The building projects and the Histories of Gregory of Tours

Abstract

This article offers a fresh perspective on the life and works of the sixth‐century bishop Gregory of Tours by analysing Gregory’s magnum opus, the Histories, alongside a frequently overlooked aspect of his episcopal career: his restoration of the cathedral church of Tours and St Martin’s basilica following their devastation by fire in the time of his predecessor, Eufronius. Drawing on the conceptual insights of memory studies, I argue that Gregory’s writings and building projects formed part of a single project which he pursued throughout his time in office to restore and rearticulate the relationship of the episcopate of Tours with its past.