Lui fit fonder trois monastères,
Sous la règle de Saint Benoît:
Saint Martin, Saint Jean, Saint Andoche,
Sont trois saints lieux où l'on connoît
Qu'elle est exempte de reproche."
1. Who was the Saint Gregory mentioned in this inscription? I believe there can be little doubt that it was Pope Gregory I., commonly known as Gregory the Great, and the cotemporary of Queen Brunéhaut. The only other Pope of that name, that has been canonized, is Gregory VII., the famous Hildebrand; but as his canonization did not take place till the close of the last century (700 years after his death), an inscription, which, from its obsolete rhymes of "Benoît" and "connoît," bears internal evidence of having been made in the sixteenth or seventeenth century, could not have applied to him the epithet Saint.
2. Brunéhaut having been one of the most profligate queens that ever sat upon a throne, and Gregory the Great one of the most virtuous Popes that have shed lustre on the tiara, a second Query presents itself:—Is it possible that such a Pope could have degraded himself and his office by eulogising such a queen? The bare idea is at variance with the known character of that Pope; and the imputation, if substantiated, would materially detract from his established reputation for piety and wisdom.
3. Is there any passage in the writings of Gregory the Great that can be cited in support of the allegations of this inscription?
HENRY H. BREEN.
St. Lucia, June, 1851.