What was the education of Gregory of Tours? Did people like him know Greek? Did they know classical philosophy / literature / history / Roman law or were they taught mainly Christian thought?
EDIT:
Also - bonus question. Was he a rural, post-Roman noble / aristocrat? Did his family own post-Roman latyfundia? I know Gregory of Tours claimed that many of his family members held the office of bishop of Tours. I would assume that this title would require education. And education would require money. In this case - stable supply of money throughout many generations. Was it frequent for nobles ( at least Roman nobles in post-WRE successor states) at the time to pursue Church career?
Gregory, born Georgius Florentius, was a son of a senatorial family of Auvergne in Gaul / Francia, and, it is generally agreed, was born on 30 November in about the year 538. His family would did have land, which they cultivated, and would have been considered aristocratic. As a member of such a family, he was guaranteed an education, though exactly what kind of education is a combination of sparse accounts by the man himself, educated guesswork, and suppositions based on his written works. Gregory himself states that he began to learn to read at about the age of eight, and that he was living or travelling with his parents at the time, probably indicating that he was taught by a family member or a servant in their household. It is likely that his early education would have followed a Merovingian Christian modification of the classical Roman model, learning "bad" or rudimentary Latin (Merovingian Latin is as far from proper Latin as one can get, and Gregory was no exception) and occasionally reading Virgil and Sallust, but the overwhelming Christian dominance of the culture that surrounded him almost totally replaced the pagan texts used in Roman-era education with later Christian ones. His family, after all, was a leading Christian force in the region, dominating the bishoprics of Tours, Langres, and Lyons during Gregory's early life, which was common for families of a certain rank in Gaul / Francia at the time. Gregory almost certainly had no knowledge of Greek, as such knowledge was extremely rare in the west during his lifetime, even among churchmen.
In his youth, likely at the age of about twelve (though this is a guess based on much later educational standards), Gregory was sent to live in the episcopal court of Clermont, where his uncle, St. Gal, was bishop (527-551). It should be noted that, while this seems like a logical path for one of Gregory's background, and indeed one that had been followed by his elder brother, the move may have been prompted by the death of Gregory's father and his mother's subsequent move to Burgundy. Under his uncle and his uncle's successors, Gregory was given a clerical education, in which he "was not trained in grammar or instructed in the finished style of the heathen writers, but the influence of the blessed father Avitus, bishop of Auvergne, turned [him] solely to the writings of the church" [Vitae Patrum*, II, Pref.*]. This would have limited his knowledge of philosophy to that included in the writings of Christian authors, though, depending on the author, this could be substantial. As he is the most famous historian of the period, we know he was relatively well-versed in history, though exactly how he came to know it and how much more he knew than he wrote is a mystery. Concerning law, as Gregory-as bishop of Tours-was an administrator, he would have needed some familiarity with local legal norms and practices, but he may have relied on subordinates for this knowledge, and its origins and extent are unknown.
We do not know how representative Gregory's experience is of education during his lifetime because of the paucity of Merovingian records, but his accounts tend to lead to the conclusion that liberal arts were not really a part of Frankish education. Certain statements in his writing have led some to argue that he was not always destined for a career in the Church, but may have turned in that direction following a recovery from one or more bouts of serious illness. This would mean that his prior education was viewed as appropriate for all of his rank, further lending support to the "death" of non-clerical learning in the region, even among the laity. Gregory's repeated references to his own undereducation, as well as his seeming resignation to being the most qualified-or at least one of the most qualified-to write the important works of his output, as well as the hereditary nature of episcopal offices in the region, mean bishops probably didn't need much in the way of education. He complained, "liberal learning is declining or rather perishing in the Gallic cities," [Vitae Patrum*, II, Pref.*]. Basically, it was not a literate age.
Some sources on the subject that may interest you include the following:
Texts by Gregory with autobiographical references:
I hope this helps. Feel free to ask follow-up questions.