Gregory I, known as Gregory the Great c.540-604
Pope (from 590) and saint, a Doctor of the Church

Gregory was born in Rome and though appointed by Justin II as praetor of Rome, he relinquished this office, distributed his wealth among the poor and withdrew into a monastery at Rome. It was while he was here that he is said to have seen some Anglo-Saxon youths in the slave-market, and to have been seized with a longing to convert their country to Christianity. He embarked on this but was called back, and Pelagius II sent Gregory as nuncio to Constantinople for aid against the Lombards.

Gregory reluctantly agreed to become pope on the death of Pelagius. He proved to be a great administrator, and during his period of office the Roman Church underwent a complete overhaul of its public services and ritual and the systematization of its sacred chants, from which arose the Gregorian chant. He entrusted the mission to convert the English to Augustine, and the Gothic kingdom of Spain, long Arian, was reconciled with Rome.

Gregory was tolerant towards heathens and Jews, and he used all his efforts to repress slave-dealing and to mitigate slavery. He is buried in St Peter's basilica, Rome, and his feast day is 12 March.

Bibliography: In his writings the whole dogmatical system of the modern church is fully developed. He left homilies on Ezekiel, Job and on the Gospels, the Regulae Pastoralis liber ('Book of Rules for Pastors'), and the Sacramentarium and Antiphonarium. See also Carole Straw, Gregory the Great (1988); F H Dudden, Gregory the Great: His Place in History and Thought (2 vols, 1905).