The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (886 page)

(
c.
540–604).
Pope
from 590 and founder of the medieval papacy. As pope at a time of great unrest, Gregory had to deal with the invasion of Italy by the Lombards, and with threats to the position of the Church from the claims of the Byzantine Empire. He maintained the supremacy of the see of Rome, refusing to accept or recognize the title of
ecumenical patriarch
, which the patriarch of Constantinople claimed. He made important changes in the
liturgy
(though the ‘Gregorian’
Sacramentary
ia a later compilation) and promoted liturgical
music
(hence the name ‘Gregorian chant’ for
plainsong
). His many writings were mostly practical, including
Pastoral Care
,
a Commentary on Job
(expounding the literal, mystical and especially moral senses of the text),
Homilies on the Gospels
, and a collection of 854 letters. He was canonized by popular acclamation when he died, and is one of the
Doctors of the Church
Feast day, 12 Mar.

 
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(
c.
1020–85).
Originally Hildebrand, Christian pope who provoked the Investiture Controversy. His
Dictatus Papae
(1075) not only emphasized the holiness of the pope in succession from
Peter
, but also asserted the right of the pope to depose princes. He prohibited lay investiture (i.e. the right of laity to make appointments to certain church offices), which in effect envisaged the abolition of the royal control over bishops. Considerable unrest ensued, especially in France, England, and Germany. Henry IV continued to nominate bishops, convening a synod of German bishops at Worms and Piacenza in 1076 which deposed the pope. Gregory responded by excommunicating Henry and releasing his subjects from allegiance. Seeing the threat, Henry capitulated and sought absolution in penitent's attire at Canossa, near Reggio, in 1077. But this was the beginning, not the end, of conflict. When Henry seized Rome in 1084, Gregory fled to Monte Cassino, thence to Salerno where he died. He was canonized in 1606: feast day 25 May.

 
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(329–89).
One of the
Cappadocian fathers
, known in the Orthodox Church as ‘the Theologian’. He shrank from the active life of a bishop, but in 379 he was summoned to Constantinople, where his preaching helped to restore the
Nicene
faith at the council of 381. At this council he was recognized as bishop of Constantinople, but resigned the see almost at once. Gregory's writings include his forty-five
Orations
, of which nos. 27–31, the
Theological Orations
, are most important; the
Philocalia
of Origen; a collection of letters, some against
Apollinarius
; and a number of religious and secular poems.

 
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(
c.
330–
c.
395).
One of the
Cappadocian fathers
, and younger brother of
Basil
. Gregory was the most profound and skilful writer of the Cappadocians. Apart from important polemical works his major writings are the systematic
Catechetical Orations
, a
Life of Moses
in which mystical exegesis is used, and ascetical works such as
On Virginity
in which he develops the thought that in virginity the soul becomes a spouse of Christ.

 
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(
c.
1296–1359).
Greek theologian and chief exponent of
hesychasm
. Nobly born and well-educated, he became a monk, and
c.
1318 went to Mount Athos where he became familiar with hesychasm. With the advance of the Turks he fled to Thessalonica where he was ordained priest in 1326, and consecrated archbishop of Thessalonica in 1347. His fame stems from his controversy with Barlaam of Calabria, which began in 1337, over the nature of Christian contemplation. Against Barlaam's extreme statement of God's unknowability, he insisted, in his
Triads in Defence of the Holy Hesychasts
(
c.
1338), that God really communicates knowledge of himself to humans, and that the experience of the uncreated light of the Godhead in contemplation, claimed by the hesychast monks, is veridical. Although initially Palamas was condemned, he was vindicated by councils at Constantinople in 1347 and 1351 and canonized in 1363. Feast days in E., 14 Nov. and the 2nd Sunday in Lent.

 
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