chair. At length, in 1073, on the death of Alexander, Hildebrand was himself as it were compelled by the tumultuous demands of the mob to accept the vacant tiara (22d April); but he refused to receive consecration until the sanction of the emperor had been obtained. This did not arrive for more than a month, although meanwhile he had been practically exercising many of the papal functions; finally, however, he was ordained to the priesthood, and some days afterwards (30th June) solemnly consecratedpope by the title of Gregory VII., a name which he chose in testimony of his veneration for the memory and character of his earliest patron, Gregory VI.[1] Once firmly established on the papalthrone, Gregory lost no time in giving the utmost possible practical effect to the two leading ideas of his life, the establishment of the supremacy of the papacy within the church, and the effective assertion of the supremacy of the church over the state. In March1074 a synod was held in Rome which condemned the simony that had grown so prevalent throughout the church, and also enacted the old stringent laws of celibacy which had become almost a dead letter, especially in Germany and in the north of Italy; simoniacal or marriedpriests were declared to be deposed and their priestly functions invalid. The resistance of the clergy to these decrees was utterly in vain; papal legates visited every country, and, supported by the popular voice, compelled submission. At a second synod held in Rome in February1075 the decrees of the first were confirmed, and the first blow was struck which afterwards resulted in the long protracted wars of investitures. At that synod it was determined that any ecclesiastic who in future should accept office from the hands of a layman incurred the penalty of deposition, while the secular lord who bestowed investiture was to be excommunicated. The decree was aimed immediately at certain Germanbishops, Henry's personal advisors, but hardly less directly at Henry himself. The emperor, finding his hands at the moment fully occupied with the suppression of a revolt among the Saxons, was politic enough to conceal his resentment for the time, and to dismiss his advisers; but as soon as the war had been brought to a close, his defiance found ample expression. Meanwhile Gregory was not unopposed even in Italy, and during the Christmas festivities of 1075 a revolt in Rome itself was organized by Cencius, who had placed himself at the head of those nobles who were opposed to reform; the pope, however, had the popular enthusiasm on his side, and ultimately the insurgents were compelled to fly. A papalembassy was next sent, early in 1076, to Henry at Goslar, citing him to appear personally at Rome at a council to be held in the second week of Lent, and there answer for his simony, sacrilege, and oppression. Henry's rage at this knew no bounds; he dismissed the legates with insult, and at a diet held at Worms (24th January1076) replied by declaring Gregory deposed on charges of tyranny, magic, and adultery, by sending notification of this fact to the Romanclergy, and by taking steps for appointing a successor to the dethronedpontiff. Gregory now lost no time in excommunicating all the bishops who had attended the diet of Worms, in solemnly deposing and excommunicatingthe emperor, and in absolving his subjects from their oath of allegiance (22d February1076). This counter action produced a powerful effect upon the Germanprinces and people, many of whom had had good cause to resent Henry's tyrannies; one by one the bishops who had announced their withdrawal from Gregory's obedience now signified their contrition, and at a diet held at Tribur (September1076) the election of a new emperor began to be discussed. Resistance being in the meantime impossible, Henry resolved upon humbling himself to the utmost; in the dead of winter he set out to make his submission; Gregory was in waiting for him at Canossa, where (25th to 27th January1077) that famous penance which Europe has not yet forgotten was imposed (see vol. x. p. 488). Absolved only on condition of his not assuming the royal dignity till his case had been investigated and decided, Henry had no sooner left the papal presence than he began to plot his revenge. Throwing himself upon the generosity of his Lombardvassals, he took courage to face the papalexcommunication which was renewed in November1078; and in the wars which ensued his arms were finally successful. Rudolf of Swabia having died soon after the battle of Merseburg in 1080, the emperor proceeded with a powerful army to escort into ItalyGuibert of Ravenna, who had been chosen at Brixen (June1080) as Gregory's successor. In three successive summers the attack on Rome was renewed, but it was not until 1084 (March 21) that the treachery of some of the nobles of the city opened the gate to the invader. Gregory was now at last compelled to take refuge in the castle of St Angelo, while Guibert was established on the pontificalthrone as his successor with the title of Clement III. After receiving coronation from Clement, Henry determined to return at once to Germany, especially as Robert Guiscard was known to be approaching. Released accordingly by the arrival of the Normanduke, Gregory excommunicated once more both Henry and Clement; but not deeming himself secure at Rome, where he had reason to know that his power was no longer what it once had been, he in May1084 placed himself under Robert's protection at Salerno, where he died, May 25, 1085, after a comparatively brief pontificate of not much more than ten years. His last words are reported to have been, “I have loved righteousness and hated iniquity, and therefore I die in exile.” His festival (duplex) is observed throughout the Roman Church on the anniversary of his death. His successor was Victor III.
The lifework of Hildebrand may be thus summed up in the words of Sir James Stephen:—“He found the papacy dependent on the empire; he sustained her by alliances almost commensurate with the Italianpeninsula. He found the papacyelectoral by the Roman people and clergy; he left it electoral by a college of papal nomination. He found the emperor the virtual patron of the holy see; he wrested that power from his hands. He found the secular clergy the allies and dependants of the secular power; he converted them into the inalienable auxiliaries of his own. He found the higher ecclesiastics in servitude to the temporal sovereigns; he delivered them from that yoke to subjugate them to the Romantiara. He found the patronage of the church the mere desecrated spoil and merchandize of princes; he reduced it within the dominion of the supreme pontiff. He is celebrated as the reformer of the impure and profane abuses of his age; he is more justly entitled to the praise of having left the impress of his own gigantic character on the history of all the ages which have succeeded him.“
↑Apart from the rich historical associations connected with the name of Gregory, its etymology (from ἐγρήγυρα), so suggestive of sleepless vigilance, had probably something to do with its selection by this and so many other popes.
