on the part of Callinicus, who was recalled two years later, when his successor, Smaragdus, again made a peace with the Lombards which endured until after Gregory's death. Two points stand out for special notice in "Gregory's dealings with the Lombards: first, his determination that, in spite of the apathy of the imperial authorities, Rome should not pass into the hamls of some half- civilized Lombard duke ami so sink into insignificance and decay; second, his independent action in appoint- ing governors to cities, providing munitions of war, giving instructions to generals, sending ambassadors to the Lombard king, and even negotiating a peace