446 Outlines of European History influence was deemed the chief cause of worldliness among the prelates. Naturally these last measures met with far more general opposition than the new way of electing the Pope. The magnitude of the task which the popes had undertaken first became fully apparent when the celebrated Gregory VII ascended the papal throne, in 1073. The Dictatus of Gregory VII Gregory VII puts his theo- ries of the papal power into practice Section 75. Powers claimed by the Popes Among the writings of Gregory VII there is a very brief statement, called the Dictatus, of the powers which he believed the popes to possess. Its chief claims are the following: The Pope enjoys a unique tide ; he is the only universal bishop and may depose and reinstate other bishops or transfer them from place to place. No council of the Church may be regarded as speaking for Christendom without his consent. The Roman Church has never erred, nor will it err to all eternity. No one may be considered a Catholic Christian who does not agree with the Roman Church. No book is authoritative unless it has received the papal sanction. Gregory does not stop with asserting the Pope's complete supremacy over the Church. He says that "the Pope is the only person whose feet are kissed by all princes " ; that he may depose emperors and " absolve subjects from allegiance to an unjust ruler." No one shall dare to condemn one who appeals to the Pope. No one may annul a decree of the Pope, though the Pope may declare null and void the decrees of all other earthly powers ; and no one may pass judgment upon his acts. Immediately upon his election as Pope, Gregory began to put into practice his high conception of the role that the reli- gious head of Christendom should play. He dispatched legates throughout Europe, and from this time on these legates became a powerful instrument of the Church's government. He warned the kings of France and England and the youthful German ruler, Henry IV, to forsake their evil ways, to be upright and
