Gregory of Tours

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Emmanuel Frémiet : Saint Grégoire de Tours , sculpture for the Panthéon in Paris (around 1875); in Arras Cathedral since 1934

Gregory of Tours ( French Grégoire de Tours; born November 30, 538 near Clermont-Ferrand ; † probably November 17, 594 in Tours ) was Bishop of Tours , historian and hagiographer . His famous Ten Books of Stories are among the most important sources for the transition period between late antiquity and the early Middle Ages .

Life

Gregor was originally called Georgius Florentius . He was born as the third child into a noble Gallo-Roman senatorial family in the Auvergne , which could look back on a long and proud tradition: In the late Roman period it had provided high Roman officials, after the fall of West Rome several family members served the church. Gregory had an older brother named Peter and a sister whose name is unknown. His father was called Florentius, his mother Armentaria; she was probably a daughter of Bishop Armentarius von Langres. His father and his paternal grandfather, Georgius, belonged to the senatorial aristocratic class; his uncle Gallus was Bishop of Clermont . On the maternal side, Gregory was related on one side to the bishops Sacerdos and Nicetius of Lyon , on the other hand to the bishops Gregory of Langres and his son Tetricus of Langres , who both came from a senatorial family. In honor of Gregory of Langres, he took the name Gregor ( Gregorius ), under which he became known. Gregor did not see himself as a Franconian but as a Roman and was recognizably proud of his ancestry, which is clearly expressed in his writings.

Gregor seems to have received a good education; he was familiar with works by Virgil and Sallust (even if only in the form of compendia). He became seriously ill at a young age and vowed to become a clergyman if he recovered. His father died young, and Gregory was brought up first by his mother Armentaria near Cavaillon and then by his uncle Gallus († 551) and the archdeacon and later bishop Avitus in Clermont. Before Gallus' death, Gregory had already entered the clergy. He received further training from his uncle Nicetius in Lyon (Lugdunum), where he was sent in 563. In 563, sick again, he made a pilgrimage to the grave of St. Martin . At this point he was already ordained a deacon . Little is known about the following years. As a deacon he was probably active in the Auvergne when he also visited relatives (like his mother in the part of Burgundy or his maternal cousin, Bishop Euphronius of Tours ). Gregory was friends with the poet Venantius Fortunatus , who dedicated his collection of poems to him. In 571 he stayed for some time in St. Julian in Brioude , where his family had good connections, although his position there is rather unclear. In 573 he was elected Bishop of Tours to succeed Euphronius, presumably at the instigation of King Sigibert I of Austrasia, to whom Gregory was already known from visits to the royal court.

As Bishop of Tours, Gregory was responsible for one of the most important episcopal seats in Gaul. During his episcopate he was often confronted with the disputes of the Franconian kings, who were not least interested in the control of Tours. Gregor opposed them several times and resolutely. So he refused to extradite political opponents to King Chilperich I of Neustria (whom Gregory referred to as "Nero and Herodes" of his time) and his wife Fredegunde . Gregory also campaigned (albeit in vain) for Bishop Praetextatus von Rouen , who had stood up for Prince Merowech after Merowech had rebelled against his father Chilperich and was defeated. Chilperic himself seems to have shown Gregor respect for his commitment, because he used the bishop on various occasions as theological advisor. Gregor's political opponents, including mainly Leudast as regional ruler or comes von Tours, intrigued against him, so that he had to answer to a synod in the summer of 580 . Gregor regained Chilperich's trust by taking an oath.

After Chilperich's death in 584, Gregor campaigned for the reconciliation of the Merovingian rulers Guntram I of Burgundy and Childebert II . Both rulers came to an understanding in 585, and Gregor was in their favor. Nevertheless he had to work in 585 and again in 588 for peace between the rulers.

He died in Tours in late 594, probably on November 17th, which is his feast day. He is venerated as a saint in Tours and Clermont.

Works

Ten books of stories ("History of the Franks")

One page of a manuscript from the Historiae . Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Lat. 17655, fol. 13v (late 7th century)

The main work of Gregory are the Ten Books Stories ( Decem libri historiarum ), which in research are usually briefly referred to as Historiae ("Histories") or, misleadingly, Historia Francorum ("History of the Franks"). An original from Gregor's hand no longer exists, but the extensive work has been handed down in more than 50 medieval manuscripts. The oldest of them date from the 7th century, but are incomplete and incorrect. More reliable manuscripts date from the 11th century.

It is a Christian universal story in the tradition of late antiquity . Gregory's intention was to present the history of the universal Church from an eschatological point of view, from the creation of the world to the Frankish kings of the 6th century . The first book describes the time up to the death of St. Martin of Tours (397), the second describes the time of the first Merovingians up to the death of King Clovis I. With the fourth book Gregory reaches his own time; it ends with the assassination of King Sigibert I. The remaining six books deal with the rest of contemporary history up to the summer of 591. At the end Gregor puts an autobiography with a list of his works. The Historiae were written successively: Gregor wrote the first four books around or shortly after 575 (although they were probably revised again later), the remaining six books followed later. Alexander Callander Murray, on the other hand, has recently assumed a different assumption that the histories were written after 585.

In his portrayal, Gregory combines - just like his Greek contemporary Euagrios Scholastikos - ecclesiastical and secular historiography. He sees the Franks in the succession of the Romans, but does not gloss over the sometimes catastrophic conditions in their regnum (Gregor, Historien IV 50). The work not only provides information about the Franks, such as their alleged origin (see Origo gentis ), but is broadly based. Because of its central theme, it is, as I said, often referred to as the history of the Franks ( Historia Francorum ), but this does not do justice to Gregory's concern; recent research emphasizes the universal character of writing. Gregory even goes into events in the Far East, on the eastern border of the shrunken Roman Empire , such as the sack of Antioch by the Persians in 540 or the outbreak of a new Persian War in 572 (Gregory, Historien IV 40). The Byzantine emperor still regarded him as overlord and is called Dominus Noster referred, and in particular on events at the court of Justin II. And Tiberius Constantine appears Gregor well informed.

Gregor's Latin is interesting in terms of linguistic history and offers valuable material on the history of early medieval Vulgar Latin . In the introduction Gregor apologizes for his "unkempt" and "rural" language. In fact, because of its proximity to the language spoken at the time, his Latin differs greatly in both morphology and syntax from classical Latin and from the Latin of authors of late antiquity. This reflects the transition between Latin and the Romance languages : For Gregor, on the one hand, Latin is not yet a foreign language to be learned, on the other hand it is no longer identical with the colloquial language of his time. Some scholars are of the opinion that the classically educated Gregory made a conscious effort to find a middle ground between the cultivated Latin of the late antique church writers and the Romanesque vernacular of his time, which was influenced by Franconian dialects. However, it is entirely possible that Gregor's language was actually closer to ancient Latin than the authoritative text edition by Bruno Krusch shows: Krusch expected Gregor to use "vulgar" (slang-spoken) Latin; he therefore orientated himself on those manuscripts that offer such, and in case of doubt always opted for the “unkempt” variant, while he considered more demanding constructions for later improvements by copyists. This procedure has been criticized in part by later scholars.

Erich Auerbach emphasized what he saw as a break between Gregor and late antique authors, whose artificial language and hierarchical structure of periods he left behind. This can be seen in the mixing of the "everyday-realistic" with the "sublime and tragic" and the clumsy and poorly clear structure of his narratives, which are often shaped by concrete experience, in which causal, concessional and other dependencies are sometimes confused and blurred and " monstrous ”and“ systemless participles ”can be found. Auerbach considers Gregor to be a pastor who is not interested in dogmatic discussions, but rather the practical-organizational, who is aware of his task, in view of the increasing brutality and the decline of civilization, which increasingly affected the Gallo-Roman part of the Merovingian Empire, with the help of his stories “Christian Civilization ”.

Although Martin Heinzelmann considers the "Merovingisms" of the 10 books to be later falsifications, other authors such as the classical philologist Roman Müller consider the lowering of the style level with Gregor as intended, similar to that of Caesarius von Arles , who is known for his easily understandable popular sermons , but he accuses himself des sermo rusticus , the simple, rural language that he, as a preacher, wants to legitimize as a “new, forward-looking speaking and writing variety” and offer it to the educated people for the sake of a successful broad impact. Even Rudolf Buchner comes from a deliberate reduction from the style level. In another work (in the introduction to the Libri de virtutibus St. Martini ) Gregory states that his mother advised him to write down the miracles of Saint Martin of Tours regardless of his linguistic concerns. The question of Gregor's Latin competence, however, becomes less important when one considers a language-programmatic intention. More recently, Pascale Bourgain has come to a positive conclusion in his investigation of Gregor's style and language. According to him, the editions no longer reveal Gregor's language forms, and he also rejects the accusation of Gregor's "wild language".

In addition to the Latin Bible ( Vulgate ), Gregory's sources included Orosius , Avitus von Vienne and Sidonius Apollinaris . Gregor also used lost sources today, such as annals (such as the so-called Annals of Angers ) as well as the historical work of Sulpicius Alexander and that of Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus . He often names his sources or cites documents. Not least because of the amount of material, the work is irreplaceable and, despite all problems, represents the main source for late ancient Gaul and the early Merovingian period.

History was widely read in the Middle Ages. In the centuries that followed, it was carried on by unknown authors known as Fredegar and Pseudo-Fredegar. The first print ( editio princeps ) appeared in Paris in 1511/12.

In modern research, Gregor's credibility is controversial. It has recently been viewed particularly critically by Ian N. Wood . Wood acknowledges that Gregor was the first member of the Gallo-Roman aristocracy after almost a century to write a work of history, and also praises Gregor's art as a storyteller, but also starts there with his criticism. Because, according to Wood, Gregor arranged his work in a way that suited his point of view, and purposely kept secret certain events of his own time. Wood and others also argue that the cultural discrepancy between the 5th century, when the excellently educated writer Sidonius Apollinaris lived in Gaul, and Gregory's time was in truth not as great as Gregory depicts it. After all, important poets in the late antique tradition worked there around 600, such as Venantius Fortunatus . Wood therefore comes to a generally skeptical assessment of Gregor's reliability, as he deliberately painted a dark picture of his time. Another critic is Walter A. Goffart , who also accused Gregor of deliberately suppressing certain events. Overall, recent research has emphasized how much Gregory was still attached to late antique traditions; it has clearly moved away from older positions which Gregor attributed entirely to the Middle Ages.

However, it is possible that Gregor overlooked some things because he did not think it worth mentioning and not because he wanted to withhold them from the readers in order to influence them. Indeed, Gregor's selective handling of his material and his tendency to moralize may alienate modern readers, but both were normal at the time and nothing special to Gregor. Like other ecclesiastical authors, he understood his work as a representation of salvation history and proceeded consistently in this sense. Some incorrect chronological information and imprecise numerical information in the early books are also criticized, for example with regard to Gregor's descriptions of Clovis, during whose reign Gregor probably only had incomplete information available.

The high source value of the work (not only for the political events, but also for the cultural history) in an otherwise poor time is indisputable. However, Gregor does not try to understand historical developments and connections, but rather strings together (sometimes incoherently) events. Hence, he is more of a storyteller than (in the strict sense of the term) a historian.

Other works

The other works of Gregory belong mainly to the field of hagiography; The focus is on miracle stories. Today they attract far less attention than the great historical work, but in the Middle Ages they were better known than the Historiae . Gregor wrote the following writings:

  • Libri octo miraculorum (Eight Books of Miracles), a collection of the life stories of Gallic saints with the following subdivision:
    • Book 1: Liber in gloria martyrum (Book for the glory of the martyrs)
    • Book 2: Liber de passione et virtutibus sancti Iuliani martyris (book about the suffering and miracles of the holy martyr Julian), is about the ancient martyr Julianus von Brioude
    • Books 3–6: Libri IV de virtutibus sancti Martini (Four books on the miracles of St. Martin)
    • Book 7: Liber vitae patrum (Book of the Lives of the Fathers), contains twenty descriptions of the lives of saints mainly from the Clermont and Tours area
    • Book 8: Liber in gloria confessorum (Book for the glory of the confessors)
  • Liber de miraculis beati Andreae apostoli (Book on the miracles of the Blessed Apostle Andrew), written shortly before 593
  • Passio sanctorum septem dormientium apud Ephesum (suffering of the Holy Seven Sleepers of Ephesus), a Latin version of the Oriental dormice Legend
  • De cursibus ecclesiasticis (also De cursu stellarum ratio ), a treatise on the observation of the movements of the stars for the purpose of determining the times of prayer; written in the period 575-582
  • In psalterii tractatum commentarius ( Psalm commentary ; only fragments of this work have survived)

Family relationships

In his work, Gregor gives numerous references to his family, which enable a coherent presentation and give a picture of the social status of Gregory and his relatives.

The Gregors family

  1. Georgius, Senator of Auvergne; ∞ Leocadia, sister of Inpetratus (attested around 525), from the family of Vectius Epagatus, 177 martyrs in Lyon , his descendant Leocadius (senator in Bourges, end of the 3rd century) and his son Lusor (end of the 3rd / beginning of the 4th century). Century)
    1. Gallus (* 487), Bishop of Auvergne 525–551
    2. Florentius, Senator of Auvergne; ∞ Armentaria, daughter of NN, son of Gregor von Langres , comes from Autun, Bishop of Langres , and Armentaria, and NN, daughter of Florentinus, Senator, Elekt of Geneva (513), and Artemia
      1. Petrus, deacon in Langres , 574 driven away
      2. Gregorius (Georgius Florentius) (* 538; † 594), 573 Bishop of Tours
      3. Daughter; ∞ Justin
        1. Iustina, provess in Poitiers
        2. Eusthenia; ∞ Nicetius

The family of Gregory of Langres (Gregorius Attalus)

  1. Gregorius Attalus (around 450 - around 540), "ex senatoribus primis", comes from Autun 466/67, Bishop of Langres 506/07, saint; ∞ Armentaria; † before 506/07, probably daughter of Armentarius, Bishop of Langres around 479/506
    1. Tetricus of Langres , Bishop of Langres 539–572 / 73
    2. son
      1. Euphronius of Tours (* 503), Bishop of Tours 556-573
    3. child
      1. Attalus
    4. Son; ∞ NN, daughter of Florentinus, Senator from Geneva, Elekt from Geneva around 513, and Artemia
      1. Armentaria; ∞ Florentius, Senator of Auvergne (see above)

Euphronius of Autun (probably an uncle of Gregory of Langres), Bishop of Autun around 451 – after 475, saint

The descendants of Senator Florentinus

  1. NN
    1. Florentinus, Senator from Geneva, Elect from Geneva 513, resigns because of his wife's pregnancy; ∞ Artemia
      1. Gundulfus, 581 dux
      2. Daughter; ∞ NN, son of Gregor, comes from Autun (see above)
      3. Nicetius (* 513), Bishop of Lyon 552-573
    2. Sacerdos (486 / 87–551 / 52), bishop of Lyon after 541, uncle of Nicetius, thus perhaps also brother Artemias
      1. Aurelianus, Bishop of Arles

expenditure

Translations

  • Gregory of Tours: Ten Books of Stories. 2 volumes. Based on the translation by Wilhelm Giesebrecht , revised by Rudolf Buchner . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1955/1956 (and reprints).
  • Gregory of Tours: Franconian history. 3 volumes. After the translation by Wilhelm von Giesebrecht, revised by Manfred Gebauer. Phaidon-Verlag, Essen et al. 1988.
  • Gregory of Tours: Life of the Fathers. Translated into English by Edward James (= Translated Texts for Historians . Volume 1). 2nd Edition. Liverpool University Press, Liverpool 1991, ISBN 0-85323-327-6 .
  • Gregory of Tours: Glory of the Martyrs. Translated into English by Raymond Van Dam (= Translated Texts for Historians. Volume 4). Reprint with corrections. Liverpool University Press, Liverpool 2004, ISBN 0-85323-236-9 .
  • Gregory of Tours: Glory of the Confessors. Translated into English by Raymond Van Dam (= Translated Texts for Historians. Volume 5). Reprint with corrections. Liverpool University Press, Liverpool 2004, ISBN 0-85323-226-1 .
  • Gregory of Tours: Lives and Miracles (= Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library. Volume 39). Edited and translated into English by Giselle de Nie. Harvard University Press, London 2019.

literature

  • Max Bonnet: Le latin de Grégoire de Tours. Hachette, Paris 1890 (also: dissertation, University of Paris 1889–1890). Reprint: Olms, Hildesheim 1968. [Basic investigation of Gregor's language]
  • Adriaan HB Breukelaar: Historiography and Episcopal Authority in Sixth-Century Gaul. The Histories of Gregory of Tours interpreted in their historical context (= research on church and dogma history. Volume 57). Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 1994, ISBN 3-525-55165-7 (also: dissertation, University of Amsterdam 1991).
  • Albrecht Diem: Gregory's Chess Board: Monastic Conflict and Competition in Early Medieval Gaul. In: Philippe Depreux, François Bougard, Régine Le Jan (eds.): Compétition et sacré au haut Moyen Âge: entre médiation et exclusion. Brepols, Turnhout 2015, pp. 165–191.
  • Peter Classen:  Gregor. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 7, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1966, ISBN 3-428-00188-5 , p. 20 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Walter A. Goffart : The Narrators of Barbarian History (AD 550-800). Jordanes, Gregory of Tours, Bede, and Paul the Deacon. Princeton University Press, Princeton (NJ) 1988, ISBN 0-691-05514-9 .
  • Martin Heinzelmann : Gregor von Tours (538-594). "Ten Books of History". Historiography and concept of society in the 6th century. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1994, ISBN 3-534-08348-2 . [Standard work on the histories ]
  • Martin Heinzelmann: The Franks and Franconian history in the perspective of the historiography of Gregory of Tours. In: Anton Scharer , Georg Scheibelreiter (Ed.): Historiography in the early Middle Ages (= publications of the Institute for Austrian Historical Research. Volume 32). Oldenbourg, Munich et al. 1994, ISBN 3-486-64832-2 , pp. 326-344.
  • Martin Heinzelmann: Episcopal rule in Gaul. On the continuity of the Roman leadership from the 4th to 7th centuries. Social, prosopographical and educational history aspects (= Francia . Supplement 5). Artemis-Verlag, Zurich / Munich 1976 ( online ).
  • Kathleen Mitchell, Ian Wood (eds.): The World of Gregory of Tours (= Cultures, Beliefs, and Traditions. Volume 8). Brill, Leiden et al. 2002, ISBN 90-04-11034-8 .
  • Alexander Callander Murray (Ed.): A Companion to Gregory of Tours. Brill, Leiden 2016.
  • Alexander Callander Murray: Chronology and the Composition of the Histories of Gregory of Tours . In: Journal of Late Antiquity . Volume 1, 2008, pp. 157-196.
  • Antonio Serra: L'ingenium artis di Gregorio di Tours. Preliminari d'indagine. In: Invigilata Lucernis. Volume 32, 2010, pp. 157-175.

Web links

Wikisource: Gregorius Turonensis  - Sources and full texts (Latin)
Wikisource: Gregory of Tours  - Sources and full texts
Commons : Gregory of Tours  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Remarks

  1. ↑ For the vita see Martin Heinzelmann: Gregory of Tours: The Elements of a Biography. In: Alexander Callander Murray (Ed.): A Companion to Gregory of Tours. Leiden 2016, p. 7ff. Cf. also Luce Pietri: Gregor von Tours . In: Theological Real Encyclopedia . Vol. 14 (1985), pp. 184-188, zum Leben pp. 184f. as well as Karl Friedrich Stroheker : The senatorial nobility in late antique Gaul. Tübingen 1948 (reprint Darmstadt 1970), p. 179f.
  2. ↑ On the family cf. Martin Heinzelmann: Gregory of Tours: The Elements of a Biography. In: Alexander Callander Murray (Ed.): A Companion to Gregory of Tours. Leiden 2016, p. 11ff.
  3. ^ Karl Friedrich Stroheker: The senatorial nobility in late antique Gaul. Tübingen 1948 (reprint Darmstadt 1970), p. 204, no.299.
  4. ^ Karl Friedrich Stroheker: The senatorial nobility in late antique Gaul. Tübingen 1948 (reprint Darmstadt 1970), p. 176, no.163.
  5. ^ Karl Friedrich Stroheker: The senatorial nobility in late antique Gaul. Tübingen 1948 (reprint Darmstadt 1970), p. 148, no.35.
  6. Jump up ↑ Patrick J. Geary: The Merovingians: Europe before Charlemagne. Beck, Munich 2003, p. 134.
  7. ^ Karl Friedrich Stroheker: The senatorial nobility in late antique Gaul. Tübingen 1948 (reprint Darmstadt 1970), p. 177, no. 175.
  8. ^ Karl Friedrich Stroheker: The senatorial nobility in late antique Gaul. Tübingen 1948 (reprint Darmstadt 1970), p. 176f., No. 171.
  9. ^ Gregor, Historiae VI 46
  10. ↑ The 17th of November is only mentioned in the 10th century Vita sancti Gregorii by Odo von Cluny . Possibly there is an equation with Gregory the miracle worker .
  11. ↑ See details: Heinzelmann, Gregor von Tours; Goffart, narrators .
  12. ↑ Alexander Callander Murray: The Composition of the Histories of Gregory of Tours and its Bearing on the Political Narrative. In: Alexander Callander Murray (Ed.): A Companion to Gregory of Tours. Leiden 2016, here p. 91f.
  13. ↑ Gregor largely avoided the term Franconia . In relation to his work, in addition to the full title decem libri historiarum (X 31 = Edition Krusch, p. 535, line 20), he often speaks of historia or historiae , probably following the ancient historiographical tradition . This is how Gregor, who used both terms synonymously, also referred to several of his sources: Heinzelmann, Gregor von Tours , pp. 95f. See generally Walter Goffart: From Historiae to Historia Francorum and back again. Aspects of the textual history of Gregory of Tours . In: Walter Goffart: Romes Fall and After . London 1989, pp. 255ff .; Edward James: Gregory of Tours and the Franks . In: Alexander C. Murray (Ed.): After Rome's Fall: Narrators and Sources of Early Medieval History . Toronto 1998, p. 51ff.
  14. ↑ See Averil Cameron : The Byzantine Sources of Gregory of Tours . In: Journal of Theological Studies 26 (1975), p. 421ff. Cameron is generally positive about Gregors descriptions of the events in the east.
  15. ↑ See Simon Loseby: Gregory of Tours, Italy, and the Empire. In: Alexander Callander Murray (Ed.): A Companion to Gregory of Tours. Leiden 2016, p. 462ff.
  16. ↑ On the handwritten tradition, cf., among other things, the information in Goffart, Romes Fall and After , pp. 255ff. Pascale Bourgain, Martin Heinzelmann: L'œuvre de Grégoire de Tours: la diffusion des manuscrits is more detailed . In: Grégoire de Tours et l'espace gaulois. Actes du congrès international, Tours, 3–5 November 1994. Edited by Nancy Gauthier, Henri Galinié. Tours 1997, pp. 273-317.
  17. ^ Georg Scheibelreiter : The barbaric society. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1999, p. 387.
  18. ↑ Erich Auerbach: Mimesis. (1946) 10th edition, Tübingen / Basel 2001, p. 83 ff.
  19. ↑ Roman Müller: Language Awareness and Language Variation in Ancient Latin Literature. Beck, Munich 2001, p. 74. Manfred Fuhrmann, too, about the sense of Gregor's “ modesty topic ”: Rom in der Spätantike , Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1994, p. 346.
  20. ^ Rudolf Buchner (ed.): Gregor von Tours: Ten books stories. Volume I. Darmstadt 1955, p. XL.
  21. ↑ Roman Müller: Language Awareness and Language Variation in Ancient Latin Literature. Beck, Munich 2001, p. 75 f.
  22. ^ Pascale Bourgain: The Works of Gregory of Tours: Manuscripts, Language, and Style. In: Alexander Callander Murray (Ed.): A Companion to Gregory of Tours. Leiden 2016, pp. 141ff.
  23. ↑ Historiae II 18f. See David Frye: Aegidius, Childeric, Odovacer and Paul . In: Nottingham Medieval Studies 36 (1992), pp. 1ff.
  24. ↑ This he used to illustrate the early history of the Franks, see Marcomer .
  25. ↑ See Ian N. Wood: The Merovingian Kingdoms . Harlow et al. a. 1994, p. 30f. Wood had previously made his position clear in essays.
  26. ↑ Wood, Kingdoms , p. 31.
  27. ↑ Wood, Kingdoms , S. 32. The general criticism Woods contradicted among other things Hans Hubert Anton: Gregor von Tours. In: Lexikon des Mittelalters Volume 4, Munich / Zurich 1989, here Sp. 1679ff., Here Sp. 1682.
  28. ^ Goffart, Narrators , pp. 159ff. In other places Goffart found praise for Gregor; He admired the simplicity of the language and pointed out, like other researchers, that simple speech had a tradition in late antiquity and was therefore not necessarily a sign of decay.
  29. ^ Martin Heinzelmann: Gregor von Tours . In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde . Vol. 12 (1998), pp. 612-615, here 615.
  30. ↑ In summary Heinzelmann, Gregor von Tours , in: RGA 12, p. 615: “Despite the theological and didactic orientation that is contained in the Hist. becomes clearer than in the hagiographical writings, G. is a credible witness of his time ”; similar to Hubert, Gregor von Tours , in: LexMA, vol. 4, col. 1679–1682.
  31. ↑ See also Andreas Loose: Astronomical Time Determination in the Early Middle Ages. "De cursu stellarum" by Gregory of Tours . Bochum, Univ. Diss. 1989.
  32. ↑ Cf. Bruno Krusch, Gregorii Episcopi Turonensis Decem Libri Historiarum, Praefatio, pp. IX / X, MGH Scriptores Rerum Merovingicarum Volume 1, Part 1 (1937), and Martin Heinzelmann, Gallische Prosopographie 260-527 . In: Francia . Volume 10, 1982, pp. 531-718 ( online )
predecessor Office successor
Euphronius of Tours Bishop of Tours
573-594 		Pelage I.
personal data
SURNAME Gregory of Tours
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Grégoire de Tours; Georgius Florentius (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Christian saint, Bishop of Tours (from 573) and Gallo-Roman historian
DATE OF BIRTH November 30, 538
PLACE OF BIRTH at Clermont-Ferrand
DATE OF DEATH uncertain: November 17, 594
Place of death Tours