Gregory I
On March 12, 604, Gregory I, pope from 590 to 604, died. He set a high mark for the medieval papacy and defended the primacy of the chair of Peter against the smallest attack.

Gregory was the son of a Roman senator and the great-grandson of Pope Felix III. He became the prefect of Rome in 570, but after deciding to become a monk around 575, he transformed his family estate in Rome into a monastery dedicated to St. Andrew.

In 590, he was elected pope against his will. He immediately devoted himself to alleviating the misery of the poor and suffering in Rome, using church revenues to aid those who were starving.

Gregory consolidated the Church lands throughout Italy into a single unit, which later became the foundation of the Papal States. He organized the papacy into an efficient administrative machine (at a time when the rest of Europe was crumbling), that would last through the Middle Ages. He took the ideas of Augustine and organized them into a Christian society that became formalized in the Middle Ages.

Gregory introduced changes in the liturgy (Gregorian chant) and standardized it for the Latin Church. He also established many doctrines that are the cornerstone of Roman Catholicism. For example:

• The writings of the Church Fathers are equal to Scripture.

• The clergy must remain celibate.

• The Eucharist is a sacrifice for redemption, efficacious for the living and the dead.

• The doctrine of a purgatorial fire, prayer to the saints, and the use of relics and amulets in devotions.