Success or Failure: Pope Gregory VII and his legacies Prof. Uta-Renate Blumenthal |
To this day, Gregory VII (1073-1085) has remained a controversial pope for historians, some describing him as a saint, others pointing out that he was largely responsible for destroying the traditional close cooperation between the Church and the monarchies governing Europe from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The paper traces the career of Hildebrand, Gregory°¶s name before his election to the papacy in 1073 at the funeral for his predecessor Pope Alexander II. He was educated at the Lateran, then the most important basilica in Rome founded by Emperor Constantine and joined the Lateran clergy. As an acolyte he accompanied Pope Gregory VI into exile to Cologne, where he continued his studies as a canon at that cathedral. Gregory VI was exiled in 1046 by a church council under the leadership of Emperor Henry III, who freed the papacy from the power of the local Roman nobility and reformed it. In these actions Henry III continued the Romano-Byzantine traditions embodied by Emperor Justinian as well as by the first western Roman emperor, the Frank Charlemagne who was crowned by Pope Leo III in 800. The principles of the reform, later known as Gregorian reform or investiture controversy, were derived from the revived ancient canon law. Henry III as well as ecclesiastics focused on moral and financial reforms, prohibiting the marriage of clergy and the purchase of church offices (simony). The most important impetus originally came from new monastic foundations by nobles throughout Europe. Cluny, Hirsau, Gorze are perhaps the most famous names. Lay nobles and churchmen worked hand in hand. By the time Gregory VII was elected in 1073, the reform found a center in Rome. The new pope added several principles: exclusion of the laity from all influence on churches and monasteries, disobedience to papal commands as heresy and in particular his personal conviction that he, Gregory, as the pope was the living successor of St. Peter, the prince of the apostles. St. Peter himself, Gregory wrote to King Henry IV of the Empire (=Germany with Burgundy and parts of Italy), would read what Henry wrote to Gregory. Gregory, therefore, could never err. In pursuit of his ideals Gregory relegated kings to the ranks of ordinary laymen and prohibited the ceremony of investiture. Kings and other nobles had traditionally protected, enriched and guided churches. They entrusted the office of bishop to men they knew and trusted, by giving them a ring and a staff in a solemn ceremony at the beginning of their pontificates. In return the churchmen would do homage and promise their loyalty to the ruler. This assured the rulers that they could rely on the support and loyalty of the churches and monasteries for their policies. It was inconceivable that any ruler could give up this traditional collaboration without a major loss of authority. But Gregory demanded that Henry IV do just that. When he refused he deposed and excommunicated the king in February 1076. At the penance of Canossa in January 1077 Henry was absolved thanks to the intervention of Abbot Hugh of Cluny and the Countess Matilda of Tuscany as well as others. But the pope°¶s action against Henry had encouraged and hardened lay opposition to the ruler in the Empire. These nobles refused to abandon their aim of deposing Henry and elected an anti-king, Rudolf of Rheinfelden. The kings and their parties, including an important party of Gregory°¶s supporters in Germany, fought several bloody battles. Henry gained the upper hand even though Gregory VII excommunicated and deposed him a second time in 1080. With strong Italian and eventually Roman support, Henry IV gained entry into Rome, where an anti-pope was elected. Archbishop Wibert of Ravenna adopted the name Clement III and crowned Henry IV emperor. Gregory VII had to flee to the Castello S. Angelo and from there to Salerno where he died in May 1085. Seemingly, Gregory VII, died as a defeated pope. However, the principles for which he had fought during his papacy°Xthe primacy of the papacy and the subjection of all of the laity, including kings and emperors, to the church°Xdirectly led to the papal monarchy of the later middle ages. Still, at the time of Pope Calixtus II the papacy was obligated to conclude a truce, a compromise, with the kings of the Empire, England and France. At Worms, in 1122, emissaries of both parties exchanged documents guaranteeing kings the right to grant lands and properties, called regalia, to newly elected churchmen, but they would no longer invest them with ring and staff, the symbols of their office. |
| Terms of Investiture
Controversy Investiture controversy = Gregorian reform 1050-1122 Investiture: handing ring and staff to a new churchman by an emperor or king and instating him in the properties belonging to a church or monastery Ring and staff = symbols of office Roman imperial tradition of Emperor Constantine the Great (+337) since 312, when he converted to Christianity Rulers guided, enriched and protected churches and monasteries which they founded Traditions of Constantine continued in East Rome = Byzantium Emperor Justinian I (d.565) and wife Theodora Mosaics of San Vitale, Ravenna Germanic kings accepted these traditions and became leaders and protectors of churches Coronation of Charlemagne in Rome 800 A.D. by Pope Leo III Temporal rulers and bishops as well as abbots collaborated Gregorian reform based on the desire to reform the Church and improve morals; priests should no longer marry; bribes no longer allowed to buy church offices simony = purchase of church offices investiture prohibition was based on prohibition of simony origin of Gregorian reform: monasteries like Cluny, Hirsau, Gorze founded by pious laymen: William of Aquitaine Emperor Henry III (d. 1056) deposed three rival popes at a church council in 1046 to purify the Roman church Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) prohibited investiture in 1075 or 1078, no layman, including emperors or kings were to appoint bishops or abbots who were to be elected by clergy and people of the diocese Investiture would have deprived rulers of their influence over the Church and her wealth and would have made traditional collaboration impossible. Henry IV could not accept the papal commands and was excommunicated. January 1077: Henry IV did penance at Canossa and was reconciled with the Church Countess Matilda of Tuscany Abbot Hugh of Cluny 1084: Henry IV enters Rome, is crowned emperor by (anti)pope Clement III; Gregory VII flees to Salerno Concordat of Worms 1022 allows rulers of the Roman Empire to continue to grant the properties of churches to new churchmen, but investiture with ring and staff is abandoned by kings and emperors |