Saint Gregory of Calabria, Vita prior Cover Image

Svätý Gregor z Kalábrie, Vita prior
Saint Gregory of Calabria, Vita prior

Contributor(s): Jaroslav Nemeš (Translator)
Subject(s): History
Published by: VERBUM - vydavateľstvo Katolíckej univerzity v Ružomberku
Keywords: Middle Ages; Hungary; hagiography; historiography; Saint Gregory of Calabria

Summary/Abstract: Saint Gregory of Calabria was the first abbot of the Basilian monastery, Aachen-Burtscheid, which was founded in the year 997 by Emperor Otto III, not far from his royal residence. He was born sometime between the years 930 and 940 in the territory that had been under the administration of the Byzantine Empire. According to historical sources, he was a Greek, originating from the southern Italian town of Cerchiara. According to the earlier legends (Vita posterior), he was the brother of the emperor’s mother, Theophanu, but according to today's research, he actually came from a wealthy family in Calabria. The Greek colonisation of the southern part of the Apennine peninsula, in the 9th and 10th centuries, was an interesting phenomenon. When the Saracens began to displace them around the year 990, Gregory came to Rome, where he has settled in the monastery of St. Alexius and Boniface on the Aventine. In Rome, in the year 996, the young Emperor Otto III met with Abbot Gregory. In the “Eternal City”, where Gregory acted as a preacher and teacher, he had to profoundly impress the monarch with his piety. In the same year, the Emperor Otto III summoned him to the establishment of a monastery near his palace, as an imperial document, from 6th February 1000, talks about it.

  • Issue Year: 7/2016
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 96-115
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: Slovak, Latin