18. Chapter 16: The Church Continues Efforts to Free Itself, 1059-1073

CHAPTER 16 The Church Continues Efforts to Free Itself, 1059-1073

1. Hildebrand Practises Clever Di­plomacy

Hildebrand had been successful in stealing a march on the Roman nobles by putting a reform pope on the papal throne. But a difficult problem still remained. The papacy had been freed from bondage to the Roman nobles, but not from the German emperor. Now Hilde­brand wished to free the papacy and the Church also from this bondage. But he felt that the pa­pacy could not get along without the support of some government. The problem was to find a govern­ment able and willing to support and protect the papacy without wishing to control it.

Hildebrand cast about him. There was Duke Godfrey of Tus­cany. He could be counted on. God­frey’s wife, Beatrice, and her daughter Matilda were also zealous partisans. But Tuscany’s strength was not enough. In southern Italy were the Normans. But Pope Leo IX had been in disagreement with them. Disputes about possessions in southern Italy between them and Leo IX had even led to war, in which Leo had been defeated and made a prisoner (ch. 15, sec. 4). However, the clever diplomacy of Hildebrand won them over. Upon his advice Pope Nicholas II recognized their conquests in south­ern Italy. They in turn became the pope’s vassals. That put them under the feudal obligation to render protection to the pope. Hildebrand also gained for the pope the sup­port of the democratic party in northern Italy.

Hildebrand felt that the pope, bolstered by these governments, could now afford to take a firm stand on the all-important question of the day. In a synod held in Rome in 1059 Nicholas II definitely forbade lay investiture.

2. A New Method Is Drawn Up for Electing a Pope The most important thing to take place while Nicholas II was pope was the establishment of a new method of electing men to the pa­pacy. The new method was decreed at the Synod of 1059. With certain changes it is still in use today. The object of this new method was to take the election of popes, and therewith the control of the papacy, out of the hands of the Italian nobles and also out of the hands of the emperors. The new method was to be as follows. On the death of a pope the cardinal bishops were to nomi­nate his successor. Then the cardi­nal bishops were to consult the other cardinals — the cardinal priests and the cardinal deacons (ch. 15, sec. 3). Only after the car­dinals had thus made their selec­tion were they to seek the ap­proval of the clergy and people of Rome. The decree in vague language spoke of "the honor and reverence due our beloved son Henry." (This Henry was none other than the young Henry IV.) But these were only polite words. The decree said nothing about the participation of the emperor in the election.

What it amounted to was that according to the new method, the cardinals — in the first place the cardinal bishops — elect the pope. The decree also laid down the rule that a pope may be chosen from any part of the Church; that if necessary the election may be held in some place other than Rome; and that no matter where the man elected pope may be at the time, he will at once come into pos­session of all the powers of his office.

3. Pope Alexander II Strengthens the Papal Position The change in the method of electing popes brought about by this decree was revolutionary. The decree was designed to free the papacy and the Church from all political control. To the extent to which this new method of electing popes was actually carried out in practice, this decree broke the bonds in which Church and papacy had heretofore been held by the State.

Soon after the adoption of the decree, Pope Nicholas II died. Would it be possible to put into practice the new method of elec­tion?

Hildebrand was now the recog­nized leader of the Cluny reform party. He brought about the elec­tion of Alexander II to succeed Nicholas II. But the bishops in Germany and in Lombardy, and of course the Italian nobles, did not like the new method. Their com­bined influence secured from the empress-regent the appointment of the Bishop of Parma under the title of Honorius II.

Honorius came close to winning out in the contest that followed. What saved the day for Hildebrand and the Cluny reform party this time was an upset in Germany in 1062. Anno, archbishop of Cologne, kidnapped Henry IV and was made his guardian in the place of his mother, the empress Agnes. This man Anno was very ambitious. He estimated that the reform party would best serve his purpose. So he recognized Alexander as the rightful pope. Again Hildebrand had won. The new pope in many ways made good his claim to power, but it was Hildebrand standing behind the papal throne who inspired his actions. Alexander succeeded in making two of the most powerful archbishops in Germany do pen­ance for simony. He would not allow Henry IV to get a divorce from his queen. Duke William of Normandy was contemplating an enterprise which was to result in the Norman conquest of England (ch. 13, sec. 3) . Before launching his attack upon England he asked the pope for his approval. Alexan­der gave his sanction to the enter­prise, and also to the activities of the Normans in southern Italy, which eventually resulted in their conquest of Sicily. In this way Alexander strengthened his posi­tion.

4. A Dispute Arises between Pope and Emperor An event of the greatest impor­tance in the meanwhile took place on the other side of the Alps. In 1065 Henry IV came of age and assumed the throne in his own right.

Pope Alexander II very soon be­came involved in a dispute with the new emperor. The archbishop­ric of Milan had become vacant, and the emperor appointed God­frey of Castiglione to the vacancy. But the pope had accused this man of simony. The democratic party in Milan, whose support Hilde­brand had gained for the pope, chose a man by the name of Atto as archbishop. The pope recognized him as the legitimate holder of the office. But the emperor in 1073 secured the consecration of God­frey. The pope felt that the emperor was not to blame. He regarded him as well-intentioned but inex­perienced by reason of his youth. He blamed Henry’s advisers. So he excommunicated not the emperor but his advisers on grounds of simony (ch. 15, sec. 3) . When a few days later Alexan­der II died the dispute between pope and emperor was still hanging fire.

5. Hildebrand Becomes Pope For twenty-four years, under six successive popes, Hildebrand had been the power behind the throne — the heart and the brains of the papacy. Now, in these tremen­dously critical circumstances, he himself was made pope in 1073. This came about as a complete sur­prise, and took place in a highly irregular manner.

Hildebrand was conducting the funeral services of Alexander II in the Church of St. John Lateran. By acclamation the crowd suddenly and unexpectedly proclaimed him pope. Amidst scenes of the wildest enthusiasm the people carried him to the Church of St. Peter in Chains. There he was consecrated and placed upon the papal throne, without having been elected by the cardinals according to the decree of 1059.

He took the title of Gregory VII. When Hildebrand took his place on the papal chair the struggle between Church and State was far from settled. The smoldering embers were about to burst into open flame.

HILDEBRAND, POPE GREGORY VII
Ewing Galloway