GREGORIO DI TOURS, SANTO

GREGORY OF TOURS, Saint

### I. Life

Born at Clermont (France) c. 538, died at Tours on 17 November 594. He belonged to one of the most noble families of Gaul, of senatorial rank on his father’s side and comital on his mother’s. His parents were Florentinus and Armentaria. His father died while he was still a young child, and his upbringing was completed by his mother and his uncle Gallus. His original name was Georgius Florentius, which was later changed to Gregory, perhaps when he was raised to the episcopate. He was related to many bishops of Gaul. He recalls that at the age of eight he visited his great-uncle St. Nicetius, bishop of Lyon, with whom he later served as deacon, having been ordained in 563. An illness brought him to the tomb of St. Martin at Tours, where he obtained healing and remained for some time with Bishop Eufronius, a cousin of his mother. Upon the latter’s death, the clergy and people of Tours elected and requested him as bishop while he was at Reims, where he was also consecrated in 573.

He governed his church during a turbulent period and was held in high esteem by the various kings (Sigebert, Chilperic, Guntram, Childebert), who contended for the metropolitan see; from them he often obtained benefits for his city, such as the deposition of the wicked Count Leudast in 580, the pardon of the Count of Bordeaux, implicated in a conspiracy against the king, in 585, and the remission of taxes in 589. Though of somewhat frail constitution, he is often found traveling on behalf of his diocese: to Poitiers, Nantes, Bordeaux, Lyon, Chalon, Autun, Reims, Soissons, Metz, Coblenz, Orléans, Paris, etc. A journey to Rome attested by his 7th-century biographer is unlikely. He was often in contact with Bishop Fortunatus of Poitiers, who dedicated several poetic compositions to him. He also took care of sacred buildings, restoring the order of paintings in the basilica of St. Martin, enlarging the oratory of St. Stephen, and building a church to St. Gabriel at Aron.

After his death he was buried in the basilica of St. Martin, where in the 7th century St. Ouen erected a mausoleum destroyed in the 9th century and rebuilt in the 11th.

The cult of St. Gregory spread quickly, making him one of the most popular saints of France, alongside his predecessor St. Martin. His feast is celebrated on 17 November.

### II. Works

Gregory’s literary formation was that which at his time was given to persons of high rank. He began his studies at the age of eight. He knew the classical authors, among whom he particularly admired Virgil, whose influence is often discernible in his writings. St. Avitus, bishop of the Arverni, introduced him to ecclesiastical studies.

He had a great passion for writing and left various works, which he himself summarized thus: “I have written ten books of Histories, seven of Miracles, one on the Lives of the Fathers; I have composed one treatise on the Psalter; I have also written a book on ecclesiastical offices.” Among his hagiographical works, particularly noteworthy is the *De vitis Patrum* (23 saints of the 4th, 5th, and 6th centuries), a precious source for his *Historia Francorum*, and the four books of the *Miracula sancti Martini*.

The principal work to which his name is attached is the *Historia Francorum*, whose importance is paramount, being the only literary source for the early history of the Franks, without which almost nothing would be known of the antiquities of that people. Divided into sixteen books, the first offers a rapid overview of universal history in order to frame the history of the Franks. The second begins with the conversion of Clovis and carries the narrative, with books II, III, and IV, down to the time of Sigebert (575). The subsequent books, from V to X, are almost a commentary of personal memories, recounting events of which he himself was in part a witness. He interweaves ecclesiastical history with civil history; he intersperses anecdotes, scenes of domestic life, accounts of buildings, important personages, works of art, elements of folklore, etc., which give to the entire work, despite the roughness of style, grammatical errors, the corrupted orthography of the time, and the limited critical sense of the era, a personal tone and a vivid, picturesque coloring.

Editions of Gregory’s works, particularly of the *Historia Francorum*, are numerous, from the first in 1522 to the present day. The principal ones are those of T. Ruinart, *Sancti Georgii Florentii Gregorii episcopi Turonensis opera omnia...*, Paris 1679, reprinted in *PL* 71. The most notable critical edition is in *MGH, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum*, I, *Gregorii Turonensis opera*, ed. W. Arndt and Br. Krusch.

**

Alberto Ghinato