Pope Gregory VII

Pope Gregory VII (Latin: Gregorius VII; c. 1015 – 25 May

Pope Saint
1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana (Italian: Ildebrando da
Gregory VII
Soana), was pope from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085.

One of the great reforming popes, he is perhaps best known for

the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, his dispute with
Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor that affirmed the primacy of
papal authority and the new canon law governing the election of
the pope by the College of Cardinals. He was also at the forefront
of developments in the relationship between the emperor and the
papacy during the years before he became pope. He was the first
pope in several centuries to rigorously enforce the Western
Church's ancient policy of celibacy for the clergy and also
attacked the practice of simony.

Gregory VII excommunicated Henry IV three times.

Papacy 22 April 1073
Consequently, Henry IV would appoint Antipope Clement III to
began
oppose him in the political power struggles between the Catholic
Church and his empire. Hailed as one of the greatest of the Papacy 25 May 1085
Roman pontiffs after his reforms proved successful, Gregory VII ended
was, during his own reign, despised by some for his expansive Predecessor Alexander II
use of papal powers.[2] Successor Victor III

Because this Pope was such a prominent champion of papal Orders

supremacy, his memory was evoked on many occasions in later Ordination 22 May 1073
generations, both positively and negatively, often reflecting later Consecration 30 June 1073
writers' attitude to the Catholic Church and the papacy. Beno of
Created 6 March 1058
Santi Martino e Silvestro, who opposed Gregory VII in the
cardinal by Pope Nicholas II
Investiture Controversy, leveled against him charges such as
necromancy, torture of a former friend upon a bed of nails, Personal details
commissioning an attempted assassination, executions without Birth name Ildebrando di Soana
trials, unjust excommunication, doubting the Real Presence of the Born c. 1015[1]
Eucharist, and even burning the Eucharist. This was eagerly Sovana, Tuscany,
repeated by later opponents of the Catholic Church, such as the Holy Roman Empire
English Protestant John Foxe.[3] Twentieth century British writer
Died 25 May 1085
Joseph McCabe describes Gregory as a "rough and violent
Salerno, Duchy of
peasant, enlisting his brute strength in the service of the monastic
Apulia
ideal which he embraced."[4] In contrast, the modern historian of
the 11th century H. E. J. Cowdrey writes, "[Gregory VII] was Previous Cardinal-Deacon of
surprisingly flexible, feeling his way and therefore perplexing post Santa Maria
both rigorous collaborators ... and cautious and steady-minded Domnica (1058–73)
Sainthood
ones ... His zeal, moral force, and religious conviction, however, Feast day 25 May
ensured that he should retain to a remarkable degree the loyalty Venerated in Catholic Church
and service of a wide variety of men and women."[5]
Beatified 1584
by Pope Gregory
XIII
Contents Canonized 24 May 1728
by Pope Benedict
Biography
XIII
Early life
Attributes Papal vestments
Pontificate
Election to the papacy Papal tiara
Vestments Patronage Diocese of Sovana
Start of conflict with the Emperor Other popes named Gregory
Pope and Emperor depose each other
Walk to Canossa
Second and third excommunications of Henry IV
Exile from Rome
Papal policy to the rest of Europe
England
Normans in the Kingdom of Sicily
Claims of Papal sovereignty
France
Distant Christian countries
Byzantine Empire
Internal policy and reforms
Doctrine of the Eucharist
Death
Legacy
See also
References
Sources
Further reading
External links

Biography

Early life
Gregory was born as Ildebrando di Soana in Sovana, in the county of Grosseto, now southern Tuscany,
central Italy. The historian Johann Georg Estor made the claim that he was the son of a blacksmith.[6] As
a youth he was sent to study in Rome at the monastery of St. Mary on the Aventine, where, according to
some unconfirmed sources, his uncle was abbot of a monastery on the Aventine Hill.[7][8] Among his
masters were the erudite Lawrence, archbishop of Amalfi, and Johannes Gratianus, the future Pope
Gregory VI.[9] When the latter was deposed by Holy Roman Emperor Henry III and exiled to Germany,
Hildebrand followed him to Cologne.

According to some chroniclers, Hildebrand moved to Cluny after Gregory VI's death, which occurred in
1048; his declaration to have become a monk at Cluny must not be taken literally.[8] He then
accompanied Abbot Bruno of Toul to Rome; there, Bruno was elected pope, choosing the name Leo IX,
and named Hildebrand as deacon and papal administrator. Leo sent Hildebrand as his legate to Tours in
France in the wake of the controversy created by Berengar of Tours. At Leo's death, the new Pope, Victor
II, confirmed him as legate, while Victor's successor Stephen IX sent him and Anselm of Lucca to
Germany to obtain recognition from the Empress Agnes de Poitou. Stephen died before being able to
return to Rome, but Hildebrand was successful; he was then instrumental in overcoming the crisis caused
by the Roman aristocracy's election of an antipope, Benedict X,[10] who, thanks also to Agnes's support,
was replaced by the Bishop of Florence, Nicholas II. With the help of 300 Norman knights sent by
Richard of Aversa, Hildebrand personally led the conquest of the castle of Galeria Antica where Benedict
had taken refuge.[11] Between 1058 and 1059, he was made archdeacon of the Roman church, becoming
the most important figure in the papal administration.[12]

He was again the most powerful figure behind the election of Anselm of Lucca the Elder as Pope
Alexander II in the papal election of October 1061.[8] The new pope put forward the reform program
devised by Hildebrand and his followers. In his years as papal advisor, Hildebrand had an important role
in the reconciliation with the Norman kingdom of southern Italy, in the anti-German alliance with the
Pataria movement in northern Italy and, above all, in the introduction of a law which gave the cardinals
exclusive rights concerning the election of a new pope.

Pontificate

Election to the papacy

Pope Gregory VII was one of the few popes elected by acclamation. On the death of Alexander II on 21
April 1073, as the obsequies were being performed in the Lateran Basilica, there arose a loud outcry from
the clergy and people: "Let Hildebrand be pope!", "Blessed Peter has chosen Hildebrand the
Archdeacon!" Hildebrand immediately fled, and hid himself for some time, thereby making it clear that
he had refused the uncanonical election in the Liberian Basilica.[13] He was finally found at the Church
of San Pietro in Vincoli, to which a famous monastery was attached, and elected pope by the assembled
cardinals, with the due consent of the Roman clergy, amid the repeated acclamations of the people.[14][15]

It was debated at the time—and remains debated by historians—whether this extraordinary outburst in
favour of Hildebrand by clergy and people was wholly spontaneous or could have been the result of some
pre-concerted arrangements.[15] According to Benizo, Bishop of Sutri, a supporter of Hildebrand, the
outcry was begun by the actions of Cardinal Ugo Candidus, Cardinal Priest of S. Clemente, who rushed
into a pulpit and began to declaim to the people.[16] Certainly, the mode of his election was highly
criticized by his opponents. Many of the charges brought may have been expressions of personal dislike,
liable to suspicion from the very fact that they were not raised to attack his promotion until several years
later. But it is clear from Gregory's own account of the circumstances of his election,[17] in his Epistle 1
and Epistle 2, that it was conducted in a very irregular fashion. First of all, it was contrary to the
Constitution of Pope promulgated and approved in the Roman Synod of 607, which forbade a papal
election to begin until the third day after a pope's burial.[18] Cardinal Ugo's intervention was contrary to
the Constitution of Nicholas II, which affirmed the exclusive right to name candidates to the Cardinal
Bishops; finally, the requirement of Pope Nicholas II that the Holy Roman Emperor be consulted in the
matter was ignored.[19] However, what ultimately turned the tide in favor of validity of Gregory VII's
election was the second election at S. Pietro in Vincoli and the acceptance by the Roman people.

Gregory VII's earliest pontifical letters clearly acknowledge this fact, and thus helped defuse any doubt
about his election as immensely popular. On 22 May 1073, the Feast of Pentecost, he received ordination
as a priest, and he was consecrated a bishop and enthroned as pope on 29 June (the Feast of St. Peter's
Chair).[20]

In the decree of election, those who had chosen him as Bishop of Rome proclaimed Gregory VII “a
devout man, a man mighty in human and divine knowledge, a distinguished lover of equity and justice, a
man firm in adversity and temperate in prosperity, a man, according to the saying of the Apostle, of good
behavior, blameless, modest, sober, chaste, given to hospitality, and one that ruleth well his own house; a
man from his childhood generously brought up in the bosom of this Mother Church, and for the merit of
his life already raised to the archidiaconal dignity”. “We choose then”, they said to the people, “our
Archdeacon Hildebrand to be pope and successor to the Apostle, and to bear henceforward and forever
the name of Gregory” (22 April 1073).[15]

Gregory VII's first attempts in foreign policy were towards a reconciliation with the Normans of Robert
Guiscard; in the end the two parties did not meet. After a failed call for a crusade to the princes of
northern Europe,[21] and after obtaining the support of other Norman princes such as Landulf VI of
Benevento and Richard I of Capua, Gregory VII was able to excommunicate Robert in 1074. In the same
year Gregory VII summoned a council in the Lateran palace, which condemned simony and confirmed
celibacy for the Church's clergy. These decrees were further stressed, under menace of excommunication,
the next year (24–28 February).[21] In particular, Gregory decreed in this second council that only the
Pope could appoint or depose bishops or move them from see to see, an act which was later to cause the
Investiture Controversy.

Vestments
Writing in L’Osservatore Romano, Agostino Paravicini Bagliani says that the popular belief that Pope
Pius V (1566–72) was the first pope to wear the white cassock is inaccurate. Instead, writes Bagliani, the
first document that mentions the Pope's white cassock dates from Gregory X in 1274. “The first pope to
be solemnly invested with the red mantle immediately after his election was Gregory VII (1076),” the
scholar added, noting that traditionally “from the moment of his election the Pope put on vestments of
two colors: red (cope, mozzetta, shoes); and white (cassock, socks).”[22][23]

Start of conflict with the Emperor

The main focus of the ecclesiastico-political projects of Gregory VII is to be found in his relationship
with the Holy Roman Empire. Since the death of Holy Roman Emperor Henry III, the strength of the
German monarchy had been seriously weakened, and his son Henry IV had to contend with great internal
difficulties. This state of affairs was of material assistance to Gregory VII. His advantage was further
enhanced by the fact that in 1073 Henry IV was only twenty-three years of age.[20]
In the two years following the election of Gregory VII, Henry was forced by the Saxon Rebellion to
come to amicable terms with him at any cost. Consequently, in May 1074 he did penance at Nuremberg
—in the presence of the papal legates—to atone for his continued friendship with the members of his
council who had been banned by Gregory, took an oath of obedience, and promised his support in the
work of reforming the Church. This attitude, however, which at first won him the confidence of the pope,
was abandoned as soon as he defeated the Saxons at the First Battle of Langensalza on 9 June 1075 (also
called the Battle of Homburg or Battle of Hohenburg). Henry then tried to reassert his rights as the
sovereign of northern Italy without delay. He sent Count Eberhard to Lombardy to combat the Patarenes;
nominated the cleric Tedaldo to the archbishopric of Milan, thus settling a prolonged and contentious
question; and finally tried to establish relations with the Norman duke Robert Guiscard.[20]

Gregory VII replied with a rough letter, dated 8 December 1075, in which, among other charges, he
accused Henry of breaching his word and with his continued support of excommunicated councilors. At
the same time, he sent a verbal message suggesting that the enormous crimes which would be laid to his
account rendered him liable, not only to the ban of the Church, but to the deprivation of his crown.
Gregory did this at a time when he himself was confronted by a reckless opponent in the person of
Cencio I Frangipane, who on Christmas night surprised him in church and carried him off as a prisoner,
though on the following day Gregory was released.[20]

Pope and Emperor depose each other

The reprimands of the Pope, couched as they were in such an unprecedented form, infuriated Henry and
his court, and their answer was the hastily convened national council in Worms, Germany (the synod of
Worms), which met on 24 January 1076. In the higher ranks of the German clergy Gregory had many
enemies, and a Roman cardinal, Hugo Candidus, once on intimate terms with him but now his opponent,
had hurried to Germany for the occasion. All the accusations with regard to Gregory that Candidus could
come up with were well received by the assembly, which committed itself to the resolution that Gregory
had forfeited the papacy. In one document full of accusations, the bishops renounced their allegiance to
Gregory. In another, Henry pronounced him deposed, and the Romans were required to choose a new
pope.[24][20]

The council sent two bishops to Italy, and they procured a similar act of deposition from the Lombard
bishops at the synod of Piacenza. Roland of Parma informed the pope of these decisions, and he was
fortunate enough to gain an opportunity for speech in the synod, which had just assembled in the Lateran
Basilica, to deliver his message there announcing the dethronement. For the moment the members were
frightened, but soon such a storm of indignation was aroused that it was only due to the moderation of
Gregory himself that the envoy was not murdered.[20]

On the following day, 22 February 1076, Pope Gregory

Pope Saint Gregory VII
VII pronounced a sentence of excommunication against
Henry IV with all due solemnity, divested him of his royal
dignity and absolved his subjects from the oaths they had
sworn to him. This sentence purported to eject a ruler
from the Church and to strip him of his crown. Whether it
would produce this effect, or would be an idle threat,
depended not so much on Gregory VII as on Henry's
subjects, and, above all, on the German princes.
Contemporary evidence suggests that the
excommunication of Henry made a profound impression
both in Germany and Italy.[20]

Thirty years before, Henry III had deposed three claimants

to the papacy, and thereby rendered an acknowledged
service to the Church. When Henry IV tried to copy this
procedure he was less successful, as he lacked the support
of the people. In Germany there was a rapid and general
feeling in favor of Gregory, and the princes took the
opportunity to carry out their anti-regal policy under the
cloak of respect for the papal decision. When at Whitsun
the king proposed to discuss the measures to be taken An engraving of Pope Gregory VII saying
against Gregory VII in a council of his nobles, only a few Mass, from Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints
made their appearance; the Saxons snatched at the golden (1878)
opportunity for renewing their rebellion, and the anti- Pope
royalist party grew in strength from month to month.[20]
Born c. 1020
Sovana, Tuscany, Holy
Walk to Canossa Roman Empire

The situation now became extremely critical for Henry. Died 25 May 1085
As a result of the agitation, which was zealously fostered Salerno, Duchy of Apulia
by the papal legate Bishop Altmann of Passau, the princes Venerated in Catholic Church
met in October at Trebur to elect a new German ruler. Beatified 1584, Rome, Papal States
Henry, who was stationed at Oppenheim on the left bank by Pope Gregory XIII
of the Rhine, was only saved from the loss of his throne
Canonized 24 May 1728, Rome, Papal
by the failure of the assembled princes to agree on the
States by Pope Benedict XIII
question of his successor.[20]
Feast 25 May
Their dissension, however, merely induced them to Attributes Papal vestments
postpone the verdict. Henry, they declared, must make
Papal tiara
reparation to Gregory VII and pledge himself to
obedience; and they decided that, if, on the anniversary of Patronage Diocese of Sovana
his excommunication, he still lay under the ban, the throne
should be considered vacant. At the same time they decided to invite Gregory VII to Augsburg to decide
the conflict.[20]

These arrangements showed Henry the course to be pursued. It was imperative under any circumstances
and at any price to secure his absolution from Gregory before the period named, otherwise he could
scarcely foil his opponents in their intention to pursue their attack against him and justify their measures
by an appeal to his excommunication. At first he attempted to attain his ends by an embassy, but when
Gregory rejected his overtures he took the celebrated step of going to Italy in person.[20]

Gregory VII had already left Rome and had intimated to the German princes that he would expect their
escort for his journey on 8 January 1077 to Mantua. But this escort had not appeared when he received
the news of Henry's arrival. Henry, who had travelled through Burgundy, had been greeted with
enthusiasm by the Lombards, but resisted the temptation to employ force against Gregory. He chose the
unexpected course of forcing Gregory to grant him absolution by doing penance before him at Canossa,
where he had taken refuge. The Walk to Canossa soon became legendary.[20]

The reconciliation was only effected after prolonged negotiations and definite pledges on the part of
Henry, and it was with reluctance that Gregory VII at length gave way, considering the political
implications.[25] If Gregory VII granted absolution, the diet of princes in Augsburg in which he might
reasonably hope to act as arbitrator would either become useless, or, if it met at all, would change
completely in character. It was impossible, however, to deny the penitent re-entrance into the Church, and
Gregory VII's religious obligations overrode his political interests.[20]

The removal of the ban did not imply a genuine reconciliation, and no basis was gained for a settlement
of the main question that divided Henry and Gregory: that of investiture. A new conflict was inevitable
from the very fact that Henry considered the sentence of deposition repealed along with that of
excommunication. Gregory, on the other hand, was intent on reserving his freedom of action and gave no
hint on the subject at Canossa.[20]

Second and third excommunications of Henry IV

That the excommunication of Henry IV was simply a pretext for the opposition of the rebellious German
nobles is transparent. Not only did they persist in their policy after his absolution, but they took the more
decided step of setting up a rival ruler in the person of Duke Rudolf of Swabia at Forchheim in March
1077. At the election, the papal legates present observed the appearance of neutrality, and Gregory VII
himself sought to maintain this attitude during the following years. His task was made easier in that the
two parties were of fairly equal strength, each trying to gain the upper hand by getting the pope on their
side. But the result of his non-committal policy was that he largely lost the confidence of both parties.
Finally he decided for Rudolf of Swabia after his victory at the Battle of Flarchheim on 27 January 1080.
Under pressure from the Saxons, and misinformed as to the significance of this battle, Gregory
abandoned his waiting policy and again pronounced the excommunication and deposition of King Henry
on 7 March 1080.[26][20]

But the papal censure now proved a very different thing from the one four years before. It was widely felt
to be an injustice, and people began to ask whether an excommunication pronounced on frivolous
grounds was entitled to respect. The king, now more experienced, took up the struggle with great vigour.
He refused to acknowledge the ban on the ground of its illegality.[20] He then summoned a Council,
which met at Brixen, and on 16 June, pronounced Gregory deposed. It nominated the archbishop Guibert
(Wibert) of Ravenna as his successor. On 25 June 1080, Guibert was elected Pope by the thirty bishops
who were present at the King's command.[27] On 15 October 1080, Pope Gregory advised the clergy and
laity to elect a new archbishop in place of the "mad" and "tyrannical" schismatic Wibert.[28] In 1081,
Henry opened the conflict against Gregory in Italy.[20] Gregory's support had by that time weakened,[29]
and thirteen cardinals had deserted him. To make matters worse, Rudolf of Swabia died on 16 October of
the same year. Henry was now in a stronger position and Gregory a weaker one. A new claimant,
Hermann of Luxembourg, was put forward in August 1081, but his personality was not suitable for a
leader of the Gregorian party in Germany, and the power of Henry IV was at its peak.[20]

The pope's chief military supporter, Matilda of Tuscany,[30] blocked Henry's armies from the western
passages over the Apennines, so he had to approach Rome from Ravenna. Rome surrendered to the
German king in 1084, and Gregory thereupon retired into the exile of the Castel Sant'Angelo.[31] Gregory
refused to entertain Henry's overtures, although the latter promised to hand over Guibert as a prisoner, if
the sovereign pontiff would only consent to crown him emperor. Gregory, however, insisted as a
necessary preliminary that Henry should appear before a Council and do penance. The emperor, while
pretending to submit to these terms, tried hard to prevent the meeting of the bishops. A small number
assembled nonetheless, and, in accordance with their wishes, Gregory again excommunicated Henry.[15]

Henry, upon receipt of this news, again entered Rome on 21 March to see that his supporter, Archbishop
Guibert of Ravenna, was enthroned as Pope Clement III on 24 March 1084. Henry was crowned emperor
by his creature, but Robert Guiscard, with whom in the meantime Gregory had formed an alliance, was
already marching on the city.[15] Henry was compelled to flee towards Civita Castellana.

Exile from Rome

The pope was liberated, but after the Roman people became incensed by the excesses of his Norman
allies, he was compelled to withdraw to Monte Cassino,[32] and later to the castle of Salerno by the sea,
where he died on 25 May 1085.[31] Three days before his death, he withdrew all the censures of
excommunication that he had pronounced, except those against the two chief offenders – Henry and
Guibert.[15]

Papal policy to the rest of Europe

England
In 1076, Gregory appointed a bishop to the see of Dol, who was neither the candidate of William the
Conqueror, who had recently been conducting military operations in north-eastern Brittany, nor the
bishop elect of the chapter of the church of St. Samson of Dol, who was supported by the nobles in Dol
opposing William.[33] The candidate chosen was Gilduin, who was below the canonical minimum age for
consecration as a bishop, and therefore Gregory pleaded that he could not sanction his appointment.
Instead Gregory consecrated Abbot Yvo (Evêne) of S. Melanii, one of the procurators sent to Rome, and
he also bestowed on him the pallium of a metropolitan archbishop, on the condition that he would submit
to the judgment of the Holy See when the long-standing case of the right of Dol to be a metropolitan and
use the pallium was finally decided.[34]

King William felt himself so safe that he interfered autocratically with the management of the church,
forbade the bishops to visit Rome, made appointments to bishoprics and abbeys, and showed little
anxiety when the pope lectured him on the different principles which he had as to the relationship of
spiritual and temporal powers, or when he prohibited him from commerce or commanded him to
acknowledge himself a vassal of the apostolic chair.[20] William was particularly annoyed at Gregory's
insistence on dividing ecclesiastical England into two provinces, in opposition to William's need to
emphasize the unity of his newly acquired kingdom. Gregory's increasing insistence on church
independence from secular authority in the matter of clerical appointments became a more and more
contentious issue.[35] He sought as well to compel the episcopacy to look to Rome for validation and
direction, demanding the regular attendance of prelates in Rome.[36] Gregory had no power to compel the
English king to an alteration in his ecclesiastical policy, so he was compelled to ignore what he could not
approve, and even considered it advisable to assure King William of his particular affection.[37][20] On
the whole, William's policy was of great benefit to the Church.[38]
Normans in the Kingdom of Sicily
The relationship of Gregory VII to other European states was strongly influenced by his German policy,
since the Holy Roman Empire, by taking up most of his energies, often forced him to show to other rulers
the very moderation which he withheld from the German king. The attitude of the Normans brought him
a rude awakening. The great concessions made to them under Nicholas II were not only powerless to
stem their advance into central Italy, but failed to secure even the expected protection for the papacy.
When Gregory VII was hard pressed by Henry IV, Robert Guiscard left him to his fate, and only
intervened when he himself was threatened with German arms. Then, on the capture of Rome, he
abandoned the city to his troops, and the popular indignation evoked by his act brought about Gregory's
exile.[20]

Claims of Papal sovereignty

In the case of several countries, Gregory VII tried to establish a claim of sovereignty on the part of the
Papacy, and to secure the recognition of its self-asserted rights of possession. On the ground of
"immemorial usage", Corsica and Sardinia were assumed to belong to the Roman Church. Spain,
Hungary and Croatia were also claimed as her property, and an attempt was made to induce the king of
Denmark to hold his realm as a fief from the pope.[20]

In his treatment of ecclesiastical policy and ecclesiastical reform, Gregory did not stand alone, but found
powerful support: in England Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury stood closest to him; in France his
champion was Bishop Hugh de Dié, who afterwards became Archbishop of Lyon.[20][39]

France
Philip I of France, by his practice of simony and the violence of his proceedings against the Church,
provoked a threat of summary measures. Excommunication, deposition and the interdict appeared to be
imminent in 1074. Gregory, however, refrained from translating his threats into actions, although the
attitude of the king showed no change, for he wished to avoid a dispersion of his strength in the conflict
soon to break out in Germany.[20]

Pope Gregory attempted to organize a crusade into Spain, led by Count Ebles II of Roucy.[40]

Distant Christian countries

Gregory, in fact, established some sort of relations with every country in Christendom; though these
relations did not invariably realize the ecclesiastico-political hopes connected with them. His
correspondence extended to Poland, Kievan Rus' and Bohemia. He unsuccessfully tried to bring Armenia
into closer contact with Rome.[41][20]

Byzantine Empire
Gregory was particularly concerned with the East. The schism between Rome and the Byzantine Empire
was a severe blow to him, and he worked hard to restore the former amicable relationship. Gregory
successfully tried to get in touch with the emperor Michael VII. When the news of the Muslim attacks on
the Christians in the East filtered through to Rome, and the political embarrassments of the Byzantine
emperor increased, he conceived the project of a great military expedition and exhorted the faithful to
participate in recovering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre[20] – foreshadowing the First Crusade.[31] In
his efforts to recruit for the expedition, he emphasized the suffering of eastern Christians, arguing
western Christians had a moral obligation to go to their aid.[42]

Internal policy and reforms

His lifework was based on his conviction that the Church was founded by God and entrusted with the
task of embracing all mankind in a single society in which divine will is the only law; that, in its capacity
as a divine institution, it is supreme over all human structures, especially the secular state; and that the
pope, in his role as head of the Church, is the vice-regent of God on earth, so that disobedience to him
implies disobedience to God: or, in other words, a defection from Christianity. But any attempt to
interpret this in terms of action would have bound the Church to annihilate not merely a single state, but
all states.[20]

Thus Gregory VII, as a politician wanting to achieve some result, was driven in practice to adopt a
different standpoint. He acknowledged the existence of the state as a dispensation of Providence,
described the coexistence of church and state as a divine ordinance, and emphasized the necessity of
union between the sacerdotium and the imperium. But at no period would he have dreamed of putting the
two powers on an equal footing; the superiority of church to state was to him a fact which admitted of no
discussion and which he had never doubted.[20]

He wished to see all important matters of dispute referred to Rome; appeals were to be addressed to
himself; the centralization of ecclesiastical government in Rome naturally involved a curtailment of the
powers of bishops. Since these refused to submit voluntarily and tried to assert their traditional
independence, his papacy is full of struggles against the higher ranks of the clergy.[20] Pope Gregory VII
was critical in promoting and regulating the concept of modern university as his 1079 Papal Decree
ordered the regulated establishment of cathedral schools that transformed themselves into the first
European universities.

This battle for the foundation of papal supremacy is connected with his championship of compulsory
celibacy among the clergy and his attack on simony. Gregory VII did not introduce the celibacy of the
priesthood into the Church, but he took up the struggle with greater energy than his predecessors. In
1074, he published an encyclical, absolving the people from their obedience to bishops who allowed
married priests. The next year he enjoined them to take action against married priests, and deprived these
clerics of their revenues. Both the campaign against priestly marriage and that against simony provoked
widespread resistance.[20]

His writings treat mainly of the principles and practice of Church

government.[15] They may be found in Mansi's collection under
the title "Gregorii VII registri sive epistolarum libri".[43]

Doctrine of the Eucharist

Gregory VII was seen by Pope Paul VI as instrumental in
affirming the tenet that Christ is present in the Blessed
Sacrament. Gregory's demand that Berengarius perform a
Wax funeral effigy of Gregory VII
confession of this belief[44] was quoted in Pope Paul VI's historic
under glass, Salerno cathedral
1965 encyclical Mysterium fidei:[45]
 I believe in my heart and openly profess that the
bread and wine that are placed on the altar are,
through the mystery of the sacred prayer and the
words of the Redeemer, substantially changed into
the true and proper and lifegiving flesh and blood of
Jesus Christ our Lord, and that after the consecration
they are the true body of Christ.[46]

This profession of faith began a "Eucharistic Renaissance" in the churches of Europe as of the 12th
century.[45]

Death
Pope Gregory VII died in exile in Salerno; the epitaph on Gregory VII's sarcophagus in the city's
Cathedral says: "I have loved justice and hated iniquity; therefore, I die in exile."[7][47]

Legacy
Gregory VII was beatified by Pope Gregory XIII in 1584 and canonized on 24 May 1728 by Pope
Benedict XIII.[15]

See also
Concordat of Worms
Dictatus papae (1075–87)
First Council of the Lateran
Libertas ecclesiae
List of Catholic saints
List of popes

References
1. Cowdrey 1998, p. 28.
2. Beno, Cardinal Priest of Santi Martino e Silvestro. Gesta Romanae ecclesiae contra
Hildebrandum. c. 1084. In K. Francke, MGH Libelli de Lite II (Hannover, 1892), pp. 369–
373.
3. "The acts and monuments of John Foxe", Volume 2 (https://books.google.com/books?id=P3
IuAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA121#v=onepage&q&f=false)
4. McCabe, Joseph. The Popes and their Church (1918). London: Watts & Co. Section I,
Chapter V: The Papacy at its Height.
5. Cowdrey 1998, pp. 495–496.
6. Johann Georg Estor, Probe einer verbesserten Heraldic (Giessen 1728), "vorrede": Das
Pabst Hildebrand ein Zimmermanns Sohn gewesen, we noch der Pater Daniel in der netten
Historie von Franckreich geglaubet, rechnete der Pater Maimburg und Pater Pagi nicht
unbillig zu eben dieser Ordnung. Francesco Pagi, Breviarium historico-chronologico criticum
Tomus II (Antwerp 1717), p. 417, attributed to Cardinal Baronius the notion that the father
was a faber, but that Papebroch considered him to be of noble stock.
 7. Fr. Paolo O. Pirlo, SHMI (1997). "St. Gregory VII". My First Book of Saints. Sons of Holy
Mary Immaculate - Quality Catholic Publications. p. 105. ISBN 978-971-91595-4-4.
8. Butler, Alban (25 May 1866). "Saint Gregory VII., Pope and Confessor. Volume V: The Lives
of the Saints" (https://www.bartleby.com/210/5/254.html). www.bartleby.com. Retrieved
5 April 2019.
9. Cowdrey 1998, p. 29.
10. According to the sources, feeling he was nearing his end, Stephen had his cardinals swear
that they would wait for Hildebrand's return to Rome before electing his successor.Paravicini
Bagliani, Agostino (December 2008). "Una carriera dietro le quinte". Medioevo (143): 70.
11. "Galeria Antica" (https://www.lazionascosto.it/citta-fantasma-borghi-abbandonati-del-lazio/g
aleria-antica/). Lazio Nascosto (in Italian). Retrieved 5 April 2019.
12. G. B. Borino, "L' arcidiaconato di Ildebrando," Studi Gregoriani 3 (1948), 463–516.
13. The Annales of Berthold, the follower of Hermannus Augiensis, in Monumenta Germaniae
Historica, Scriptorum Volume 5 (Hannover 1844), p. 276: Quo audito sese imparem tanto
honori immo oneri reputans, inducias respondendi vix imploravit; et sic fuga elapsus aliquot
dies ad Vincula sancti Petri occultatus latuit. Tandem vix inventus et ad apostolicam sedem
vi perductus....
14. Philippus Jaffé (editor), Regesta pontificum Romanorum editio secunda Tomus I (Leipzig
1885), p. 198. Sede Vacante 1073 (Dr. J. P. Adams). (http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV107
3.html)
15. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain: Oestreich, Thomas (1913). "Pope St. Gregory VII" (https://en.wikisource.or
g/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Pope_St._Gregory_VII). In Herbermann, Charles
(ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton.
16. Bonizo of Sutri, in Monumenta Germaniae Historica, 6, Libelli 1, Libelli de Lite I (Hannover,
1891), p. 601 (ed. E. Dummler). Carl Mirbt, Die Publizistik im Zeitalter Gregors VII (Leipzig
1894), pp. 42–43.
17. J. P. Migne (editor), Patrologia Latina Volume 148, columns 235–237.
18. Liber Pontificalis, in Monumenta Germaniae Historica Scriptores, Volume 5 (Hannover
1844), p. 164 (ed. Mommsen), p. 164: Hic fecit constitutum in ecclesia beati Petri, in quo
sederunt episcopi LXXII, presbiteri Romani XXXIII, diaconi et clerus omnis, sub
anathemate, ut nullus pontificem viventem aut episcopum civitatis suae praesumat loqui aut
partes sibi facere nisi tertio die depositionis eius adunato clero et filiis ecclesiae, tunc electio
fiat, et quis quem voluerit habebit licentiam eligendi sibi sacerdotem.
19. The Annales of Lambertus of Hersfeld, in Monumenta Germaniae Historica Scriptorum 5
(1844), p. 194, states that Gregory did wait for a reply from the Emperor: cogi tamen nullo
modo potuisse, ut ordinari se permitteret, donec in electionem suam tam regem quam
principes Teutonici regni consensisse certa legatione cognosceret. Whether he got it, or
whether the response was positive, is another matter.
20. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gregory (Popes)/Gregory VII". Encyclopædia
Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
21. Paravicini Bagliani, Agostino (December 2008). "Sia fatta la mia volontà". Medioevo (143):
76.
22. "Vatican newspaper examines history of red, white papal garb : News Headlines" (http://ww
w.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=18897). Catholic Culture. 2
September 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
23. "L'Osservatore Romano" (https://web.archive.org/web/20131203025944/http://www.osserva
toreromano.va/portal/dt?JSPTabContainer.setSelected=JSPTabContainer%2FDetail&last=f
alse%3D&path=%2Fnews%2Fcultura%2F2013%2F198q13-Le-origini-e-la-simbologia-delle-
vesti-del-.html&title=From%20red%20to%20white&locale=en). Osservatoreromano.va.
Archived from the original (http://www.osservatoreromano.va/portal/dt?JSPTabContainer.set
Selected=JSPTabContainer%2FDetail&last=false=&path=/news/cultura/2013/198q13-Le-ori
gini-e-la-simbologia-delle-vesti-del-.html&title=From%20red%20to%20white&locale=en) on
3 December 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
24. Letter to Gregory VII (24 January 1076) (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/henry4-to-g
7a.html)
25. A. Creber, ‘Women at Canossa. The Role of Elite Women in the Reconciliation between
Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV of Germany (January 1077),’ (https://storicamente.org/crebe
r-women-canossa) Storicamente 13 (2017), article no. 13, pp. 1-44.
26. Emerton, pp. 149–154.
27. Philippus Jaffe, Regesta pontificum Romanorum I, editio altera (Leipzig 1885), p. 649.
Guibert continued to maintain his pretensions as pope until his death in September, 1100.
Otto Köhncke, Wibert von Ravenna (Papst Clemens III) (Leipzig 1888).
28. Philippus Jaffé (editor) Bibliotheca rerum Germanicarum Tomus II: Monumenta Gregoriana
(Berolini 1865), pp. 443–444 (Regestum, Book VIII, 13).
29. He complained in a letter to King Alfonso of Leon and Castile in 1081 that he had a large
number of detractors, whose complaints were widely spread, and whom he names as
"liars": Jaffe Bibliotheca, pp. 470–473.
30. Robinson (1978), p. 100.
31. Peters 1971, p. 33.
32. Ferdinand Gregorovius, History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages (tr. A. Hamilton)
Volume IV (London 1896), pp. 245–255. Horace K. Mann, The Lives of the Popes in the
Middle Ages Volume VII (London 1910), pp. 162–165.
33. De Fougerolles, Paula. "Pope Gregory VII, the Archbishopric of Dol, and the Normans",
Anglo-Norman Studies XXI, (Christopher Harper-Bill, ed.), Boydell & Brewer, 1999 (https://b
ooks.google.com/books?id=rYbFIh92OQsC&pg=PA47&dq=Pope+Gregory+VII&hl=en&sa=
X&ved=0ahUKEwijvu7Xx4_KAhWF8CYKHVGNB844HhDoAQgzMAQ#v=onepage&q=Pop
e%20Gregory%20VII&f=false) ISBN 9780851157450
34. Philippus Jaffe (editor) Bibliotheca rerum Germanicarum Tomus II: Monumenta Gregoriana
(Berolini 1865), pp. 247-249 (Registrum IV.4 and 5, 27 September 1076). B. Hauréau
(editor), Gallia christiana XIV (Paris 1856), 1046-1047.
35. H. R. Loyn, "William's Bishops: Some further thoughts," Anglo-Norman Studies 10 (1988),
222-235.
36. Philippus Jaffe (editor) Bibliotheca rerum Germanicarum Tomus II: Monumenta Gregoriana
(Berolini 1865), pp. 318-320; and Gregory's complaint to William, Archbishop of Rouen in
1080, who paid no attention to demands that he come to Rome: pp. 469-470. Likewise, in
Regestum IV. 9, Gregory informed the Archbishop of Sens that he would excommunicate
the Bishop of Orleans unless he turned up in Rome: pp. 253-254 (2 November 1076)
37. Emerton, pp. 154-156 (24 April 1080). Migne, Patrologia Latina Vol. 148, pp. 565-567.
38. David C. Douglas, William the Conqueror (Berkeley-Los Angeles 1964), pp. 317-345,
especially 323, 336-339.
39. Benedictines of S. Maur (editors), Gallia christiana IV (Paris 1728), pp. 97-109.
40. Bernard F. Reilly, The Contest of Christian and Muslim Spain 1031–1157, (Blackwell
Publishing Inc., 1995), 69.
41. Jacob G. Ghazarian, The Armenian Kingdom in Cilicia During the Crusades: The Integration
of Cilician Armenians with the Latins, 1080-1393 (Psychology Press, 2000), pp. 81-82; 188-
193.
42. https://apholt.com/2016/11/14/pope-gregory-vii-on-the-plight-of-eastern-christians-prior-to-
the-first-crusade/
43. Mansi, "Gregorii VII registri sive epistolarum libri." Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et
amplissima collectio. Florence, 1759
44. J. De Montclos, Lanfranc et Bérenger. La controverse eucharistique du XIe siècle (Leuven
1971).
45. The History of Eucharistic Adoration by John A Hardon 2003 ISBN 0-9648448-9-3 pp. 4–10
46. Vatican website: Mysterium fidei (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/docu
ments/hf_p-vi_enc_03091965_mysterium_en.html)
47. Latin epitaph: Dilexi iustitiam et odivi iniquitatem propterea morior in exilio. This is a
reworking of the well-known Ps. 44.8 Dilexísti justítiam, et odísti iniquitátem : proptérea
unxit te Deus, Deus tuus, óleo lætítiæ præ consórtibus tuis. Together with Ps 44. 2,
Eructávit cor meum verbum bonum : dico ego ópers mea Regi, it forms the Introit of the
former of the two Masses of the Common of a virgin not a martyr. The grammatical variation
on 'Thou didst love justice and hate iniquity', the original of which was said in apostrophe to
the canonised virgin not a martyr, whose feast is being celebrated. Gregory (or his
eulogizers), therefore, was likely quoting from a familiar liturgical text. See also: Paul Egon
Hübinger, Die letzten Worte Papst Gregors VII: 164. Sitzung am 20. Januar 1971 in
Düsseldorf (Rheinish-Westfälisch Akademie der Wissenschaften, Geisteswissenschaften.
Vorträge, G 185, 1973. Springer-Verlag, 2013).

Sources
* Cowdrey, H. E. J. (1998). Pope Gregory VII, 1073-1085 (https://books.google.com/?id=D9
SG3pEWGfkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Pope+Gregory+VII#v=onepage&q=Pope%20Greg
ory%20VII&f=false). Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 9780191584596.
Peters, Edward, ed. (1971). The First Crusade. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Press. ISBN 978-0812210170.
Villegas-Ariristizabal, Thomas (2018). "Pope Gregory VII and Count Eblous II of Roucy's
Proto-Crusade in Iberia c. 1073". Medieval History Journal. 21(1). [DOI:
10.1177/0971945817750508]

Further reading
Paul von Bernried, Canon of Regensburg, "S. Gregorii VII Vita," J.P. Migne (ed.),
Patrologiae Cursus Completus Series Latina Tomus CXLVIII: Sancti Gregorii VII Epistolae
et Diplomata Pontificia (Paris 1878), 39–104.
Bonizo of Sutri, "Liber ad amicum", in Philippus Jaffé (editor) Bibliotheca rerum
Germanicarum Tomus II: Monumenta Gregoriana (Berolini 1865), pp. 577–689.
Watterich, Johann M., ed. (1862). Pontificum Romanorum Vitae ab aequalibus conscriptae
Tomus I. Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann.
Macdonald, Allan John (1932). Hildebrand: A Life of Gregory VII. London: Methuen.
Mathew, Arnold Harris (2013) [1910]. The Life and Times of Hildebrand, Pope Gregory VII.
St. Gabriel Theological Press.
Emerton, Ephraim (1932). The correspondence of Pope Gregory VII: Selected letters from
the Registrum (https://books.google.com/books?id=EgRbpkgRSZAC&printsec=frontcover&
dq=The+correspondence+of+Pope+Gregory+VII&hl=en&ei=MyOyTd6BGenL0QG6h4WGC
Q&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=fals
e). New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231096270. OCLC 1471578 (https://w
ww.worldcat.org/oclc/1471578).
 Kuttner, S. (1947). 'Liber Canonicus: a note on the Dictatus Papae', Studi Gregoriani 2
(1947), 387–401.
Capitani, O. "Esiste un' «età gregoriana» ? Considerazioni sulle tendenze di una
storiografia medievistica," Rivista di storia e letteratura religiosa 1 (1965), pp. 454–481.
Capitani, O. (1966). Immunità vescovili ed ecclesiologia in età "pregregoriana" e
"gregoriana". L'avvio alla "Restaurazione, Spoleto.
Robinson, Ian Stuart. (1978). Authority and Resistance in the Investiture Contest: the
Polemical Literature of the Late Eleventh Century. Manchester University Press.
Gatto, L. (1968). Bonizo di Sutri ed il suo Liber ad Amicum Pescara.
Knox, Ronald (1972). "Finding the Law: Developments in Canon Law during the Gregorian
Reform," Studi Gregoriani 9 (1972) 419–466.
Gilchrist, J. T. (1972). "The Reception of Pope Gregory VII into the Canon Law (1073–
1141)." Zeitschrift für Rechtsgeschichte: Kanonistische Abteilung, 59 (1973), 35–82.
Capitani, O. (1984). L'Italia medievale nei secoli di trapasso: la riforma della Chiesa (1012–
1122). Bologna.
Fuhrmann, H. (1989). "Papst Gregor VII. und das Kirchenrecht. Zum Problem des Dictatus
papae," Studi Gregoriani XIII, pp. 123–149, 281–320.
Golinelli, Paolo (1991). Matilde e i Canossa nel cuore del Medioevo. Milano: Mursia.
Leyser, Karl (1994). Communications and Power in Medieval Europe: The Gregorian
Revolution and Beyond (https://archive.org/details/communicationspo0000leys). London:
The Hambledon Press. ISBN 978-0826430281.
Capitani, Ovidio (2000), "Gregorio VII, santo (http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/santo-greg
orio-vii_%28Enciclopedia-dei-Papi%29/)," in Enciclopedia dei Papi. Roma: Istituto della
Enciclopedia italiana.
Robinson, I. S. (2003). Henry IV of Germany 1056-1106 (revised ed.). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521545907.
Förster, Thomas (2011). Bonizo von Sutri als gregorianischer Geschichtsschreiber.
Hannover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung.. Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Studien und Texte,
53.
Capitani, Ovidio; (ed. Pio Berardo) (2015). Gregorio VII : il papa epitome della chiesa di
Roma. Spoleto : Centro Italiano di Studi sull'Alto Medioevo.
Wickham, Chris (2015). Medieval Rome. Stability and Crisis of a City, 900–1150. Oxford:
Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199684960.
Villegas-Aristizábal, Lucas, "Pope Gregory VII and Count Eblous II of Roucy’s Proto-
Crusade in Iberia c. 1073", Medieval History Journal 21.1 (2018), 1–24.
doi:10.1177/0971945817750508 (https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0971945817750508)

External links
Women's Biography: Matilda of Tuscany, countess of Tuscany, duchess of Lorraine (http://e
pistolae.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/woman/29.html), contains several of his letters to his
supporter, Matilda of Tuscany.
Database of the Letters of Pope Gregory VII: Which letter is in which collection? (http://ww
w.g7ldb.history.uni-tuebingen.de/)
Literature by and about Pope Gregory VII (https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=simpleS
earch&cqlMode=true&query=idn%3D118541862) in the German National Library catalogue
Works by and about Pope Gregory VII (https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/entity/11
8541862) in the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (German Digital Library)
"Gregorius VII papa" (http://www.geschichtsquellen.de/repPers_118541862.html).
Repertorium "Historical Sources of the German Middle Ages" (Geschichtsquellen des
 deutschen Mittelalters).

Catholic Church titles

Preceded by Pope Succeeded by
Alexander II 1073–85 Victor III

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