Gratian 2 introduced the important distinction between
“excommunication” and “anathema” as technical terms.
Gratian 1 had used the two terms interchangeably for
rhetorical variation. Since Gratian 2 seldom changed or
deleted the original text of Gratian 1, the resulting text
often seems confused.
An enormous number of glosses and commentaries
on Gratian’s Decretum are preserved. Important com-
mentaries were composed by Johannes Faventinus,
Huguccio, and Johannes Teutonicus, who c. 1215 pub-
lished what would become the standard gloss, called the
Glossa ordinaria. Gratian’s enduring fame is endorsed
by Dante, who places him among philosophers in Canto
10 of Paradiso.
Further Reading
Friedberg, Emil, ed. Decretum magistri Gratiani. Corpus Iuris
Canonici, 1. Leipzig: Bernhardi Tauchnitz, 1879.
Kuttner, Stephan. Gratian and the Schools of Law, 1140–1234.
London: Variorum Reprints, 1983.
Landau, Peter. Kanones und Dekretalen: Beiträge zur Geschichte
der Quellen des kanonischen Rechts. Goldbach, 1997.
Noonan, John T. “Gratian Slept Here: The Changing Identity of
the Father of the Systematic Study of Canon Law.” Traditio,
35, 1979, pp. 145–172.
Rambaud, Jacqueline. “Le legs du droit ancien: Gratien.” In L’âge
classique, 1140—1378: Sources et théorie du droit. Histoire
du Droit et des Institutions de l’Église en Occident, 7. Paris:
Sirey, 1965, pp. 52–119.
Southern, R. W. Scholastic Humanism and the Unifi cation of
Europe. Oxford: Blackwell, 1995.
Vemlani, Adam. Sur Gratien et les décrétales. Aldershot, Hamp-
shire: Variorum, 1990.
Weigand, Rudolf. Die Glossen zum Dekret Gratians: Studien
zu den frühen Glossen und Glossenkompositionen. Rome:
n.p., 1991.
Winroth, Anders. “The Two Recensions of Gratian’s Decretum.”
Zeitschrifi der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte, Kanon-
istische Abteilung, 83, 1996, pp. 22–31.
——. The Making of Gratian’s Decretum. Cambridge Studies
in Medieval Life and Thought, Series 4(49). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Anders Winroth
GREBAN, ARNOUL
(d. before 1473)
Author of a well-known Mystère de la Passion, Greban
was born in Le Mans and studied theology at the Univer-
sity of Paris. From 1450 to 1455, he lived in the cloister
of the cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, where he was
organist and master of the choirboys. It was here that he
wrote his Passion play, probably in 1450–52. This work
is set in the framework of the Procès de Paradis, fi rst
introduced by Eustache Marcadé, and its 35,000 lines
are divided into four playing days. Despite its variety
of styles (sermons, debates, lamentations) and moods
(solemn in Heaven, comic in Hell, pathetic in torture
scenes), the play exhibits a strong unity. Greban employs
many poetic forms and punctuates the action throughout
with music. The life of Jesus is presented against the
background of a cosmic struggle between the forces
of good and evil. This confl ict is introduced in the fi rst
scenes, where Lucifer rebels against God then out of
envy tempts Adam and Eve to fall from grace. Greban’s
Passion was played three times in Paris before 1473. It
served as the basis for Jean Michel’s Passion play and
was adapted for production in a number of other cities.Further Reading
Greban, Amoul. Le mystère de la Passion, ed. Omer Jodogne. 2
vols. Brussels: Palais des Académies, 1965–83.
Champion, Pierre. Histoire poétique du quinzième siècle. 2 vols.
Paris: Champion, 1923, Vol. 2, pp. 133–88.
Alan E. KnightGREGORY I, POPE (c. 540–604)
Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great) is one of the most
notable personalities in the early church. The defi ning
characteristics and organization of the medieval papacy,
and indeed of modern Catholicism, owe their founda-
tions to Gregory. His legacy includes associations with
major liturgical and musical developments, so much
so that the music of the Catholic church is named for
him—Gregorian chant. He is also remembered, among
numerous other accomplishments, for sending Saint Au-
gustine of Canterbury to evangelize the British Isles.Early Life
Gregory was descended from the senatorial nobility in
Rome. His father, Gordianus, was a wealthy patrician
of the famous gens Amicia and owned large estates
in Sicily and a mansion on the Caelian Hill in Rome.
Gregory’s mother, Silvia, also was of good family; she is
celebrated as a saint on 3 November, and her two sisters
were canonized as well. Little is known of Gregory’s
early education, but he was, according to Gregory of
Tours (538–594), unsurpassed in Rome in grammar,
dialectic, and rhetoric. The religious atmosphere of
his childhood—a time when, John the Deacon tells us,
he was like a saint among saints—gave him an solid
grounding in the scriptures. His rank and position cer-
tainly indicated that he should embark on a public career.
Our fi rst record of him is in 573, when he became prefect
of Rome at age thirty. Though this offi ce was not then
as prestigious as it had formerly been, it was still the
highest civil dignity in the city. Soon after achieving
this honor, however, Gregory gave up his offi ce and the
tenor of life and became a monk, c. 574. His estates were
donated to the church, and his mansion on the Caelian
Hill became a monastery devoted to Saint Andrew.GRATIAN