GREGORIAN CALENDAR 



2G21 



GREGORY 



Cabinet to hold an annual banquet at an old- 

 fashioned hostelry at Greenwich; this was 

 always referred to as a "whitebait dinner," 

 Greenwich being noted for whitebait caught in 

 the Thames. Population in 1911, 96,000. See 

 LONGITUDE; LONGITUDE AND TIME. 



GREGO'RIAN CALENDAR. See CALENDAR. 



GREGORY, grcg'ori, tho name of sixteen 

 Popes, at least two of whom wore among tho 

 most important occupants of the Papal chair. 

 Tho namo has also boon borne by two anti- 

 popes (see ANTIPOPE). 



Gregory I, called THE GREAT (about 540- 

 604), was of noble family and was educated 

 not for the Church but for the law. However, 

 he was vitally interested in religious matters, 

 and when he came into possession of the fam- 

 ily fortune he devoted it to the founding of 

 monasteries. To one of these, in his native 

 city of Rome, he retired, and there took the 

 vows of a monk. One day while walking in 

 the market place he saw several Anglo-Saxon 

 youths being sold as slaves, and inquired of 

 what nationality they were. "Angles," was the 

 reply. "Not Angles, but angels," exclaimed 

 Gregory, referring to their fair skin and light 

 hair, and from that moment vowed that he 

 would go as a missionary to Britain, the home 

 of these beautiful youths. So highly was he 

 esteemed in Rome, however, that Pope Bene- 

 dict I would not allow him to go, and under 

 Benedict's successor, Pelagius II, he was sent 

 on important service to Constantinople. 



When Pelagius died in 590, Gregory was 

 chosen Pope despite his protests, and his wise, 

 zealous administration of his office fully justi- 

 fied the choice. He organized the ritual and 

 the services of the Church, and was especially 

 active in missionary enterprise. Augustine 

 (which see) was sent to England on the mis- 

 sion which Gregory himself had so desired to 

 undertake, and missions were also established 

 in Sicily, in Sardinia and in Lombardy. Indeed, 

 it is difficult to overestimate the value of 

 Gregory's services in establishing the Church 

 on a firm basis and in forwarding reforms 

 among the clergy. His writings include an 

 important Exposition of Job and The Book of 

 Pastoral Rule. 



Gregory VII, Pope from 1073 to 1085, was 

 actuated in almost every move of his most 

 important reign by the conviction that the 

 Pope was the sovereign ruler in matters po- 

 litical as well as religious, when rulers inter- 

 fered in things that were purely spiritual or 

 ruled their governments to the detriment of 



their subjects. The controversy between him 

 and the emperor on this subject made much 

 of the history of the time. Hildebrand, as he 

 was called before his election to the Papacy. 

 was born in Tuscany about 1020, of a humble 

 family, and was educated for the Church. His 

 rise in churchly rank was steady, and his elec- 

 tion in 1073 to the Papal chair was unani- 

 mous. One of his first acts was the prohibi- 

 tion of clerical marriage, and in this he met 

 with great opposition. Not daunted, he tin nod 

 his attention against the abuse of lay investi- 

 ture, as it was called. That is, he forbade the 

 people to recognize the authority of any priest 

 or Church official who had received his office 

 from a secular ruler. As this right of investi- 

 ture had been the only hold the Emperor 

 Henry IV had had on the clergy of his domin- 

 ions, the emperor refused to abide by the Papal 

 decrees and continued to recognize the bishops 

 whom he himself had created. Gregory sum- 

 moned him to appear in Rome, but Henry 

 assumed a defiant attitude and declared 

 Gregory deposed. 



But the Pope had stronger weapons in his 

 hands. He not only excommunicated Henry, 

 but released all Henry's subjects from their 

 allegiance to him, and the emperor realized 

 the uselessness of resistance. To Canossa, 

 where the Pope was staying, he went to make 

 his submission, and in the words of Gregory 

 himself, "having laid aside all belongings of 

 royalty, wretchedty, with bare feet and clad in 

 wool, he continued for three days to stand 

 before the gates of the castle." Add to this 

 that it was severe winter weather, and that he 

 had to stand in the snow, and the depths of 

 Henry's humiliation may be seen. Finally the 

 Pope relented and absolved him, but Henry 

 had submitted only to gain his point, and in 

 1080 again rebelled against the Pope and 

 declared him deposed. While Henry was be- 

 sieging Rome, Gregory shut himself up in the 

 castle of Sant' Angelo, and though he was 

 liberated in 1084 he was obliged to withdraw 

 to Salerno. There, in retirement, he died, 

 exclaiming almost with his last breath, "1 

 have loved justice and hated iniquity; there- 

 fore I die in exile." See HENRY IV. 



Gregory XIII (1502-1585) was made Pope in 

 1572, after he had served as theologian at the 

 Council of Trent, as legate to Spain and as 

 cardinal. He was especially interested in edu- 

 cation, believing that only through its aid 

 could the growing heresies of Protestantism be 

 combated, and he did much to aid the Jesuits. 



