Editing Pope Gregory I (section)

===Alms===
The Church had a practice from early times of passing on a large portion of the donations it received from its members as [[alms]]. Gregory is known for his extensive administrative system of charitable relief of the poor at Rome. The poor were predominantly refugees from the incursions of the [[Lombards]]. The philosophy under which he devised this system is that the wealth belonged to the poor and the church was only its steward. He received lavish donations from the wealthy families of Rome, who, following his own example, were eager, by doing so, to expiate their sins. He gave alms equally as lavishly both individually and en masse. He wrote in letters:<ref>Dudden (1905) page 316.</ref> "I have frequently charged you&nbsp;... to act as my representative&nbsp;... to relieve the poor in their distress" and "I hold the office of steward to the property of the poor".

In Gregory's time, the Church in Rome received donations of many different kinds: [[consumables]] such as food and clothing; investment property: real estate and works of art; and [[capital goods]], or [[revenue]]-generating property, such as the [[Sicily|Sicilian]] [[latifundia]], or agricultural estates. The Church already had a system for circulating the consumables to the poor: associated with each of the main city churches was a [[deacon]]. He was given a building from which the poor could apply for assistance at any time.{{efn|name=Later}}{{sfn|Smith|Cheetham |1875|p=549}}

The circumstances in which Gregory became pope in 590 were of ruination. The Lombards held the greater part of Italy. Their depredations had brought the economy to a standstill. They camped nearly at the gates of Rome. The city itself was crowded with refugees from all walks of life, who lived in the streets and had few of the necessities of life. The seat of government was far from Rome in [[Constantinople]] and appeared unable to undertake the relief of Italy. 
[[File:Mass_of_St._Gregory,_c._1490,_attributed_to_Diego_de_la_Cruz,_oil_and_gold_on_panel_(Philadelphia_Museum_of_Art).jpg|left|upright|thumb|''[[Mass of St. Gregory]]'', {{c.|1490|lk=no}}, attributed to Diego de la Cruz, oil and gold on panel ([[Philadelphia Museum of Art]])]]
In 590, Gregory could wait for Constantinople no longer. He organized the resources of the church into an administration for general relief. In doing so he evidenced a talent for and intuitive understanding of the principles of accounting, which was not to be invented for centuries. The church already had basic accounting documents: every [[expense]] was recorded in [[double-entry bookkeeping system|journals]] called ''regesta'', "lists" of amounts, recipients and circumstances. Revenue was recorded in ''polyptici'', "[[Bookkeeping|books]]". Many of these polyptici were [[ledger]]s recording the operating expenses of the church and the [[asset]]s, the ''patrimonia''. A central papal administration, the ''notarii'', under a chief, the ''primicerius notariorum'', kept the ledgers and issued ''brevia patrimonii'', or lists of property for which each ''[[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]]'' was responsible.{{sfn|Mann|1914|p=322}}

Gregory began by aggressively requiring his churchmen to seek out and relieve needy persons and reprimanded them if they did not. In a letter to a subordinate in [[Sicily]] he wrote: "I asked you most of all to take care of the poor. And if you knew of people in poverty, you should have pointed them out&nbsp;... I desire that you give the woman, Pateria, forty [[Solidus (coin)|solidi]] for the children's shoes and forty bushels of grain".{{sfn|Ambrosini|Willis|1996|pp=66–67}} Soon he was replacing administrators who would not cooperate with those who would and at the same time adding more in a build-up to a great plan that he had in mind. He understood that expenses must be matched by income. To pay for his increased expenses he liquidated the investment property and paid the expenses in cash according to a budget recorded in the polyptici. The churchmen were paid four times a year and also personally given a golden coin for their trouble.<ref name=dud248>Dudden (1905) pp. 248–249.</ref>

Money, however, was no substitute for food in a city that was on the brink of famine. The church now owned between {{convert|1300|and|1800|sqmi|km2}} of revenue-generating farmland divided into large sections called {{lang|la|patrimonia}}. It produced goods of all kinds, which were sold, but Gregory intervened and had the goods shipped to Rome for distribution in the {{lang|la|diaconia}}. He gave orders to step up production, set quotas and put an administrative structure in place to carry it out. At the bottom was the {{lang|la|rusticus}} who produced the goods. Some {{lang|la|rustici}} were or owned slaves. He turned over part of his produce to a {{lang|la|conductor}} from whom he leased the land. The latter reported to an {{lang|la|actionarius}}, who reported to a {{lang|la|defensor}}, who reported to a {{lang|la|rector}}. Grain, wine, cheese, meat, fish, and oil began to arrive at Rome in large quantities, where it was given away for nothing as alms.{{sfn|Deanesly|1969|p=22–24}}

Distributions to qualified persons were monthly. However, a certain proportion of the population lived in the streets or were too ill or infirm to pick up their monthly food supply. To them Gregory sent out a small army of charitable persons, mainly monks, every morning with prepared food. It is said that he would not dine until the indigent were fed. When he did dine he shared the family table, which he had saved (and which still exists), with 12 indigent guests. To the needy living in wealthy homes he sent meals he had cooked with his own hands as gifts to spare them the indignity of receiving charity. Hearing of the death of an indigent in a back room he was depressed for days, entertaining for a time the conceit that he had failed in his duty and was a murderer.<ref name=dud248/>

These and other good deeds and charitable frame of mind completely won the hearts and minds of the Roman people. They now looked to the papacy for government, ignoring the state at Constantinople. The office of urban prefect went without candidates.