GREGORY OF TOURS, Saint. - I. LIFE. - Born at Clermont (France) ca. 538, died at Tours on 17 Nov. 594. Belonging to one of the noblest families of Gaul, of senatorial stock on his father's side and comital on his mother's, his parents were Florentius and Armentaria. His father died while he was still of tender age, and his education was completed by his mother and his uncle Gallus. Georgius Florentius was his original name, changed to G. later, perhaps when he was raised to the episcopate. He was related to many bishops of Gaul. He recalls, at the age of eight, a visit to his great-uncle St. Nicetius, bishop of Lyon, under whom he later exercised the office of deacon, received in 563. An illness led him to the tomb of St. Martin at Tours, where he obtained healing and stayed for some time with the bishop Euphronius, a cousin of his mother. On the latter's death, the clergy and people of Tours elected him and requested him as bishop, while he was at Reims, where he was also consecrated in 573.
He governed his church in a turbulent period and was always held in great esteem by the various kings (Sigebert, Chilperic, Guntram, Childebert), who disputed the metropolis; from them he often obtained benefits for his city, such as the deposition of the wicked count Leudast in 580, the pardon for the count of Bordeaux, an accomplice in a conspiracy against the King, in 585, and exemption from taxes in 589. Although of somewhat infirm constitution, he is often found traveling on behalf of his diocese: to Poitiers, Nantes, Bordeaux, Lyon, Châlon, Autun, Reims, Soissons, Metz,
Coblenz, Orléans, Paris, etc. A journey to Rome attested by his 7th-century biographer is not probable. He was often in contact with the bishop Fortunatus of Poitiers, who dedicated more than one poetic composition to him. He also concerned himself with the maintenance of sacred buildings, restoring and adorning with paintings the basilica of St. Martin, enlarging the oratory of St. Stephen, and building at Artone a church to St. Gabriel.
After his death he was buried in the basilica of St. Martin, where, in the 7th century, St. Ouen erected a mausoleum for him, destroyed in the 9th century and rebuilt in the 11th.
The cult of St. G. spread very soon, making him one of the most popular saints of France, together with his predecessor St. Martin. Feast day 17 Nov.
II. WORKS
G.'s literary formation was that which in his time was given to persons of high rank. He began to study at the age of 8. He became acquainted with the classical authors, among whom he particularly loved Virgil, whose influence is often found in his writings. St. Avitus, bishop of the Arverni, initiated him into ecclesiastical studies.
He had a great passion for writing, and left various works, which he listed, summarizing them thus: « Decem libros historiarum, septem miraculorum, unum de vitis Patrum scripsi, in Psalterii tractatum librum unum commentatus sum; de cursibus etiam ecclesiasticis librum scripsi ». Among the hagiographic books particularly notable are the De vitis Patrum (23 saints of the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries), one of the principal sources of his Historia Francorum, and the 4 books of the Miracula s. Martini.
The principal work to which his name is linked is the Historia Francorum, whose importance is capital, being the only literary source of the ancient history of the Franks, without which almost nothing would be known of the antiquities of that people. Divided into 16 books, the first gives a rapid survey of universal history in order to set within it the history of the Franks. The second begins with the conversion of Clovis and carries the history, together with books II, III and IV, down to the times of Sigebert (575). The succeeding books, from the fifth to the tenth, are almost a commentary of personal memoirs, events of which he himself was in part a spectator. He interweaves ecclesiastical history with civil history; he weaves into it anecdotes, scenes of domestic life, accounts of works, of important personages, of works of art, elements of folklore, etc., which give to the whole work, despite the roughness of the style, the grammatical errors, the corrupt orthography of the time and the limited critical sense of the age, a personal tone and a picturesque vividness of coloring.
The editions of G.'s works, particularly of the Historia Francorum, are numerous, from the first of 1512 down to the present day. The principal ones are those of T. Ruinart, Sancti Georgii Florentii Gregorii episcopi Turonensis opera omnia..., Paris 1679, reproduced in PL 71. The most notable critical edition is in MGH, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum, I, Gregorii Turonensis opera, ed. W. Arndt and Br. Krusch.
Bibliography8 works
Alberto Ghinato