Rich in captivating narratives, the four books of Dialogues of Gregory the Great (Pope, 590-604) present hagiographical accounts of the lives of Italian saints whose holiness remained intact during tumultuous times. Of these, the most famous is the monastic founder Benedict, whose life story occupie...

Rich in captivating narratives, the four books of Dialogues of Gregory the Great (Pope, 590-604) present hagiographical accounts of the lives of Italian saints whose holiness remained intact during tumultuous times. Of these, the most famous is the monastic founder Benedict, whose life story occupies all of Book Two. These stories, along with Book Four's mixture of expository and narrative assurances of the immortality of the soul, must have been encouraging to its contemporary Italian readers, especially since Gregory wrote these books at a time when Italy had been ravaged by barbarian invasions, floods, plagues, and famines.