Codex Trecensis - Pastoral Rule of Gregory the Great

Codex Trecensis – Pastoral Rule of Gregory the Great

Counted among the most important figures in the development of Christianity, Pope Gregory I (ca. 540–604) was a more prolific author than any pope to have come before him and wrote one of the most influential and widely celebrated works concerning the priesthood and its responsibilities. Although highly praised, many contemporaries felt Gregory set the bar too high in terms of the personal, intellectual, and moral standards he expected from the common parish priest. Nonetheless, the Liber Regulae Pastoralis was quickly disseminated from the Eastern Mediterranean to the British Isles. Originally, the text was written by Gregory as a response to a query by Bishop John of Ravenna. The commonly used title is derived from a letter written by Gregory when he sent a copy to his friend Saint Leander of Seville (ca. 534–600/601).

A Vastly Influential Work

In contrast to the typical image of the so-called “Dark Ages”, there was actually a network of monasteries and scriptoria that allowed the Regulae to be copied and spread to virtually every corner of Christendom within 10 years of Gregory writing it. After personally reading a copy, the Byzantine Emperor Maurice (539-602) ordered that the work be translated into Greek and had copies sent to every bishop in the Empire. Gregory’s work stands alone among the Latin works of the period deemed worthy enough to be translated into Greek. It was equally popular in the West and was brought to the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Kent by Augustine (d. 604), the first Archbishop of Canterbury, in 597 as part of a mission commissioned by Gregory. As part of a project to improve education in Anglo-Saxon England, King Alfred the Great (848/849–899) personally translated the work into Old English and described both his methods and rationale behind the project in a preface. The work appears to have been adopted by the bishops of the Frankish Empire after a series of councils in 813 and continued to be regarded as the most essential guide for priests across Europe for centuries to come.

Created in Gregory’s Lifetime

Among the numerous copies of Pastoral Care that survive today, the oldest is believed to be a manuscript originating from Rome ca. 600 when Gregory was still pope and is stored today in the Troyes Public Library under the shelf mark MS 504. Not only does it contain the full revised text, but it is also one of the oldest complete manuscripts in existence. It was written in an unbroken uncial script, about 25 lines per page, which is adorned with red, green, and yellow initials. The initials exhibit characteristics from Insular illumination and are similar to the opening initial of the so-called Bobbio Jerome, which was created by Hiberno-Scottish monks in Northern Italy about 20 years earlier. Although the first three lines written in red ink have faded, the black ink remains clearly legible. The manuscript is a precious relic not only of Christian theology but of the manuscript tradition at the end of Late Antiquity.

Saint Gregory the Great

Gregory was the son of a Roman senator and served as prefect of Rome at the age of 30. He also lived for years in a monastery for years and became the first pope from a monastic background. This combination of a proper theological education and experience with politics and as an administrator made for an exceptional pope who expanded the authority of the papacy to Spain and France, send missionaries to England, and convinced the Franks, Lombards, and Visigoths to abandon Arian Christianity in favor of Rome’s teachings. Known throughout the Middle Ages as “the Father of Christian Worship”, today he is regarded as a saint in Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, as well as many Protestant denominations and is counted as one of the Latin Fathers and a Doctor of the Church. Gregory is the patron saint of musicians, singers, students, and teachers. Even John Calvin (1509–64), who did not believe in the veneration of saints, declared Gregory to be the last good pope.