Gregorius' parents are aged approximately 11 when he is born and are the orphaned children of a wealthy duke, and his father dies after being sent on a pilgrimage from Europe to Jerusalem to repent of their sins by a wise old man. The same wise old man tells Gregorius' mother to place the child in a box on a small boat and to push the boat out onto the ocean, where God will take care of the child. She dutifully does this, placing 20 pieces of gold in with him, alongside a tablet upon which the details of his sinful birth are recorded. The boat is discovered by two fishermen sent by an abbot to fish on the sea, and upon opening the box when they arrive back on shore, the abbot orders one of the fisherman to raise the child as his son. Aged six, Gregorius begins his education under the abbot's guidance, and as he grows, quickly becomes very clever, strong, and handsome, revealing to all that he cannot merely be the son of a poor fisherman.