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Gregory the Great's Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2009

R. A. Markus
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Extract

Gregory became pope in the summer of 590, to succeed his predecessor who had been carried away by the plague. Nearly fifty years had passed since the first outbreak of the plague in the time of Justinian. Let the plague serve as our signpost to a period of upheaval across Europe. If the 530s were the ‘age of hope’ a disastrous reversal began in the 540s. The succeeding half-century was a time of collapsing hopes and darkening horizons: the prospect of imperial reconquest and peace receding after 540, never to be more than ephemerally and precariously realized; the dreams of spiritual and political unification revealed as illusory; war, plague and the obscure workings of ‘demographic forces’ combined to turn the Italy of Boethius into that of Gregory the Great in the course of some sixty years. The contours of the societies of late Antiquity were becoming displaced to produce a new social landscape. Some of this transformation has left visible traces in our evidence and has been extensively studied; much of it has been concealed from us, either through lack of evidence or through failure to ask the right questions. It is only in recent years, to take one example, that the subtle shifts in Byzantine religiosity and political ideology discernible in the later sixth century have begun to cohere into something like a unified picture of a ‘new integration’ of culture and society in the towns of the Eastern Empire. How far the world of Western Europe was exposed to analogous changes may be a question impossible to answer; in any case, it needs approaching piecemeal and with the necessary discrimination of time and place.

Type
Research Article
Information
Transactions of the Royal Historical Society , Volume 31 , December 1981 , pp. 21 - 36
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Historical Society 1981

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References

1 Honoré, T., Tribonian (London, 1978), pp. 17–20Google Scholar.

2 Cameron, A., ‘Images of Authority: elites and icons in late sixth-century Byzantium’, Past & Present, 84 (1979), 3–35CrossRefGoogle Scholar, which gives a conspectus of her recent work in this field and references to other studies.

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4 See Caspar, , Geschichte, II, p. 465Google Scholar seq.; Dudden, F. H., Gregory the Great (London, 1905), II, pp. 248–67Google Scholar, esp. p. 249. For a full survey of his relation with the emperors and attitudes to the imperial office, see Fischer, E. H., ‘Gregor der Grosse und Byzanz: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der papstlichen Politik’, Zeitsckrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechsgeschichte, Kanonistische Abteilung, 36 (1950), 15–144Google Scholar.

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6 A particularly striking statement: Ep. V. 59, i. 371 (Gregory's letters are throughout referred to in the edition of the Regisirum by P. Ewald and L. M. Hartmann, Monumenta Germanie Historica [MGH.], Epistolae [Epp.] i and ii, followed by page and line references where appropriate).

7 Ep. VII, 5, i. 448. 30–32. See also VII. 7, i. 451. 21; VII. 24, i. 470. 3–4.

8 sEp. XI. 4, ii. 263. 9–11; XIII. 4, ii. 397. 21–23. The classic statement is in Aristotle's Politics I. 125204, 1255ai–bio. On the whole theme, see Vogt, J., ‘Kulturwelt und Barbaren: zum Menschenbild der spätantiken Gesellschaft’, Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Abhandlungen der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaflichen Klasse, 1 (Mainz, 1967)Google Scholar.

9 On what follows, see my paper ‘Gregory the Great and a Papal Missionary Strategy’, SCH, 6 (1970), pp. 29–38Google Scholar, where details and references are to be found.

10 According to Bognetti, G. P., Vela longobarda, I (Milano, 1966), p. 197Google Scholar, and II, p. 155. This view of Lombard Arianism may, however, require some qualification: see Conti, P. M., ‘Aquileian, Eastern and Roman Missions in the Lombard Kingdom’, Miscellanea Historiae Ecclesiasticae, 3 (Louvain, 1970), pp. 62–70Google Scholar.

11 Ep. I. 73, i. 93. 16–18; see also Ep. I. 59 and 72, and, for the emperor as guardian of orthodoxy, the references above at note 6 and below at note 12.

12 Ep. XI. 28, ii. 298. 15–20. This is also a normal, set formula: see Ep. IX. 135, ii. 133. 33–134. 3, and the praise heaped by Gregory on king Reccared {Ep. IX. 228, ii. 222. 1–13).

13 ”Ep. XI. 37, ii. 308. 25–309. 6, for the whole passage.

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15 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch. 45; Stenton, F. M., Anglo-Saxon England (2nd edn., Oxford 1947)Google Scholar, where Stenton, though not doubting Gregory's ‘simple desire for the conversion of [Britain's] heathen inhabitants’, thought that ‘Gregory was in the succession of ancient Roman statesmen, and could not have been indifferent to the political advantages that would follow from the reunion of a lost province of the Empire to the church of the capital’ (pp. 103–4). The tenacity of this tradition since Stenton could easily be illustrated by more recent examples.

16 Below, pp. 28–9.

17 Procopius, Wars, VIII. xx. 10. See the remarks of Wallace-Hadrill, J. M., ‘Rome and the Early English Church: some questions of transmission’, Settimane di studio del Centro italiano sull'alto Medioevo [Settimane], 7 (Spoleto, 1960), pp. 519–48Google Scholar, esp. pp. 521–6.

18 See Fritze, , ‘Universalis confessio’, 109–13Google Scholar. I have not been able to consult Benkart, P., Die Missionsidee Gregors des Grossen in Theorie und Praxis (Phil. Diss., Leipzig, 1946)Google Scholar.

19 1.4 (ed. U. Moricca, Rome, 1924, pp. 31–7); for ‘iocunda miracula’, see III.22 (p. 191, 1. 16).

20 See my Saeculum: History and Society in the Theology of Saint Augustine (Cambridge, 1970), esp. pp. 39–40Google Scholar and 161 3.

21 Thompson, E. A., ‘Christianity and the Northern Barbarians’, The Conflict between Paganism and Christianity in the Fourth Century, ed. Momigliano, A. (Oxford, 1963) pp. 56–78Google Scholar; originally in Nottingham Medieval Studies, i (1957) 3–21Google Scholar. See also Molland, E., ‘L'antiquite chretienne a-t-elle eu un programme et des methodes missionaires?’, Miscellanea historiae ecclesiasticae, 3 (Louvain, 1970), pp. 53–61Google Scholar; Bertolini, O., ‘I papi e le missioni fino all meta del secolo VIII', Settimane, 14 (1967), pp. 327–63Google Scholar, mainly on Italy. On the έѵ τοῖς βαρβαρικοῖς ἒθѵεσι τοv θεοv κκλσια[ι] of I Constantinople c. 2 and [οí] έѵ τοῖ ς βαρβαρικς πισκοπο [ι] of Chalcedon c. 28, see Beck, H. G., ‘Christ-liche Mission und politische Propaganda im Byzantinischen Reich’, Settimane 14 (1967), pp. 649–74Google Scholar, and Dagron, G., Maissance d'une capitale: Constantinople et ses institutions de33O à 431 (Paris, 1974), pp. 483–7Google Scholar.

22 E.g. Vigilius of Trent, Ep. I. 1 (PL., 13. 550); Paulinus, of Nola, , Carmen 17. 205–64Google Scholar (PL., 61. 487); Jerome, , Ep. 60. 4 (PL., 22. 591–2)Google Scholar.

23 Schaferdiek, K., ‘Die Grundlegung der angelsachischen Kirche im Spannungsfeld insular-keltischen und kontinetal-romischen Christentums’, Die Kirche, ed. Schaferdiek, , pp. 149–91Google Scholar, at p. 152.

24 There has been no systematic study of the titulature used in Gregory's correspondence and its background. My conclusion is based on a general survey. The usage is not absolutely consistent: barbarian rulers as well as top-ranking imperial officials and persons of patrician rank are regularly addressed as excellentia etc.; some of them, however, are also, on occasion, gloriosi. The equation of barbarian rulers with the highest class of official is, however, generally clear throughout. (See ‘Index rerum, verborum, grammaticae’, MGH., Epp. ii, pp. 543Google Scholar, 550.) In this respect Gregory's usage follows the style of the papal scrinium already established before his time (see Pelagius I's letters in Epistolae Arelatenses 48, 51, 52, 54 (ed. W. Gundlach, MGH., Epp. iii; ed. P. M. Gassoand C. M. Battle (Montserrat, 1956), nos. 9, 12, 13, 7). Filius is included in the address as a specifically ecclesiastical ingredient, expressing the relation between a bishop and a layman. It is, significantly, omitted by Gregory when writing to the Arian king Agilulf (Ep. IX. 66, ii. 86) and included—though only in the third person, in a letter not addressed to him—in a phrase referring to the emperor, ‘piissimus dominus filius noster’ (Ep. VII. 24, i. 469. 19). This, too, is clearly a matter of established usage; see, for example, Auspicius of Toul addressing Arbogast as ‘fili’ (Ep. Austrasiacae 23, MGH., Epp. iii. 136. 37) and has no political implications. In general, see Wolfram, H., Intitulatio, I: Lateinische Königs- und Fiirstentitel bis zum Ende des 8. Jahrhunderts (Vienna, 1967)Google Scholar, and O'Donnell, J. F., The Vocabulary of the Letters of Saint Gregory the Great (Washington, D.C. 1934)Google Scholar, Part IV.

25 As suggested by Ullmann, W., The Growth of Papal Government in the Middle Ages (2nd edn., London, 1962), p. 37Google Scholar.

26 Ullmann, , Growth, p. 106Google Scholar. The description refers to Carolingian Christendom. For a similar view, see Bognetti, , L'età longobarda, II, p. 230Google Scholar : ‘un altro passo per la scissione della Chiesa di Dio della Chiesa di stato’.

27 This seems to assume that the appointment of Candidus as rector of the Roman Church's patrimony in Gaul is to be interpreted as a preparation of the mission. This is possible, but it was probably primarily a part of the general patrimonial reorganization.

28 Ullmann, , Growth, p. 37Google Scholar. For the whole argument, see pp. 36–7.

29 For a survey of the history of and controversy over the title, see Vailhé, S., ‘Le títre de Patriarche Oecouménique avant saint Grégoire le Grand’, and ‘Saint Grégoire le Grand et le titre de Patriarche oecouménique’, Echos d' Orient, 11 (1908), 65–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar and 161–71. On its meaning, see Tuilier, A., ‘Le sens del'adjectif oikoumenikos dans la tradition patristique et dans la tradition byzantine’, Studia Patristica 7 (Texte und Untersuchungen, 92, Berlin, 1966), pp. 413–24Google Scholar, and Dvornik, F., Byzance et la primauU romaine (Paris, 1964). PP. 70–2Google Scholar.

30 The date (3 July 595) is given by Ep. V. 41, i. 332: ‘ante hos…annos octo’. I am not convinced that this refers to the council reported by Evagrius (Historia ecclesiastica, VI. 7), though this is possible. See Caspar, , Geschickte, II, p. 366Google Scholar, n. 4.

31 Ep. V. 44, i. 339. 5–10; see also V. 41, i. 332. 3–11, and John, the Deacon, , Vita Gregorii, III. 51Google Scholar.

32 Ep. V. 44, i. 339. 10–14. For the emperor's rebuke, see Ep. V. 37, i. 323. 5, 18 seq.; V. 39, i. 327. 8; and V. 45, i. 344. 17–20. Gregory's own account of the previous course of the controversy is considered by Ullmann, (Growth, p. 37Google Scholar, n. 3) and interpreted as retrospective self-justification. There is no independent evidence to confirm Gregory's own statements. It is clear, however, that the emperor's rebuke had reached Gregory before 1 June 595 and that Gregory's protest must therefore ante-date the present exchange of letters. Certainty beyond this is impossible, but I can see no grounds for dismissing Gregory's assertion that Sabinianus's predecessors (though the plural may be discounted) in the office of apocrisiarius in Constantinople had received instructions from the pope on this matter (Ep. V. 44, i. 339. 11). Sabinianus took up office in July 593 (Ep. III. 51, i. 208. 1; III. 52, i. 210. 4). His commission included dealing with the difficulties which had provoked Ep. III. 52 (see below), which he was taking with him. There would be nothing unusual in his mandate including verbal supplementation of the written documents he was charged to deliver. It seems to me highly likely that his instructions included some remonstrations against the title, and it is not impossible that verbal protests were delivered before this date.

33 Ep. III. 52, i. 208. 13. The letters alluded to (which have not survived) evidently contained no protest against the title, though they may well have been accompanied by verbal protest (see above, n. 32).

34 MEp. V. 45, i. 344. 14–16.

35 Ep. V. 44, i. 343. 32–3; V. 42, i. 336. 13 seq.

36 Ep. VIII. 29, ii. 31 seq. See also V. 41, i. 332. 25 seq.; V. 37, esp. at i, 322. 9 seq.; and IX. 156, ii. 157–8. A classic statement of the same principle is to be found in a totally different context as early as 592 in Ep. II. 52, i. 156. 36–41.

37 It is evident that the matter also seemed trivial to Anastasius, patriarch of Antioch (Ep. VII. 24, i. 469. 18–20).

38 Ullmann, , Growth, p. 37Google Scholar, on Ep. IX. 67, ii. 88. 5–6.

39 Societas here bears its well-established sense of peaceful association, secured by treaty. See Eugippius, Vita Severini (31. 6), for an earlier, and Paul the Deacon, , Historia Langobardorum (IV. 27)Google Scholar (ed. Bethmann, L. and Waitz, G., MGH., Scriptores rerum langobardicarum, 125Google Scholar. 15), for a later example. The res publica Christiana (or, sometimes, sancta) is, as always, the Empire: see, for example, Ep. I. 73, i. 94. 2; VI. 61, i. 436. 24–5. The usage is normal and identical with that of the submission of the Islrian bishops to the emperor (Ep. I. 16a, i, 18. 5–7 and 29.; i. 20. 1–2 and 17; i. 21. 4), and also the exarch's letter (Ep. Austras. 40 (MGH., Epp. iii. 147. 4–5)). The phrase must clearly be translated as ‘treaty [or ‘peace’] with the Empire’.

40 Ep. V. 37, i. 322. 13 seq.; compare Columbanus, Ep. 1.1 and 5.1 (ed. Gundlach, W., MGH., Epp. iii. 156Google Scholar, 170; ed. Walker, G. S. M., Scriptores latini Hiberniae, 2 (Dublin, 1957). PP. 2Google Scholar, 36).

41 See Buchner, R., ‘Kulturelle and politische Zusammengehörigkeitsgefühle im europäischen Frühmittelalter’, Historische Zeitschrift, 207 (1969), 562–83Google Scholar; Gollwitzer, H., ‘Zur Wortgeschichte und Sinndeutung von “Europa”’ Saeculum, 2 (1951), 161–72CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Erdmann, C., Forschungen zur politischen Ideenwelt des Frühmittelalters (Berlin, 1951), pp. 1–31Google Scholar; Löwe, H., ‘Von Theoderich dem Grossen zu Karl dem Grossen’, Deutsches Archiv, 9 (1952), 353–401Google Scholar, repr. in Von Cassiodor zu Dante (Berlin, 1973), pp. 33–74.

42 See Miller, D. H., ‘The Roman Revolution of the Eighth Century: a study of the ideological background of the papal separation from Byzantium and alliance with the Franks’, Medieval Studies, 36 (1974), 79–133CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Brown, T. S., Social Structure and the Hierarchy of Officialdom in Byzantine Italy, 554800 (Ph.D. thesis, Nottingham, 1975Google Scholar; forthcoming), and the same author's ‘The Church of Ravenna and the Imperial Administration in the Seventh Century’, Eng. Hist. Rev. xciv (1979), 1–28CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

43 Ullmann, , Growth, p. 99Google Scholar.

44 See above, n. 2.

45 It will be evident that I cannot claim Professor Ullman's support for my argument in this paper. I wish, however, to place on record my gratitude for his friendly and generous criticism which has helped me to avoid several pitfalls.