quiet. He enjoyed the favor of Guntram and Childebert, did much to beautify the city of Tours,
built many churches, and particularly the church of St. Martin (590). But at length the time of his
release came, and on Nov. 17, 594, he went to his reward. His saintship was immediately recognized
by the people he had served, and the Latin Church formally beatified and canonized him. His day
in the calendar is November l7.
The Works of Gregory were all produced while bishop. Their number attests his diligence,
but their style proves the correctness of his own judgment that he was not able to write good Latin.
Only one is of real importance, but that is simply inestimable, as it is the only abundant source for
French history of the fifth and sixth centuries. It is the Ecclesiastical History of the Franks, in ten
books,^1001 begun in 576, and not finished until 592. By reason of it Gregory has been styled the
Herodotus of France. It was his object to tell the history of his own times for the benefit of posterity,
although he was aware of his own unfitness for the task. But like the chroniclers of the period he
must needs begin with Adam, and it is not till the close of the first book that the history of Gaul
properly begins. The last five books tell the story of the events in Gregory’s own life-time, and
have therefore most value. Gregory is not a model historian, but when speaking of facts within his
experience he is reliable in his statements, and impartial in his narrative, although partial in his
judgments.
Gregory gives at the close of his Ecclesiastical History a catalogue of his writings, all of
which have been preserved, with the exception of the commentary on the Psalms, of which only
the preface and the titles of the chapters are now extant.^1002 The complete list is as follows:^1003 The
Miracles of St. Martin, in four books, begun in 574, finished 594; the miracles were recorded by
direction of Gregory’s mother, who appeared to him in a vision; The Passion of St. Julian the
Martyr, written between 582 and 586; The Martyr’s Glory, written about 586; The Confessor’s
Glory, about 588; The Lives of the Fathers, written at different times and finished in 594. The last
is the most interesting and important of these hagiographical works, which do not call for further
mention.^1004 The Course of the Stars, or as Gregory calls it, The Ecclsiastical Circuit, is a liturgical
work, giving the proper offices at the appearance of the most important stars.
§ 155. St. Isidore of Seville.
I. St. Isidorus Hispalensis Opera omnia, in Migne, Tom. LXXXI.-LXXXIV. (reprint of F. Arevalo’s
ed. Rome, 1797–1803, 7 vols., with the addition of the Collectio canonum ascribed to Isidore).
Migne’s Tom. LXXXV. and LXXXVI. contain the Liturgia Mozarabica secundum regulam
beati Isidori. Editions of separate works: De libris iii. sententiarum. Königsburg, 1826, 1827,
2 parts. De nativitate Domini, passione et resurrectione, regno atque judicio, ed. A. Holtzmann,
Carlsruhe, 1836. De natura rerum liber, ed. G. Becker, Berlin, 1857.
II. Besides the Prolegomena of Arevalo, which fill all Tom. LXXXI., see Vita S. Isidori, LXXXII.,
col. 19–56. P. B. Gams: Kirchengeschichte von spanien. Regensburg, 1862–1879, 5 parts. (II.
(^1001) Historiae ecclesiasticae Francorum libri decem. Migne, LXXI. col. 159-572.
(^1002) X. xxxi. 19. Migne, col. 571-572.
(^1003) Ibid. col. 705 sqq.
(^1004) The dates given above are Monod’s, l.c. pp. 41-49.