Gregorian chant 311See alsoLATINEMPIRE OFCONSTANTINOPLE;NICAEA,
EMPIRE OF.
Further reading:Deno Geanakoplos, Byzantine East
and Latin West: Two Worlds of Christendom in Middle Ages
and Renaissance (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1966);
Harold E. Lurier, ed. and trans., Crusaders as Conquerors:
The Chronicle of Morea(New York: Columbia University
Press, 1964); Apostolos E. Vacalopoulos, Origins of the
Greek Nation: The Byzantine Period, 1204–1461,trans. Ian
Moles (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press,
1970).
Greek fire This was a napalmlike substance that
could be squirted under pressure from specially designed
ships. It was used for the first time with devastating
effect on the ARABfleet besieging CONSTANTINOPLEin
- Though it was a closely guarded secret, its formula
seemed to have included crude oil, sticky resins and sul-
fur, heated and then sprayed through a pump with a
bronze tube, becoming similar to a modern flame
thrower. At a distance it doused an enemy with adhesive
fire unable to be extinguished with water. It was also
used in throwable grenades and in pumps deployed to
attack or defend land walls.
See alsoWEAPONS AND WEAPONRY.
Further reading:J. R. Partington, A History of Greek
Fire and Gunpowder(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity Press, 1999).
Greek Orthodox Church See CHURCH,EASTERN
ORTHODOX.
Greek studies SeeRENAISSANCE AND REVIVALS IN ART.
Greenland Huge, Greenland was a mostly ice-covered
island in the far North Atlantic that was populated for a
time in the Middle Ages. In 985, Erik the Red (d. ca.
1002), banned for crimes from ICELAND, sought exile in
an unknown land hitherto only glimpsed by lost naviga-
tors. He reached the island and decided to colonize the
southern coast. He optimistically, or deceptively, named it
Groenland or Green Land. He returned to ICELANDand
found colonizers for the new country, who settled on the
southwestern and southeastern coasts. The resources at
the island were meager, but its walrus IVORYenjoyed a
temporary favor back in Europe. A bishopric was estab-
lished at Gardarr. Two monasteries and a cathedral were
built, and parish churches were established. The country
and its small population passed under the rule of NOR-
WAY, then DENMARKat the same time as Iceland in the
1260s. It was totally and mysteriously abandoned by
1500, but it seems likely that the settlers decimated the
fragile ecological balance of their settlement areas and
never adopted to living off the sea.
Further reading:Knud J. Krogh, Viking Greenland:
With a Supplement of Saga Texts(Copenhagen: National
Museum, 1967); Finn Gad, The History of Greenland,
trans. Charles Jones (Copenhagen: A. Busck, 1982– );
Kirsten A. Seaver, The Frozen Echo: Greenland and the
Exploration of North America, ca. A.D. 1000–1500(Stan-
ford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1996).Gregorian chant(plainsong) The term Gregorian
chant initially designated the monophonic liturgical
chant or singing of the early Latin or Catholic Church.
Created at the very beginnings of Christianity, it lasted
throughout the Middle Ages. Legend attributed its
founding to Pope GREGORYI the Great, who was said to
have received knowledge of it from the Holy Spirit in the
form of a dove.
Though its real origins have remained much dis-
puted, it was likely a repertory designed for memoriza-
tion of material and styles of Roman origin that was
introduced into Gaul in the eighth century by the politi-
cal and religious policies of PÉPINIII the Short and then
CHARLEMAGNE. It blended with the regional Gallican and
Frankish liturgical and musical traditions, giving rise in
the ninth century to what has been called Romano-
Frankish chant. Over time this was the foundation of a
whole corpus of liturgical MUSICthat gradually evolved
throughout the Middle Ages. The chants of the 15th cen-
tury, however, have little in common with those of this
old Gregorian and Frankish foundation. It was enriched
with OFFICESfor saints and new musical forms from the
ninth century, the new tropes and sequences.
Gregorian chant was a fundamental part of the
liturgy. It elaborated and commented on texts with which
it was supposed to have a close relationship. The majority
of these texts, especially the older ones, were from the
Psalms. This psalmody was derived from synagogue
chant. Originally, the singing of psalms was reserved and
limited to a cantor, but the congregation of clerics and
even the laity were gradually invited and allowed to
respond in the form of refrains. This responsorial
psalmody was in reality the origin of the main musical
forms of Gregorian chant, with the exception of HYMNS.
From the 10th century, the connection with texts was
altered by adding polyphony, in which one or more
voices were added to the traditional Gregorian melody.
Texts were thus more or less obscured. From the 13th
century, the rhythms of the texts were modified to allow
an ordered progression for multiple voices. Several popes
legislated against this musical innovation, considering it a
hindrance to a liturgical and spiritual appreciation and
understanding of the texts now overwhelmed with poly-
phonic singing.
Gregorian chant was transmitted almost completely
orally until the late ninth century, when the first signs of
a written notational scheme appeared. But the spread and