GREGORIO of TOURS, saint. —
I. LIFE
Born at Clermont (France) around 538, died at Tours on 17 November 594. He belonged to one of the noblest families of Gaul, senatorial on his father’s side and comital on his mother’s; his parents were Fiorenzo and Armentaria. His father died while he was still very young, and his education was completed by his mother and his uncle Gallus. Giorgio Fiorentino was his original name, later changed to G., perhaps when he was elevated 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. Nicezio, bishop of Lyons, under whom he later served as a deacon, having received ordination in 563. An illness led him to the tomb of St. Martin at Tours, where he was healed; he then remained for some time with the bishop Eufronio, his mother’s cousin. At his death, the clergy and people of Tours elected him and requested him as their bishop, while he was at Reims, where he was also consecrated in 573.He governed his church during a turbulent period and was always held in high esteem by the various kings (Sigeberto, Childerico, Gontrano, Childeberto), who disputed control of the metropolitan see; he often obtained benefits from them for his city, such as the deposition of the dreadful count Leudasto in 580, the pardon of the count of Bordeaux, an accomplice in a conspiracy against the king, in 585, and exemption from taxes in 589. Although of somewhat frail constitution, he was often on the road on diocesan business: in Poitiers, Nantes, Bordeaux, Lyons, Châlon, Autun, Reims, Soissons, Metz,
Coblenza, Orléans, Paris, etc. A journey to Rome, attested by his seventh-century biographer, is improbable. He was often in contact with the bishop Fortunato 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 a church dedicated to St. Gabriel at Artone.
After his death he was buried in the basilica of St. Martin, where, in the seventh century, St. Ouen erected a mausoleum for him, destroyed in the ninth century and rebuilt in the eleventh.
The cult of St. G. soon spread, making him one of the most popular saints of France, together with his predecessor St. Martin. Feast day: 17 November.
II. WORKS
G.’s literary education was that which in his time was given to persons of high rank. He began to study at the age of eight. He knew the classical authors, among whom he particularly loved Virgil, whose influence is frequently discernible in his writings. S. 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 as follows: « Decem libros historiarum, septem miraculorum, unum de vitis Patrum scripsi, in Psalterii tractatum librum unum commentatus sum; de cursibus etiam ecclesiasticis librum scripsi ». Among his hagiographical books, particularly noteworthy is the De vitis Patrum (23 saints of the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries), one of the principal sources for his Historia Francorum, as well as the four books of the Miracula s. Martini.
The principal work to which his name is attached is the Historia Francorum, whose importance is fundamental, since it is the only literary source for the ancient history of the Franks, without which almost nothing would be known of the antiquities of that people. Divided into 16 books, it begins with a rapid survey of universal history, in order to set the history of the Franks within its context. The second begins with the conversion of Clovis and, together with Books III and IV, carries the history down to the time of Sigibert (575). The subsequent books, from V to X, are almost a commentary on personal memories and events of which he himself was partly an eyewitness. He interweaves ecclesiastical history with civil history; he incorporates anecdotes, scenes of domestic life, accounts of works, important figures, works of art, elements of folklore, and so forth, which give the entire work, despite its somewhat rough style, its grammatical errors, the corrupt orthography of the period, 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, in 1512, 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.