Gregory of Tours

"Historia Francorum" redirects here. For the history of the First Crusade, see Historia Francorum qui ceperunt Iherusalem. For the anonymous 8th-century chronicle, see Liber Historiae Francorum.

Saint

Gregory of Tours
St. Gregory of Tours, 19th century statue by Jean Marcellin, in the Louvre in Paris, France
Bishop of Tours
Born30 November c. 538
Auvergne, Austrasia[1]
Died(593-11-17)17 November 593 or 594[2]
Tours, Kingdom of Orleans
Venerated inCatholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast17 November

Gregory of Tours (born Georgius Florentius; 30 November c. 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period[2] and is known as the "father of French history".[3] He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encompassing Gaul's historic region.

Gregory's most notable work is the Decem Libri Historiarum ('Ten Books of Histories'), also known as the Historia Francorum ('History of the Franks'). Decem Libri Historiarum is considered a primary source for the study of Merovingian history and chronicles the accounts of the Franks during the period. Gregory is also known for documenting accounts of religious figures, notably that of Martin of Tours.

  1. ^ Jones, Terry. "Gregory of Tours". Patron Saints Index. Archived from the original on 10 January 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2007.
  2. ^ a b Leclercq, Henri (1910). "St. Gregory of Tours". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Co. Retrieved 26 October 2014 – via NewAdvent.org.
  3. ^ Noronha-DiVanna, Isabel (19 February 2010). Writing History in the Third Republic. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4438-2010-3. OCLC 1162437900.