Saint Gregory of Tours was born around the year 538 in Arvernes, today Clermont-Ferrand. He belonged to the Gallo-Roman family, which was a very prestigious family. It was also related to the houses of Gaul. Gregory's original name was Georgius Florentius. He took the name Gregory to honor his late grandfather who was named Gregory. His grandfather was bishop of Langres. When Gregory was young, his father died and he went to live with his uncle. His uncle Gallus was bishop of Clermont. Gallus educated him until his death in 554. Gregory's mother went to live with friends in Burgundy and left her son to Avitus who became bishop of Clermont after Gallus. Avitus taught Gregory everything about the Scriptures. Gregory was not too impressed with the Scriptures. Gregory fell seriously ill and was not expected to recover. However, he recovered, which made him more attentive to God and the Scriptures. Gregory then became friends with the bishop of Tours whose name was Euphronius. Euphronius died in 573 and Gregory succeeded him as bishop of Tours. During this period in Tours, there was great political and social chaos. Relations with bishops, kings and masters were not good. Kings abused their power, which caused civil wars. Gregory wrote that these conflicts were more damaging to the Church than Diocletian's persecution. Eventually the unrest and Tours ceased and peace was near. The masters of Tours changed constantly until Guntram, king of Burgundy, took power over Tours. Guntram and Gregory were friends and the role of bishop was given more authority and respect. Guntram signed the Treaty of Andelot in 587. This treaty gave the reign of Tours to Childebert II. Childebert honored Gregory and let him carry out many missions. During this period, Gregory played an important role in the construction of new churches and the restoration of the cathedral of Tours. Grégoire was also known to be a great historian. He wrote about the miracles of Saint-Martin (the tomb of Saint-Martin is located in Tours) and the history of the Frankish Empire. The history of the Franks was called Historia Francorum, it consisted of ten books and began with the creation and ended in the year 591.