Gregory the Great

Gregory I

Lived

c. 540–604

Era

Medieval

Where

Rome

Tradition

The apostolic communities

Administering a city, and sending a mission to England

A Roman prefect who became a monk, was made pope against his wishes, and governed Rome in practice — organising its grain supply, negotiating with the Lombards and paying for its defence — because the empire no longer could.

Why it matters

He sent Augustine of Canterbury to England in 596, which brought the English church into the Roman orbit and had consequences down to the Reformation. His Pastoral Rule became the standard handbook for bishops for a thousand years, and his instruction to that mission — to keep what was harmless in local custom rather than obliterate it — is a notably restrained missionary policy. The plainchant named after him is later than he is.

All the figures, from the apostolic age to the present, or the timeline they stand in.