937J Gregory I pope (540-604)

Secundus dyalogorum liber de vita ac miraculis beatissimi Benedicti. Eiusdem Almi patris nostri Benedicti regula. Speculum Bernardi Abbatis casinensis de his ad que in professio nec obligatur monachus. [Bonum notabile super regulam Sancti Benedicti quod spectat et servit abbatibus et prioribus ad recte judicandum.]. (Dialogorum Papae; De vita ac miraculis beatissimi Benedicti)

Venetijs : Impressum … per nobilem virum . Luca[n]tonium de giunta florentinum felicibus diui martyris Georgij auspicij 1505                                Price $ 5,500

Sextusdecimuo 10.5x.7cm (tiny) Signatures: A⁸ a-z⁸ &⁸ (e7 blank).plus 44 blank leaves. Somewhat water-stained, slightly stained or browned in places, title reinforced at the edges, the outer borders cut with loss of image and partly slightly rubbed. Title and some text passages printed in red and black.

The first full-page woodcut depicts the enthroned Pope Gregory I This scene illustrates the traditional preface to Book II (the life and miracles of St Benedict), where Peter requests Gregory to recount the stories of the holy men of Italy. Gregory responds with reluctance, then dictates.,

The second wood cut is of St. Benedict with Placidus and Maurus, St. Benedict teaching the The Story (Gregory, Dialogues II.7–8), Placidus, a young monk in Benedict’s care, goes down to the lake to draw water. As he leans forward, he falls into the lake, is swept away by the current, and begins to drown. Benedict, sitting in his cell, immediately perceives this supernaturally—though no one has told him. He turns to his disciple Maurus, saying: “Brother Maurus, run—the boy Placidus has fallen into the lake.” Maurus rushes to the water, and—without realizing it—walks on the surface of the lake, running across the water as if on dry land. He reaches Placidus, seizes him by the hair, and pulls him safely to shore. When they return, Maurus attributes the miracle to Benedict’s holiness. Benedict attributes it to Maurus’s obedience and faith. Placidus then clarifies: “When I was being drawn from the water,
I saw the Abbot’s cloak over me—it was you, Father Benedict, who saved me.”

The third large wood cut is is the opening woodcut for the Speculum of Bernard of Cassino (Bernardus Casinensis) — and the woodcut depicts Bernard himself teaching his monks, exactly matching the text on the facing page. The forth large woodcut is of St. George slaying the dragon. St. George functioned as a:
protector against spiritual evil, adefender against temptation and the model of struggle with the devil (“dragon” as allegory of vice).

Bound with 44 blank leaves.

During the incunable and early Cinquecento period, printers regularly published only Book II— because it was the most “usable” text: concise, edifying, visually rich, and ideal for small-format devotional printing.  Gregory’s Book II contains: healings, visions, prophecy, demonic encounters, etc. the Life of Benedict, the miracles of Placidus & Maurus, the poisoned cup, the Goth Totila episode where Benedict confronts Totila (Baduila), the Ostrogothic king, reigned 541–552  and prophesied his success and downfall. The books gives other examples of healings, visions, prophecy, demonic encounters, etc.

Luther often invoked Gregory I as a true witness to Christian tradition, especially in contrast to scholastic accretions or papal corruption.

  • Indulgences: In the 95 Theses (1517), Thesis 40 directly cites Gregory: “True contrition seeks and loves penalties, but the abundance of indulgences weakens contrition and causes men to hate penalties.” Luther presents Gregory as an authority against indulgence traffic.
  • Papal humility: Luther frequently quoted Gregory’s rejection of the title universal bishop (e.g., Decretals, Book IX), using Gregory’s own words to argue against papal supremacy. In De captivitate Babylonica(1520), he underscores Gregory’s warning that whoever claimed universal jurisdiction was a forerunner of Antichrist.
  • Preaching and pastoral care: Luther admired Gregory’s Homilies on the Gospels, drawing on them for his own early preaching. Gregory’s emphasis on moral exhortation and pastoral responsibility chimed with Luther’s reform of the sermon as the central act of worship.
  • Erasmus’s Novum Instrumentum (1516) and the Lyon Gregory corpus (1516) exemplify the return to textual sources. Reformers read Gregory not as medieval gloss but as an early Father to be recovered and measured against Scripture. These editions became munitions bibliographiques: Reformers mined them to prove that their reforms were not innovations but recoveries of ancient Christian truth. Gregory’s allegorical exegesis (e.g., Song of Songs) and penitential emphasis could be rejected as “medieval” or “monkish,” while his criticisms of power, humility in office, and emphasis on pastoral preaching were elevated as reform precedents.

 Against the Title “Universal Bishop” (Gregory I, Epistles)

  • Gregory’s words: “Quisquis se universalem sacerdotem vocat, vel vocari desiderat, in elatione sua Antichristum praecurrit.”
    (“Whoever calls himself, or desires to be called, universal priest, is in his pride a forerunner of Antichrist.”)
  • Luther’s use: At the Leipzig Disputation (1519) against Johann Eck, Luther cites this line to argue that papal supremacy is a late invention.
  • Reference: WA 2, 246–249. See also WA 2, 318–321 for Luther’s summary.

Gregory’s teaching (from the Homilies on the Gospels and Registrum Epistolarum): true satisfaction for sin is humility, prayer, and works of mercy — not financial payments.

  • Luther’s use: In the 95 Theses (1517) and the subsequent Resolutiones (1518), Luther contrasts Gregory’s pastoral model with the indulgence traffic of his own day.
  • Reference: WA 1, 233–236 (Theses); WA 1, 527–531 (Resolutiones). Gregory is invoked as precedent for limiting indulgences to pastoral acts of mercy.

Gregory emphasized the Eucharist as a sacrifice of praise and intercession but did not elaborate the scholastic doctrine of transubstantiation. In De captivitate Babylonica ecclesiae (The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, 1520), Luther cites Gregory’s simplicity to argue against later ceremonial and doctrinal accretions. Gregory’s example is a weapon against “papal additions.”

JAMESGRAY2@ME.COM