Gregory I

Gregory I (c. 540 – 604), also known variously as Pope Gregory I, Gregory the Great, or St Gregory I, was a Christian monk, born in Rome, son of a senator. He was made prætor of Rome. However, he relinquished the office and became a monk. He was the 64th Bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He devoted himself to the regulation of church worship (instituting, among other things, the liturgy of the Mass), to the reformation of the monks and clergy, and to the propagation of the faith. As the story goes, he saw some fair-haired British youths in the slave-market at Rome one day. On being told they were Angles, he said they should be Angels, and resolved from that day on the conversion of the nation they belonged to, and sent over seas for that purpose a body of monks under Augustin.

Nearby pages
Gregory II, Gregory III, Gregory IX, Gregory VII, Gregory XIII