ST. BEDE THE VENERABLE St. Gregory the Great Tradition has assigned the name Great to only two Popes, St. Leo I (440-461) and St. Gregory I (590-604). The latter is perhaps best remembered for his efforts to promote the conversion of the English. The following account is from St. Bede's classic work (written before 731) on early English Church history. In the year of our Lord 605, having ruled ...

POPE ST. GREGORY I (the Great) Catholic Encyclopedia Doctor of the Church; b. at Rome about 540; d. 12 March 604. Gregory is certainly one of the most notable figures in Ecclesiastical History. He has exercised in many respects a momentous influence on the doctrine, the organization, and the discipline of the Catholic Church. To him we must look for an explanation of the religious situation of ...