Gregory the Great

Life and work

Gregory came from a wealthy senatorial Roman family and served as Prefect of Rome before renouncing secular life to convert his family estate into a monastery and become a monk himself, a step he later described as one of the happiest of his life.

Drawn back into public service, Gregory served as a papal representative (apocrisiarius) to Constantinople before being elected pope in 590, reluctantly by his own account, amid plague and Lombard invasions threatening Italy.

As pope, Gregory reorganized the administration of the extensive papal estates to fund charity for Rome's poor, negotiated directly with Lombard invaders when imperial authority proved absent, and asserted papal authority in ways that strengthened the office for centuries to come.

In 596, Gregory sent a mission of monks led by Augustine of Canterbury to evangelize the pagan Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England, a decision often traced to Gregory's famous encounter with fair-haired Anglian slaves in the Roman forum ("non Angli, sed angeli" — "not Angles, but angels").

Gregory also wrote extensively on pastoral care (his Pastoral Rule became a standard manual for bishops throughout the Middle Ages) and is traditionally, though disputedly, associated with the codification of Gregorian chant.

In their own words

"Non Angli, sed angeli" — "Not Angles, but angels."attributed, on seeing Anglian slaves

Further reading

• Encyclopedia Britannica: Saint Gregory I
• New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia: Pope St. Gregory I