Gregory VII

Gregory VII (c. 1015 – 1085), original name Hildebrand, born in Tuscany, was Pope, the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States (1073-1085). He bred up as a monk in a life of severe austerity. He became sensible of the formidable evils tending to the corruption of the clergy, due to their dependence on the Emperor for investiture into their benefices, and he set himself with all his might to denounce the usurpation and prohibit the practice, to the extent of one day ex-communicating certain bishop who had submitted to the royal claim and those who had invested them. His conduct roused the Emperor, Henry IV, who went the length of deposing him, upon which the Pope retaliated with a threat of excommunication. It ended in the final submission of Henry at Canossa. The terms of submission imposed were intolerable, and Henry broke them, elected a Pope of his own, entered Rome, was crowned by him, and besieged Gregory in San Angelo, from which Guiscard delivered him to retire to Salerno, where he died in 1085. He was a great man and a good Pope. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.

Nearby pages
Gregory XIII, Gregory XVI, Grenoble, Gresham College, Gretchen, Gretna Green, Gretry