ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book talks about Pope Gregory I the Great who was one of the most remarkable figures of the early medieval world. Aristocrat, administrator, teacher and scholar, he ascended the throne of St Peter as Pope Gregory I at a time of acute crisis for the Roman church and for Italian society. He reorganized and paid minute attention to the central administration and the estate administration of the papacy. He also drew up a detailed code of practice for and supervised the elections of Italian bishops. The early middle Ages produced four biographies of him: the brief account in the Liber Pontificalis, dating from the mid-seventh century; the eighth-century lives by the Anonymous Monk of Whitby and the Lombard Paul the Deacon; and the ninth-century life by John the Deacon.
