Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/42

 GREGORY

20

GREGORY

importance. His complete works deal with many subjects, and are liy himself summarized as follows: " Decern libros historiarum, septem miraculorum, unum de vita patrum scripsi; in psalterii tractatu librum unum coramentatus sum; de cursibus etiam ecclesiasticisunum Iibruracondidi",i. e. I have written ten books of "historia", seven of "miracles" one on the lives of the Fathers, a commentary in one book on the psalter, and one book on ecclesiastical liturgy. The " Liber de miraculis b. Andrea? apostoli" and the "Passio ss. martyrum septem dormientium apud Ephesum" are not mentioned by him, but are un- doul>tedly from his hand. His hagiographical writ- ings must naturally be read in keeping with the spirit and tastes of his own times. An edict of King Gun- tram, taken from the "Historia Francorum", illu-s- trates both quite aptly: "We believe that the Lord, who rules all things by His might, will be appeased by our endeavours to uphold justice and right among all people. Being our Father and our King, ever ready to succour human weakness by His grace, Ciod will grant our neetls all the more generously when He sees us faithful in the observance of His precepts and com- mandments". The mental attitude of the king dif- fered little, of course, from that of his people. Nearly all were deeply persuaded that all events were divinely foreseen; but sometimes even to a superstitious ex- treme. Thus, despite the contemporary .social de- gradation and crimes, the people were ever on the alert for supernatural manifestations, or for what they believed to be such. In this way aro.se a religious devotion, real and active, indeed, but also impulsive and not properly controlled by reason. Providence seemed to intervene so directly in every minute de- tail that men blindly thanked God for an enemy's death just as they would for some wonderful grace that had been granted them. The supernatural ■world was always quite near to the men of that age; God and His saints seemed ever to deal intimately and immediately with the affairs of men. The tombs and relics of the saints became the centres of their miracu- lous activity. In the contemporary hagiographical narratives those who refuse to believe in the miracles are the exception, and are generally repre.sented as coming to an evil end unless they repent of their in- credulity. Occasionally one notes a reaction against this excessive credulity; here and there an individual ventures to assert that certain miracles are fictive, and sometimes impostures. Sensible men endeavour to calm the too ardent credulity of many. Gregory tells us of an abbot who severely punished a young monk who believed he had wrought a miracle: "My son", said the abbot, "endeavour in all humility to grow in the fear of the Lord, instead of meddling with mira- cles."

Gregory himself, though he relates a great many miracles, seems occasionally to have doubted some of them. He knew that imscrupulous men were wont to abuse the credulity of the faithful, and many agreed with him. Not even,'one was willing to consider a dream as a supernatural manifestation. ThLs dis- trust, however, affected only particular cases; as a rule belief in the multiplicity of miracles was general. The first work of Gregory was an account in four books of the miracles of St. Martin, the famous thaumatur- gus of Gaul. The first book was written in 575, the second after 5S1, the third was completed ibout 587; the fourth was never completed. .4.fter finishingthe first two books he began an account of the miracles of an Auvergne saint then famous, " De passione et vir- tutibus sancti Juliani martyris". Julian had died in the neighbourhood of Clermont-Ferrand and his tomb at Brioude was a well known place of pilgrimage. In 587, Gregory began his "Liber in gloria martyrum", or "Book of the Glories of the Martyrs". It deals almost exclusively with the miracles wrought in Gaul by the martjTs of the Roman persecutions. Quite

similar is the "Liber in gloria confessorum" a vivid picture of contemporary or quasi-contemporary cus- toms and manners. The "Liber vitie Patrum", the most important and interesting of Gregory's hagio- graphical works, gives us much curious information concerning the upper classes of the period.

Gregory's fame as a historian rests on his " Historia Francorum", in ten books, intended, as the author as- sures us in the preface, to hand down to posterity a knowledge of his owti times. Book I contains a sum- mary of the history of the world from Adam to the conquest of Gaul by the Franks, and thence to the death of St. Martin (.■597). Book II treats of Clovis, founder of the FrankLsh empire. Book III comes down to the reign of Theodebert (548). Book IV ends with Sigebert (575), and contains the story of many events within the personal knowledge of the historian. Ac- cording to Arndt these four books were written in 575. Books V and VI treat of events that took place be- tween 575 and 584, and were written in 585. The remaining four books cover the years between 584 and 591, and were written at intervals that cannot be ex- actly determined. Gregory relates, indeed, as stated above, the story of his age, but in the narrative he himself always plays a prominent part. The art of exposition, of tracing effects to their causes, of discov- ering the motives which influenced the characters he described, was unknown to Gregory. He tells a plain unvarnished tale of what he saw and heard. Apart from what concerns himself, he always tries to state the truth impartially, and in places even attempts some sort of criticism. This work is unique in its kind. Without it the historical origin of the Prankish monarchy would be to no small extent unknown to us. Did Gregor\', howe\'er, correctly appreciate the spirit and tendencies of his ag;e? It is open to question. His mind was always busied with extraordinary events: crimes, miracles, wars, excesses of every kind ; for him ordinary events were too commonplace for notice. Nevertheless, to grasp clearly the religious or secular history of a people, it is more important to know the daily popular life than to learn of the mighty deeds of the reigning house. The morality of the people is often superior to that of its governing clas.ses. In Gregory's day, great moral aiul religious forces, be- loved by the people, mu.st have been leavening the country, counterbalancing the brute force and immor- ality of the Frankish kings, and saving the strong new race from wasting away in civil strife. From Greg- ory's account, however, one could scarcely conclude that the people were altogether satisfied with their religion. What Gregory failed to note in a discrimi- nating way, perhaps because it diil not enter into the scope of the work, a contemporary, the Greek Aga- thiiis, has observed and put on record.

III. Gkegorv .\.s a Theologi.\n. — The theological ideas of Gregon,' appear not only in the introductions to his various works, and especially to his "Historia Francorum", but also incidental!)- throughout his writings. His theological education was not very pro- found; and he wrote l)iit one work inuuediately theo- logical in character, his commentary on the psalms. The book entitled " De cursu stellarum ratio" (on the courses of the stars) was written for a practical purpose tosettle the time, acconlingto the position of the stars, when the night office should be sung. The "Historia Francorum" makes known, in its opening pages, Greg- ory's theological views. The teaching of Nica^a was his guide; the doctrine of the Church was beyond all dis- cussion. God the Father could never have been with- out wi.sdom, light, life, truth, justice; the Son is all these; the Father therefore was never without the Son. In Jesus Christ Gregory saw the Lord of Eternal Glory and the Judge of mankind. He sometimes speaks of the death and the lilood of Clirist as the means of redemption, though it is not dear that he grasped the inner meaning of this doctrine. He saw