THE LIFE OF POPE GREGORY THE GREAT

(1) dominicae incarnātiōnis: “of our lord’s birth,” i.e., A.D.

Gregōrius: Pope Gregory the Great. See PASE, Gregory 1.

DCV: AD 605. “Gregory died on 12 March 604; otherwise Bede is right about the length of his pontificate” (McClure and Collins, p. 374).

translātus: translātus est

(2) nōs convenit: impersonal, “it behooves us,” “it is fitting for us,” with the complementary infinitive facere. See LS, convenio II.B.2.

suā industriā: ablative of means

lātiōrem ... facere sermōnem: “to speak at greater length.”

nostrum ... apostolum: re-order: quem rēctē possumus et dēbēmus appellāre nostrum apostolum. The words nostrum and apostolum are separated in hyperbaton for emphasis.

(3) cum ... gereret ... esset: concessive (“although”)

primum ... pontificātum: “the most important see” (Colgrave-Mynors). Pontificātus (“pontificate”) originally meant simply “the office of a bishop or archbishop.”

conversīs ... ecclēsiīs: datives after praelatus (“was prelate to”)

iam dūdum: “long since” (“churches long since converted”)

nostram gentem ... fēcit ecclēsiam: nostram gentem is the direct object of fēcit and ecclēsiam is the predicate accusative (AG 393)

eātenus īdōlīs mancipātam: in apposition to nostram gentem (“our people, up to this point enslaved by idols”)

apostolicum illum ... sermōnum: “the well-known words of the apostle” (AG 297.b).

prōferre: “bring forward, quote, cite, mention” (LS, proferō II.D) ”

quia ... Dominō: Bede paraphrases 1 Corinthians 9.2: Et sī aliīs nōn sum Apostolus, sed tamen vobīs sum: nam signāculum apostolātūs meī vōs estis in Dominō (Vulgate).

signāculum apostolātūs eius: “the seal of his apostleship.” A signāculum is a mark or sign on a charter or other document that certifies its authenticity (DMLBS, signāculum 1.b)

nōbīs … nōs: the British church.

(4) genus ā proavīs ... ducēns: “tracing from his ancestors a lineage” genus ducere a(b) = “be descended from.”

(5) Fēlīx: Felix III, Pope AD 483–492 (sometimes counted as Felix IV, if Antipope Felix II is to be considered Pope).

eiusdem apostōlicae sēdis: “of the same apostolic see”

(6) nōbilitātem religiōnis … exercuit: “followed that ancestral tradition of religion.”

nōn minōre: with virtūte devotiōnis

ad saeculum: “in the eyes of the world” (i.e., his worldly nobility)

(7) totam: agrees with nobilitātem

ad nancīscendam supernae glōriam dignitātis: “toward the securing of the glory of heavenly honor,” or, more elegantly, “to winning honor and glory of a higher kind” (Colgrave-Mynors). : The gerundive expresses purpose (AG 506). The interlocking word order and genitive of the abstract noun add impressiveness to the style.

dīvīnā grātiā largiente: translate “by God’s grace” (Colgrave-Mynors); literally, “with divine grace bestowing” (ablative absolute).

(8) mūtātō … habitū saecūlārī: ablative absolute; habitus saecūlāris means “secular attire,” as opposed to the “habit” of a monk.

tantā perfectiōnis grātiā ... ut: “with such perfect grace” (see Reading Bede §A.1.2). Tantā introduces a series of five result clauses: (a) ut ... subteressent, (b) ut ... eminēret, (c) ut ... solēret, (d) ut ... transīret, (e) ut ... amāret.

sīcut ... adtestārī: parenthetical

flendō: “in tears”

animō illīus lābentia cūncta subteressent: subteresse = “to be below” + dat. Literally, “all transitory things were under his soul,” or, as we would say it, “his soul was above all transitory things.”

volvuntur: “change” (literally, “are turned”)

ēminēret: “transcended” + dat. (DMLBS, ēminēre 2).

retentus corpore: corpore is ablative of means with retentus (“confined by the body”)

ipsa ... trānsīret: claustra is the direct object of transīret, and contemplātiōne is an ablative of means. Carnis claustra: “the prison of the flesh.” Notice the alliteration.

pēne: paene; with cunctīs (dative, “to almost everyone”)

vidēlicet: “clearly”

ut ingressum: this ut means “as.”

(9) Haec: neuter plural substantive, direct object of referre cōnsuerat (> cōnsuēscere, “to accustom oneself”; cōnsuerat is plupf.) “was accustomed to say these things” referring to the statements in the previous paragraph.

profectum ... dēfectum: both fourth declension nouns, both modified by virtūtum (“of his virtues”), each one the object of the nearest gerund.

iactandō ... dēflendō: gerunds expressing purpose (AG 506), best translated “to boast of ... to bemoan”)

quem: the antecedent is dēfectum (“loss”) and the relative clause explains how Gregory this incurred (incurrisse) this loss.

per: “as a result of” (DMLBS, per 10).

cūram pāstōrālem: cūra pāstōrālis refers to the responsibilites of a clergyman (translate cūra as “responsibilities”).

(10) sēcrētō: “private” (DMLBS, sēcrētus 2)

ēnumerātīs ... prīscīs: ablative absolute; prīscīs = “former, previous” (LS, prīscus II.A).

subiūnxit: “he added” (> subiungere)

dolendō: “grieving” (DMLBS, doleo 2). This ablative of the gerund is, in later writers nearly, and in medieval writers entirely, equivalent to a present participle (AG 507 note 5).

(11) ex occāsiōne: “on account of”

saeculārium hominum: “of men of the world,” with negōtia

patitur ... foedātur: although Bede introduces this as direct discourse, it is presented in the third person as if it were indirect discourse. foedātur, “is soiled.”

terrēnī āctūs: “earthly activity.” Pope Gregory is credited with developing the important medieval distinction between the contemplative life and the active life.

(12) cumque ... sparserit, etiam cum ... appetit: sparserit is future perfect indicative showing future time in a temporal cum-clause (AG 547); appetit is present indicative in a temporal cum-clause (ibid.):“when he dissipates …, even when he reaches for ….” Normally Bede prefers the subjunctive in such clauses (Druhan, p. 175).

sē ... sparserit: “dissipates himself”

prō condēscēnsiōne multōrum: “in order to reply to the requests of many men” (DMLBS, condēscēnsiō, “compliance to a request”).

ad haec: i.e., interiōra

procul dubiō: “without a doubt”

minor: “diminished”

(13) Perpendō: Now Bede switches to direct discourse.

quid tolerō … quid āmīsī: the indicative mood in indirect questions is colloquial, and generally avoided by Bede except in the recital of dialogue (Druhan, p. 184).

(15) ex ... intentiōne: “from the intensity” (DMLBS, intentio 2.e).

nōs crēdere decet nihil eum ... perdidisse: the order is: decet nōs credere eum perdidisse nihil. eum … perdidisse is the accusative-infinitive construction of indirect discourse after credere; nihil is the direct object of perdidisse, and is modified by the partitive genitives monachicae perfectiōnis.

occasiōne: “by reason of, on account of” (DMLBS, occasio 3.d)

immō: “on the contrary”

sūmsisse: sumpsisse; another infinitive in indirect discourse after crēdere, with eum again as the accusative subject and potiōrem prōfectum (“greater profit”) as the direct object.

dē propriae quondam quiētē conversātiōnis: “the the quiet of his former private life.”

conversiōnis … conversātiōnis: note the word-play, accentuated with hyperbaton.

maximē: “especially”

domum suam monastērium facere cūrāvit:  cūrāvit = “he took care,” followed by facere with double accusative (AG 393); Ca. A.D. 574 Gregory established the monastery of St. Andrew in the house he inherited from his father on the Caelian Hill in Rome. The site is now occupied by the church of San Gregorio Magno al Celio. Gregory was abbot of St. Andrew’s from about 586 until he was elected Pope at the death of Pope Pelagius II in February 590.

dum: “as long as,” + indic., denoting an action that is completely coextensive with the action of the main verb (Druhan, p. 160).

abstractus ... ōrdinātus ... dīērectus est: est goes with all of these (“he was taken ... he was ordained ... he was directed …”).

ad ministerium ordinātus: can be translated simply as “ordained.” Ca. 578, Pope Pelagius II ordained Gregory as one of the seven deacons, or regionariī, of Rome. This forced Gregory to leave the contemplative life of his monastery.

Constantinopolim: accusative of motion toward, after directus est (AG 427.2)

apocrisiārius: a permanent Papal ambassador. Gregory was appointed to this post by Pope Pelagius ca. 579 and held it until 585 or 586.

in terrēnō conversātus palātiō: translate as concessive, “though he passed his time in an earthly palace….”

(16) quōsdam: direct object of coepit ... habēre.

gratiā germanae caritātis: “on account of their brotherly love”

ad rēgiam urbem: “to the royal city,” i.e., Constantinople.

in tūtāmentum observāntiae rēgulāris: in + accusative expressing purpose: “to protect his observance of the monastic rule.”

ut … restringerētur: a simile; the order is: ut restringerētur quasi fūne anchōris ad litus placidae orātiōnis. Gregory is the subject. fūne anchōris (“by the rope of an anchor”) is an ablative of means. The subjunctive indicates a purpose clause. Bede paraphrases heavily here from the introductory epistle to Gregory’s Moralia in Job.

cum ... fluctāret: temporal, “while he was tossed”

concussamque … mentem … rōborāret: = et ut mentem concussam rōborāret, continuing the purpose clause. rōborāret is parallel to restringerētur. See articulated text.

concussam ... mentem: direct object of rōborāret.

inter eōs: referring to the monks.

per stūdiōsae lectiōnis ... allōquium: “through conversation about studious reading,” perhaps referring to the Benedictine practice of lectiō divīna, which involves regular reading and meditation upon Scripture. The key word alloquium is postponed and emphasized in hyperbaton.

(17) Hōrum ergō cōnsortiō: “by the companionship of whom,” i.e., of the monks.

munītus ... succēnsus: understand est with both.

POPE GREGORY'S WRITINGS

(18) hortātī sunt: the subject is Gregory’s fellow monks.

librum beātī Iob: The Biblical Book of Job. Iob is to be read as genitive, with beātī. Gregory wrote his Commentary on Job, or Moralia, between 578 and 595. It was his major work, filling some 35 books or 6 volumes, begun when Gregory was at the court of Tiberius II at Constantinople, but finished only after he had already been in Rome for several years.

mysticā interpretātiōne: ablative of means; “mystical interpretation” reads the text as allegory, revealing the spiritual meanings beneath the literal narrative.

sibi: i.e., Gregory, with inpōnēbat.

multīs: with the adjective ūtile (AG 384), “useful to many.”

ūtile futurum: agreeing with quod (the antecedent of which is opus).

(19)  Bede lays out the three modes of interpretion that, following Gregory, he employed in his own Biblical exegesis: the literal, mystical (allegorical), and moral. The main verb is perdocuit (“he thoroughly explained”), which takes an indirect object (librum), and introduces three interrogatives, quōmodo … qualiter … quō sēnsū …. iuxtā litteram: “according to the letter,” i.e., literally.

ūnīcuique: dative, with aptandus. 

(20) rēgiā ... urbe: i.e., Constantinople

apocrisiārius: “as apocrisiarius,” or “while he was apocrisiarius.”

Rōmae: locative

(21) hēresim: = haeresim, heresy.

cum ... initiō: cum can be used in expressions of attendant circumstances to mean “in” or “at”: “at the very beginning at which it [i.e., the heresy] arose” (Colgrave-Mynors translate the whole phrase as “at its birth”).

(22) Eutychius: Eutychius of Constantinople (ca. 512–582).

dogmatīzābat: “propunded the doctrine that,” introducing indirect discourse, with the accusative-infinitive construction.

ventīs āereque: ablatives of comparison with subtīlius.

et ... et: “both...and” The ablatives ratiōne and exemplō are ablatives of means.

probāvit: introducing indirect discourse, with the accusative-infinitive construction.

hoc dogma: dogma is a Greek neuter accusative.

(23) habet: “holds” (i.e., “maintains,” “believes”).

quidem: concessive, looking forward to sed. “While it is indeed exalted [and made] subtle … it is (still) palpable.”

dominicī corporis: “of the Lord’s body.”

dē quō: “concerning which”: the antecedent of quō is corporis.

ā mortuīs suscitātō: “when he had been raised from the dead.”

(24) Palpāte ... habēre: Luke 24:39.

(25) venerābilis: nominative, with pater.

in tantum: “to such a degree,” signalling subjunctive in a result clause (īnventus sit).

hanc: i.e., hanc hēresim.

nullus … qui: “no one who,” followed by subjunctive in a relative clause of characteristic (AG 534).

existeret: = esset

(26) Pāstōrālis: Pastoral Care

quālēs ... quāliter ... quā ... quantā: indirect questions, introduced by patefēcit; the infinitives are dependent on the subjunctive verb dēbeant.

quālēs ad ecclēsiae regimen adsūmī: “what sort of men should be chosen for the governance of the church” (DMLBS, assumere 2.b, “to admit to an order or office”). adsūmī is the present passive infinitive.

singulās quāsque … persōnās: “each individual (type of) person.” Persōna refers to the part played by person in life, his or her position or role, rather than to an individual person as such—the meaning is preserved in the English word persona.

(27) Omēliās ēvangliī numerō XL: 40 Homilies on the Gospel, delivered during 591 and 592.

aequā sorte: “evenly” (i.e., each of the two books contains 20 homilies).

(28) sānctōrum quōs ... poterat: “of the saints, the most famous ones in Italy whom ...”; in English, it is more natural to rearrange as “the most famous saints in Italy whom ...”

posterīs: “to posterity” (literally, “to those who come after”).

ut, sicut … ita etiam: signals subjunctive in a result clause (ostenderet), “with the result that, just as … so also.” Within this structure are two balanced indirect questions triggered by ēdocuit and ostenderet, with the interrogatives quibus and quae, respectively (see articulated text).

sit ... īnsudāndum: impersonal (“for what virtues one must sweat”)

(29) Prīmam ... dēmōnstrāvit: an example of the “accusative of anticipation” (AG 576), sometimes called the “proleptic accusative.” Here prīmam ... et ... ultimam ... partem and the indirect question quantum lūcis intus habeant act as objects of the main verb dēmōnstrāvit: “he pointed out the first and last part ..., how much light they have in them” (i.e., “he pointed out how much light the first and last part ... have in them”).

lūcis: “spiritual enlightenment (of the soul), goodness, righteousness” (DMLBS, lux 8.b).

(30) Bede lists, in an extended ablative absolute, three other works of Gregory, which he declines to describe in detail: the “Responses” which he wrote to Augustinus, bishop of the English, and which are key source material for HE; a book about the acts of the Roman synod of bishops in 595, co-written with those bishops; and a collection of letters.

Exceptō: “leaving aside,” “not to mention.” Properly, exceptō libellō is an ablative absolute: “with the booklet excepted.”

suprā: Augustine’s questions and Gregory’s responses are given in HE I.27.

īnserentēs: plural to agree with docuimus (the “royal we”); Bede, like other LL and Christian writers, admits the present active participle with a perfect sense: “having included the whole book...” (see Druhan, p. 140).

libellō ... Synodicō: “Synodal booklet” about the acts of the Roman synod of 595.

familiāribus ... litterīs: understand exceptīs with these ablatives

(31) Quod eō magis mīrum est … quod: “This is all the more amazing . . . because.” eō quod (“for that reason ... because”) expresses causation emphatically (see Druhan, p. 177). The initial quod is connective (AG 308.f).

mīrum est: introduces indirect discourse, in which potuisse is the infinitive verb and eum the subject accusative; tot ac tanta ...volūmina is the object of condere, which supplements potuisse.

omnī ... tempore: ablative for extent of time (“for the entire time”)

ut verbīs ipsīus loquar: “to use his own words”: the rest of the sentence quotes Gregory, putting his words in the third person. Gregory’s words were: vīscerum dolōribus crucior, hōrīs momentīsque omnibus fracta stomachī virtūte lassēscō, lentīs quidem, sed tamen continuīs febribus anhēlō. (Moralia in Job, chapter 5; Patrologia Latina 75.515).

hōrīs mōmentīsque omnibus: “every minute of the day”

(32) dum ... teste: ‘Omnis...’: “while he was anxiously pondering the words of Scripture that ‘every man ...’”; scrīptūrā teste is an ablative absolute (“as Scripture is a witness”). The quotation is from Hebrews 12.6.

quō ... dūrius ... eō ... certius: “the harder ... the more certainly....” For the construction eō ... quō, see AG 414.a.

POPE GREGORY'S CHARACTER AND ACHIEVEMENTS

(33) Haec … sint dicta: jussive: “let (only) these things be said,” i.e., “enough said.”

ingeniō: “literary talent”

quidem: “at any rate,” transitioning from Gregory’s literary output to his acts of charity.

(34) aliī quīdam pontificēs: Bede scrupulously declines to name these other, more wordly, popes.

tōtus ergā animārum lucra vacābat: tōtus is best translated adverbially with vacābat: “he used to devote his time (vacābat) entirely ....” ergā + accusative usually means “in relation to,” “towards”: here, translate “with a view to spiritual (not financial) profit (lucra).”

(35) iūstitia eius ... in gloriā: quoting Psalm 111(112):3, 9.

cornu:  “horn,” as an emblem of power or self-assertion (DMLBS, cornu 12).

illud: “that famous (remark),” i.e., “the words” (AG 297.b)

(36) Auris ...: the quotation, comprising sentences 36–41, is from Job 29:11–17.

cui nōn esset: “who did not have” (AG 373)

(37): cor viduae cōnsōlātus sum: “I cheered the heart of the widow.”

(39) caecō … claudō: dative, “for the blind (person) ... for the lame (person).”

(41) molās: jawbones

(42) Et paulō post: the quotation (42–44) is from Job 31:16–18.

(45) ēripiēns: another present participle with a perfect sense: “having snatched [them]”

fēcit: the object is nostram gentem, with participem as the predicate accusative after esse (“made our people to be a sharer ...”).

participem: with the objective genitives aeternae lībertātis: “a sharer of ...” (or, “participant in ...”)

quamque: = et quam, with nostram gentem as the antecedent of quam.

in Expositiōne beāti Iob: Iob is genitive; the quotation is from Moralia in Job chapter 11 (Patrologia Latina 76.411).

(46) barbarum frendere: “to gnash its barbarous teeth” (Colgrave-Mynors); barbarum can be taken as a poetic cognate accusative (AG 390.b).

Hebrēum: = Hebraeum, “Hebrew”

coepit allēlūia resonāre: allēlūia is another poetic cognate accusative, with resonāre: “begins to resound: ‘alleluia.’”

(47) quondam tumidus, iam substrātus: both adjectives modify ōceanus.

motūs: implies both political turmoil (sedition, rebellion) and mental confusion (passion, agitation, impulse). See LS, motus II.

prō dīvīnā formīdine: prō, “on account of”: dīvīna formīdō is “fear of God.”

ligant: “tie up, hold fast (to restrict movement),” used allegorically of the whole of Britain (DMLBS, ligare 4.c). The language is hyperbolic in the extreme. The subject is ōra, “mouths.”

īnfidēlis ... fidēlis: appositive and substantive (“as an unbeliever ... as a believer”)

(48) eī: referring to the fidēlis, “believer” in the previous sentence; dative with īnfunditur.

(49) dēclārat, quia … perdūcēbant: indirect statement with quia + indicative, normal in Bede, though the subjuctive is frequent as well (see Druhan, p. 181).

(52) ēripī: passive infinitive with iubeās.

in ... numerārī: rearrange as: iubeās [nōs] numerārī in grege ēlēctōrum tuōrum.

(53) imperātōrum Mauriciī et Focatis: Byzantine Emperors Maurice (reigned 582–602) and Phocas (reigned 602–610); Gregory was Pope from 590 to 602.

(55) diē ... Mārtiārum: March 12.

in ipsō: in ipsō corpore.

POPE GREGORY’S EPITAPH

(56) The epitaph is also recorded in the Liber Pontificālis, a book of biographies of the early Popes. The meter is elegaic couplets.

(56.3) lētī nīl iūra nocēbunt: “the laws of death will harm nothing”; i.e., death will have no power over his soul.

(56.4) vītae ... via est: rearrange as: mors ipsa est magis via alterīus vītae.

(56.6) bonīs: “good deeds”

(56.8) monitīs … sacrīs: a reference to Gregory’s writings, discussed above.

hoste: Satan (DMLBS, hostis 1.c)

(56.10) esset ... loquēns: rearrange as: ut, loquēns mystica verba, esset exemplum.

mystica verba: a reference to Gregory’s allegorical interpretations of Old Testament scripture (see DMLBS, mysticus 3).

(56.15) Hīsque ... triumphīs: rearrange as: et laetāre, factus consul Deī hīs triumphīs.

cōnsul: cōnsul Chrīstī or cōnsul Deī  = Pope (DMLBS, cōnsul 6), but there is a play on the old Roman office of consul, whose holders celebrated triumphs of a different kind.

laetāre: imperative 2 sing. > laetor, “rejoice in” + abl.

OF ANGELS AND ANGLES

(57) quā ... gesserit: rearrange as: admonitus ex quā causā vidēlicet gesserit tam sēdulam cūram ergā salūtem nostrae gentis. The verb gesserit is subjunctive in the indirect question introduced by perlāta est, quā ...; ergā = “on behalf of,” “for the sake of.” The emphasis on sēdulam … cūram is marked by hyperbaton.

(58) vēnālia: “merchandise”

vēnālēs positōs: young slaves put up for sale (LS, vēnālis II.B)

corporis … vultūs: genitives of quality (AG 345)

formā: ablative of quality (AG 415)

(60) talis aspectūs: genitive of quality

(61) īnsulānī Chrīstiānī: understand essent.

(63) lūcidī vultūs: genitive of quality

tenebrārum auctor: i.e., Satan

(64) vocābulum: “name”

(66) Bene: “(they are) well (named)”

tālēs ... decet ... esse: the impersonal decet takes an accusative-infinitive (AG 388.c).

(67) prōvincia: “kingdom,” see Special Usages, prōvincia.

(68) Dēirī: i.e., from Deira, the southern Northumbrian kingdom.

(71) Aelli: Ælle of Deira, whose reign is dated to the end of the sixth century.

(72) allūdēns ad nōmen: allūdēns can appropriately be translated as “punning.”

(73) enim: “however” (DMLBS, enim 3.b)

rogāvit ut … mitteret: “asked (the pope) to send,” substantive clause of purpose (AG 563)

pontificem: probably Pope Pelagius II (reigned 579–590), Gregory’s immediate predecessor.

gentī Anglōrum: “for the Angles”

sē ipsum parātum esse: indirect discourse, with an introductory verb of saying implied: “[he said that] he was prepared....”

in hoc opus perficiendum: “to accomplish this task,” gerundive expressing purpose after parārī. In classical Latin the preposition would be ad rather than in.

sī tamen: if only

(74) Quod: “this” (connecting relative AG 308.f)

dum perficere nōn posset … perfēcit: “while he was unable to accomplish ... he did accomplish.” dum adversative with the subjunctive (see Druhan, p. 162).

mox ut: as soon as

sed ipse ... adiuvāns: rearrange as: sed ipse adiuvāns praedicātiōnem, ut fructificāret; another instance of prolepsis (= adiuvāns ut praedicātiō fructificāret).

sēcēderet: Gregory is the subject.

(75) iuxtā opīniōnem: Bede marks what he has just given as the traditional account, not however verified by reliable documents, such Gregory’s own writings.

ab antīquīs: “from our ancestors”

oportūnum dūximus: “I have thought it proper” > dūcō = “consider.”