Saint Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours by Jean Marcellin. Peter, before 1853. Pavilion's first statue Turgot Pavilion Richelieu, Cour Napolon, the Louvre.
Bishop
Birth	539
Deaths	November 17 594 Tours
Nationality	Gallo-Roman
Revered	Clermont , Tours
Revered by	Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Church
Day	November 17
Servant of God Venerable Happy St.
change

Gregory of Tours, or (Georges Florent Grgoire), born at Riom ^Biography

He comes by his father Florent (Florentius), Chieftain of an aristocratic family: his father and grandfather were Georgius senators , and his uncle Gallus and Saint Gal I de Clermont , bishop of Clermont (now Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne ). Through his mother he is related to the bishops of Lyon Sacerdos and St. Nizier one hand, and the bishops of Langres and Gregory Tetricus other. Gregory is that he takes his third name, the name by which he is known.

His father died young. Raised by his mother near Cavaillon , then successively by his uncle Gal ( 551 ) and the archdeacon Avit in Clermont, Gregory completes his education with his uncle Nizier in Lyon where he was sent to 563. During his youth, he is prone to various ailments: a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Martin at Tours ( 562 or 563 ) would, according to legend, cured of one of them.

Shortly after, he was ordained deacon and lives in the Basilica of Saint-Julien , in Brioude. He lived there until his election as bishop of Tours in 573 , probably at the instigation of Queen Brunhild and the king of Austrasia , Sigebert ^I. .

Succeeding his maternal cousin Euphronius in this dignity, Gregory took charge of one of the most important sees of Gaul. During his episcopate, he was hampered by the quarrels of the French sovereign, he does not hesitate to castigate. It plays the lead at King Chilperic ^I. , then the queen Fredegonde it accuses of being responsible for the murder of Bishop Pretextatus.

He died in Tours, perhaps 17 November 594 . According to Bruno Dumezil, the arguments in favor of this date are not robust enough to ensure an exact date and death can be postponed or advanced by one year . He is revered in this city and that of Clermont.

The language of Gregory of Tours, away from the Latin classic, has received numerous derogatory judgments to his work. These prejudices have been until recently one of the causes of the general ignorance of the Middle Ages. This time was considered so simplistic as a period of decline of civilization.

Among the ancient authors cited are Gregory Virgil , Sallust and Pliny , it evokes some of the books are now lost. Theology which he shows is simple: he argues against the Jews. He also rejects the Arian.

A Life of Saint Gregory was drafted in the tenth ^century by Abbot Odo of Cluny.

Works

The Ten Books of History or History of the Franks

The major work of Gregory of Tours has survived in several manuscripts of the Middle Ages , in versions more or less altered from the original.

Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, books 1-6, page frontispiece. Luxeuil or Corbie, late ^seventh century. BnF , Manuscrits, Latin 17655 fol. 2.

In reality, there is an "Ecclesiastical History", originally titled Ten Books of History (Decem libros Historiarum), proper translation of the Latin title, which aims to establish the history of the universal Church in a Christian perspective, eschatological , since the genesis of the world until the reign of the Frankish kings, in 572. It adds a set of stories of lives of saints Gaul united under the name of book (s) of miracles and composed between 574 and death of Gregory .

The story gives pride to know that Gregory Merovingian: five of the ten books and the Book of miracles concern the time of the author. The latter paints a bleak picture, emphasizing the disastrous consequences of the behavior of certain kings versus the behavior of their ancestors Christians, beginning with Clovis. It is also through the History of the Franks, Gregory of Tours that we received the story of the vase of Soissons.

Also, because of its central theme, the work has been renamed late History of the Franks (Historia Francorum) or gesture of the Franks (Gesta Francorum) or, more simply, Chronicles (Chronicae). It is in any case of Gregory of Tours, the father of a "national history" of the Franks, the leading historian of the Merovingians and the major source we have on the reigns of the latter.

Subsequently, the History of the Franks could serve as an inspiration, especially to the Venerable Bede in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum). Bede's work - one of the most popular in Europe during the Middle Ages - has been submitted to turn the designation of Ecclesiastical History of the Franks (Historia ecclesiastica Francorum) the story of Gregory of Tours.

The History of the Franks was continued by anonymous hands during the following centuries: they are known by names Fredegaire and Pseudo-Fredegaire. The first printing of the book, performed at Paris , date of 1561.

Other works

Vita sancti Martini by Gregory of Tours. Paris, Bibliothque Nationale de France.

Here is a list of other works attributed to Gregory of Tours, following the list given by the French Academician Francois Guizot ( 1 787 - 1,874 ), who was the author of a translation of the History of the Franks and a record on Gregory of Tours:

• Treaty With the Glory of Martyrs, a collection of legends in one hundred and seven chapters, devoted to the story of the miracles of the martyrs.
• Seven books of miracles (Septem libri miraculorum), a collection of miracle stories which the author has personally witnessed or that the facts have been reported. It is composed of Miracles of Saint Andrew the Apostle, a book on the Miracles of St. Julien de Brioude martyr Brioude in Auvergne , in fifty chapters and four books on the Miracles of St. Martin of Tours .
• Treaty With The Glory of the Confessors (In confessorum Gloria), a hundred twelve chapters.
• Brochures Lives of the Fathers (Vita Patrum), containing the history of twenty-three saints, saints of the Church of Gaul, into twenty chapters.
• Treaty on the Race of Stars (From cursu stellarum) that has no scientific pretensions, but rather liturgical where Gregory is trying to teach how to determine the time of prayers and litanies based on the stars.

The following works are lost;

• Commented Psalter (In librum unum psalterii tractatu) which only fragments are preserved .
• Treaty on the Offices of the Church.
• preface to the Treaty of Masses of Sidonius Apollinaris.
• Latin translation of the Passion of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus.

References

See also

Bibliography

• Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks , ed. Belles lettres, et al. "Classic of History", Paris , 1980 ( ISBN 2251340378 )
• Luce Pietri, La ville de Tours ^fourth century in the sixth ^century, coll. French School, 1983

External Links

• The life of Gregory of Tours, Father Odoat
• Ecclesiastical History of the Franks (electronic document), preceded by Gregory of Tours in his life written in the tenth ^century by Odo, Abbot of Cluny, trans. new by Henri-Lonard Bordier. Scanning the BNF 's ed. de, Paris: F. Didot, 1859. 18 cm: Volume 1 and Volume 2 (PDF).
• Historia Francorum , photograph of a parchment ^of the eighth / ^ninth century (uncial writing): The Latin manuscript 17655, fol 13 vo-14. preserved in the Bibliothque nationale de France , Dep. Manuscripts Div. West.
• Visions and realities of the prince through the writings of Gregory of Tours (VI century) ], ed. Electronic Submission of a Masters in Medieval History by Olivier Caron, born in 1997 at the French University of Paris IV Sorbonne.
• (In) Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Gregory of Tours

• Christianity portal
• Portal of the High Middle Ages

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