Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/256

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242 GREGORIAN CHANT literature, and the arts." This work has been translated into English, and published both in Great Britain and the United States. His Memoires were published in 1837. GREGORIAN CHANT, a method of singing the psalms and litanies of the church, introduced by Pope Gregory the Great about 590. It was mainly founded on the Ambrosian chant, pre- viously in use in the western churches, to the four authentic or principal modes of which Gregory, either for variety or convenience of the voice, added the plagal or collateral modes. His additional object in effecting this reform was to banish from the church all rhythmic singing, as too lively for the place and occasion, and to substitute in his own chant, which was called the canto fermo, a gravity and simplicity suited to the solemn offices of the church. He also established in Rome a school of instruc- tion in the new method of singing, which existed for three centuries after his death. Notwith- standing the monotony of the Gregorian chant, its extreme simplicity and dissimilarity to sec- ular music, or even to that at present employed in the services of the church, it is still in use, and during Lent and on other special occasions may be heard in all its ancient glory in Roman Catholic churches, and to a limited extent in those of other denominations. It has been supposed that fragments of the melodies sung in the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries are discernible in the Gregorian chant. GREGOROVIUS, Ferdinand, a German author, bora at Neidenburg, Prussia, Jan. 19, 1821. He entered the university of Konigsberg in 1838, studied theology and philosophy, and afterward devoted himself to poetry and history. His first important work was Goethe's Wilhelm Meister in seinen socialist ischen Elementen (Konigsberg, 1849), in which he showed a pro- found knowledge of the work of the great poet, and presented many striking views of modern life. He published in 1848 a small work on Po- land, in 1849 Polen- und Magyar enlicder, and in 1851 the tragedy Der Tod des Tiberius and Geschichte des romischen Kaisers Hadrian und seiner Zeit. In 1852 he travelled through Italy, and the results of his studies and observations were published in Corsica (2 vols., Stuttgart, 1854), Figuren, Geschichte, Leben und Scenerie aus Italien (4th ed., Leipsic, 1874), Lateinische. Sommer (1863), and Siciliana (3d ed., 1874). The last three have been published under the title Wanderjahre in Italien, including Von Ravenna bis Mentana (4 vola., 1874). He also published Lieder des Giovanni Meli ton Paler- mo (1856), Die Grabmdler der romischen Pdpste (1857), and a long poem, Euphorion (1858 ; illustrated ed., 1872). His most important works are Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittel- alter(8 vols., Stuttgart, 1859-72 ; 3d ed., 1874; Italian translation, Venice, 1874 et seq.), and (!^<-hichte der Lucrezia Borgia (2 vols., 1874). ^ GREGORY, a S. county of Dakota, bounded N. E. by the Missouri river, recently formed, and not included in the census of 1870; area, GREGORY about 1,400 sq. m. It is separated from Ne- braska on the south by the Niobrara and Keya Paha rivers. GREGORY, the name of 16 popes. I. Saint, surnamed the Great, born of a noble family in Rome about 540, died March '12, 604. His pa- rents were patricians of great wealth. His father, Gordianus, renounced his senatorial rank to become a clergyman, and when he died was one of the seven regionarii or cardi- nal deacons ; and his mother, Sylvia, devoted herself at the same time to an ascetic life. To a commanding presence and affable man- ners Gregory united great learning and execu- tive ability. He was appointed governor or prefect of Rome about 573, but soon abdicated the office, withdrew from the world, and, after his father's death, employed his revenue in founding religious institutions, changed his own house on the Cselian hill into a monastery, and himself became a monk in it. On seeing one day some handsome English youths exposed for sale in the market place, he exclaimed, " They would be angels rather than Angles, were they only Christians ! " Carried away by the desire of converting England, he be- sought the pope to allow him to go thither ; and he set out by night from Rome, but was followed and brought back by the people. Pope Pelagius II. named him one of the seven regionary deacons, and shortly afterward sent him as legate to Constantinople. He convinced the heretic Eutychius of his error, won the good graces of the emperor Mauricius, and was recalled to Rome about 585. During this peri- od he wrote his Libri Moralium, a commentary on Job. In 590 the plague broke out. in Rome, and Pope Pelagius having died of it, Gregory was unanimously chosen to fill his place. He wrote to the emper.or Mauricius beseeching him not to ratify the election ; but the letter was intercepted by the prefect of Rome, one of quite a different import despatched in its stead, and the consent of the emperor obtained with- out delay. Meanwhile Gregory had fled from Rome and concealed himself; but his retreat was discovered, and on Sept. 3, 590, he was consecrated in the church of St. Peter. Pesti- lence and famine were desolating Italy at that time, and hostile armies were on their march toward Rome. He called his clergy around him, labored at their head night and day to stay the ravages of the plague, collected funds and purchased large stores of grain in Sicily, which brought back plenty to the city, and by his eloquence arrested the invasion of the ad- vancing Lombards. He bent his whole mind on reforming the abuses which had crept into the clerical body, many of which had become inveterate, and sent missionaries to all parts of the known world. Among them Augustin and his companions went by his order to England, which was soon converted to the faith. He extinguished Arianism in Lombardy, and com- bated it incessantly in Spain, where he won over to orthodoxy the king Recared ; in Africa