Pastoral Rule of Gregory the Great Facsimile Edition

The late antique manuscript of the Pastoral Rule of Gregory the Great in Troyes is a remarkable witness to the development of the text, which was widely read and became a handbook for Catholic bishops. The manuscript was written in stately Uncial script in Rome around 600 under the author's supervision, with numerous erasures, corrections, and additions that reflect Gregory's intentions. Meant for the edification of both the clergy and secular rulers, the text, according to the author, serves as a guide to the "government of souls."

Pope Gregory I (d. 604) began composing his Regula pastoralis ("Pastoral Rule") in 590, the year he was elected pope. Sometimes referred to as Cura pastoralis ("Pastoral Care"), the work addresses a variety of topics, including how to effectively admonish the young and the old, men and women.

Headings in Colored Inks

The manuscript opens with a chapter list. An enlarged initial P of geometric design in green, red, and ocher introduces the text proper, and the first four lines of text are in red (fol. 4r). For the following twenty of the sixty-five chapters, the chapter number is written in the margin in red Rustic Capitals under a bracket, with the first line of text in red Uncial.

The marking of the beginnings of chapters becomes less regular and sometimes more elaborate thereafter. Some chapters have the number in red, always in Rustic Capitals, under an embellished bracket in red and green with the first line of text in green and red (e.g., on fol. 48v), others have only the first word in colored ink (e.g., on fol. 81v). Nevertheless, the beginnings of new chapters can be easily identified throughout.

Characteristic Appearance of a Late Antique Manuscript

The manuscript's pages are squarish in proportion, a characteristic of late antique codices; the books of the Middle Ages and the modern period have taller page proportions. There is no word separation, another feature of manuscripts of the period. The script is Uncial, used exclusively for Christian texts of late antiquity. Most of the punctuation visible today has been added.

Corrections and Additions

There are many instances of text written over an erasure or added in the margin. Two scribes, neither of whom wrote the main text, revised the manuscript to Gregory's specifications. Despite its script, which would have presented a challenge to medieval readers, the book was consulted. A passage was added in the tenth century (fol. 77v upper margin), and the manuscript was copied at the Cistercian monastery at Clairvaux in the twelfth century (Troyes, Médiathèque Jacques-Chirac, MS 955).

Extraordinary Influence

The text was translated into Greek in Gregory's lifetime, and the Byzantine emperor ordered that copies be distributed to all the bishops of empire. According to legend, a copy of the Pastoral Care was taken to England by the missionaries sent by Gregory in 597. Centuries later, Alfred (849-899), King of England, would have the text translated into English.

The Library of the Pithou Brothers

Pierre Pithou (1539-1596) may have owned the manuscript. He bequeathed part of his extensive library to his brother François. In 1621, François Pithou (1543-1621) bequeathed his house and library to the city of Troyes for the creation of the Collège de l'Oratoire de Troyes. The library of the college was confiscated and transferred to the city of Troyes, and it entered the Bibliothèque municipale (now Médiathèque Jacques-Chirac) during the French Revolution.