Gregory came from a Roman senatorial family and was prefect of the city before giving his property to the poor and his house to monks. He served as the pope's envoy in Constantinople, then returned to his monastery until, in 590, he was chosen bishop of Rome amid plague, flood and war.
He fed the city, negotiated with the Lombards, reformed worship and the care of the church's lands, and in 596 sent Augustine and forty monks to the English, who landed in Kent the next year. His Pastoral Rule became the handbook of bishops for centuries. He died in 604.
Gregory the Great in the library (5 works)
- Gregory the Great: Dialogues — 593–594; translation 1608, edition 1911
Gregory's four books of stories of the holy men of Italy; the second is the only early Life of St Benedict. - Gregory the Great: Morals on the Book of Job, Vol. 1 — c. 579–595; translation 1844
Gregory's great commentary on Job, read through the Middle Ages as a school of the spiritual life (books 1–10). - Gregory the Great: Morals on the Book of Job, Vol. 2 — c. 579–595; translation 1845
Gregory's great commentary on Job, read through the Middle Ages as a school of the spiritual life (books 11–22). - Gregory the Great: Morals on the Book of Job, Vol. 3 — c. 579–595; translation 1847
Gregory's great commentary on Job, read through the Middle Ages as a school of the spiritual life (books 23–27). - Gregory the Great: Morals on the Book of Job, Vol. 4 — c. 579–595; translation 1850
Gregory's great commentary on Job, read through the Middle Ages as a school of the spiritual life (books 28–35).