minutest care and recorded in
detail in books that were a model to later times. The political and
ecclesiastical cares of the papacy never prevented Gregory from what he
considered the chiefest duty of his office, that of preaching. His
sermons, which were as famous as those of Chrysostom in Constantinople,
were {65} direct in their appeal, vivid in their illustration, terse
and epigrammatic in their expression. Paul the Deacon sums up his work
by saying that he was entirely engrossed in gaining souls.

[Sidenote: His statesmanship.]

At the same time he was a statesman as well as a bishop. He governed
the "patrimony of S. Peter," lands scattered over Italy and even Gaul,
with a careful supervision, entering into minute matters as well as
general policy, freeing slaves, caring for the cultivation of land; and
the intimate knowledge which he thus acquired is shown in his
_Dialogues_, which throw a flood of light on the life, secular as well
as ecclesiastical, of his age. Outside these districts, in purely
spiritual matters, he showed a constant vigilance. Everywhere what was
needed seemed to be known to the pope, and everywhere he was planning
to remedy evils, to build up the Church, to reform abuses, to convert
heretics, to supply new bishops, to encourage the growth of
monasticism. This activity extended not only to what were called the
suburbicarian provinces but to distant lands, such as Spain, Illyricum,
Gaul, Africa, as well as to Northern Italy. Something has been said of
his relations in Gaul, and remains to be said of his intervention in
Africa. His relations with Constantinople may be most significantly
illustrated by the dispute as to the title of the patriarch of New Rome.

[Sidenote: The title "Universal Bishop."]

In 588 the acts of a synod of Constantinople were declared by Pelagius
II. to be invalid be-cause the patriarch used the title _oikoumenikos_
or _universalis_. Just as at the Council of Chalcedon the Alexandrine
representatives styled the pope "oecumenical archbishop and {66}
patriarch of the Great Rome," so the patriarch of Constantinople used
the style and dignity of "oecumenical patriarch." It was one that had
been employed at least since 518, and it seems to have been commonly
used. From the use of this title came grave controversy. In 588 the
acts of a synod of Constantinople were declared by Pelagius II. to be
invalid because the patriarch used the title _oikoumenikos_ or
_