Gregory of Tours
Historian and Bishop of Tours (c. 538–594)
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ToursExplore Lably’s 3D toursGregory's most notable work is the Decem Libri Historiarum ('Ten Books of Histories'), also known as the Historia Francorum ('History of the Franks'). Decem Libri Historiarum is a primary source for the study of Merovingian history and chronicles the accounts of the Franks during the period. Gregory is also known for documenting accounts of religious figures, notably that of Martin of Tours.
Biography
Gregory was born in Clermont, in the Auvergne region of central Gaul. He was born into the upper stratum of Gallo-Roman society as the son of Florentius, Senator of Clermont, by his wife Armentaria II, niece of Bishop Nicetius of Lyon and granddaughter of both Florentinus, Senator of Geneva, and Saint Gregory of Langres. Relatives of Gregory held the bishoprics of Tours, Lyon, and Langres at the time of his birth and he claimed that he was related to 13 of the 18 bishops of Tours who preceded him. Gregory's paternal grandmother, Leocadia III, descended from Vettius Epagathus, the illustrious martyr of Lyon.
His father died while Gregory was young and his widowed mother moved to Burgundy, where she had property. Gregory went to live with his paternal uncle St. Gallus, bishop of Clermont, under whom, and his successor St. Avitus, Gregory had his education. Gregory also received the clerical tonsure from Gallus. Having contracted a serious illness, Gregory made a visit of devotion to the tomb of St. Martin at Tours. Upon his recovery, he began to pursue a clerical career and was ordained deacon by Avitus. Upon the death of St. Euphronius, he was chosen as bishop by the clergy and people, who had been charmed with his piety, learning, and humility. Their deputies overtook him at the court of King Sigebert of Austrasia, and being compelled to acquiesce, though much against his will, Gregory was consecrated by Giles, bishop of Rheims, on 22 August 573, at the age of 34.
He spent most of his career at Tours, although he assisted at the council of Paris in 577. The world in which he lived in was on the cusp between the Western culture of late antiquity and the sweeping changes of early-medieval Europe. Gregory lived also on the border between the Frankish culture of the Merovingians to the north and the Gallo-Roman culture of the south of Gaul.
At Tours, Gregory was well placed to hear and meet people of influence in Merovingian culture. Tours was situated on the Loire, five Roman roads radiated from it, and it was on the main route between the Frankish north and Aquitania, with Spain beyond. At Tours, the Frankish influences of the north and the Gallo-Roman influences of the south had their chief contact . As the center for the popular cult of St Martin, Tours was a pilgrimage site, hospital, and a political sanctuary to which important leaders fled during periods of violence and turmoil in Merovingian politics.
Gregory struggled through personal relations with four Frankish kings, Sigebert I, Chilperic I, Guntram, and Childebert II, and he personally knew most of the leading Franks.
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Legacy
The History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours is an historical record of great importance. It is a central source for early Frankish history, representing the period of transition from late Roman antiquity to early Medieval times in a nascent Europe. It is believed to be the only reliable source of information to describe the emerging military and political power of the Franks in one kingdom.
Gregory has often been compared to Herodotus, and (with his detailed interest in, and accounts of, ecclesiastical history and maneuverings) to a bloodier Anthony Trollope. According to Robert Win's analysis:
There can be no argument that Gregory deliberately structured his narrative to protect himself from any political attacks and that it was the political circumstances around him that governed what he could and could not write.
Gregory's Latin was relatively poor in comparison with earlier centuries when writers were educated at secular Roman grammar and rhetoric schools. He was self-aware of this and apologized for his poor Latin in his introduction:
Ista etenim atque et his similia iugiter intuens dici, pro commemoratione praeteritorum, ut notitiam adtingerint venientum, etsi incultu effatu, nequivi tamen obtegere vel certamena flagitiosorum vel vitam recte viventium; et praesertim his inlicitus stimulis, quod a nostris fari plerumque miratus sum, quia: "Philosophantem rethorem intellegunt pauci, loquentem rusticum multi".
Hearing continually these complaints and others like them I have undertaken to commemorate the past, in order that it may come to the knowledge of the future; and although my speech is rude, I have been unable to be silent as to the struggles between the wicked and the upright; and I have been especially encouraged because, to my surprise, it has often been said by men of our day: "few understand the rhetorician but many the rustic speaker".
Win further observed:
The Historia Francorum is the only source of that period covering the beginning of the Franks in the decaying Roman Empire from around 397 (the death of Martin of Tours) to 590 (the early reign of king Chlothar II). Gregory's chronology of the Franks is continued with the Fourth Book of Fredegar and its continuations for the events up to 642. Likewise, the fourth Book of Fredegar and its continuations is [sic] the only source of any significance for much of the period it covers.
Gregory's hagiographies are also a source of anecdotes and stories for the modern understanding of life and belief in Merovingian Gaul. The motivation behind his works was intended to show readers the importance and strength of Christianity, and this bias should always be remembered. Alongside the poet Venantius Fortunatus in his lifetime, Gregory of Tours is another significant historian from the 6th-century Merovingian world; and his extensive literary output is itself a testimony to the preservation of learning and to the lingering continuity of Gallo-Roman civic culture through the early Middle Ages.
Gregory's writings have also provided valuable evidence for music scholars studying Gallican liturgy and Gallican chant. His Decem Libri Historiarum is particular has many liturgical references relating to music.