Gregory The Great And The Making Of A Medieval Legend

          In the gospel narratives, Mary Magdalene appears as a devoted follower of Jesus, present at the crucifixion and the first to encounter him after the resurrection. Her introduction in Luke 8:2 describes her simply as a woman “from whom seven demons had gone out,” a phrase that in the ancient world referred to severe affliction rather than moral transgression. Nowhere in the biblical text is she associated with prostitution, adultery, or any form of sexual misconduct. The scriptural record presents her as a loyal disciple whose significance is defined by witness and devotion, not scandal. The later Western portrayal of her as a former prostitute is therefore a historical construction rather than a textual one.

          The decisive moment in the formation of this misconception occurred in AD 591, when Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great) delivered a homily that effectively reshaped Mary Magdalene’s identity for the Latin West. In this sermon, Gregory merged three distinct women into a single figure: Mary Magdalene of Galilee, the unnamed “sinful woman” who anoints Jesus’ feet in Luke 7, and Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. He interpreted the “seven demons” mentioned in Luke 8 as symbolic of the seven deadly sins, with particular emphasis on lust. On this basis, he concluded that Mary Magdalene was the repentant prostitute of Luke’s narrative. This conflation did not arise from the structure of the gospel accounts, which treat these women as separate individuals appearing in different contexts, but from Gregory’s pastoral aims and the symbolic logic of late antique preaching.

          Gregory’s interpretation quickly became authoritative throughout the medieval Latin West. Although Eastern Christian traditions maintained clearer distinctions among the gospel women, Western Europe absorbed Gregory’s synthesis into its preaching, liturgy, devotional literature, and artistic representation. Over time, Mary Magdalene became a central figure in narratives of penitence, her supposed sexual past serving as a vivid illustration of moral failure followed by dramatic repentance. This portrayal reflected broader medieval attitudes toward women and sexuality, reinforcing cultural assumptions rather than textual realities. The image of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute thus became deeply embedded in Western imagination, even though it lacked any foundation in the biblical text.

          The correction of this misconception emerged through renewed attention to the textual distinctions within the gospel narratives. When the passages are read in sequence, the unnamed woman of Luke 7, Mary of Bethany, and Mary Magdalene appear in different episodes, with no indication that they are the same person. Recognizing this, the Roman Catholic Church formally revised its liturgical calendar in AD 1969, separating Mary Magdalene from both the sinful woman of Luke 7 and Mary of Bethany. This adjustment acknowledged that the long‑standing Western tradition rested on a conflation introduced centuries after the composition of the gospels.

          The endurance of Gregory’s interpretation illustrates how institutional authority and cultural symbolism can reshape the identities of historical and textual figures. Recovering Mary Magdalene’s actual portrayal restores the integrity of a woman who plays a significant role in the earliest Christian narratives. Rather than the repentant prostitute of medieval legend, she emerges from the textual record as a steadfast disciple and the first witness to the resurrection, an individual whose importance was obscured for centuries by a misinterpretation originating in a single sermon of the sixth century.