20. Chapter 18: The Church Is Forced to Compromise, 1073-1122

CHAPTER 18 The Church Is Forced to Compromise, 1073-1122

1. Hildebrand’s Early Life

Hildebrand, who in 1073 became Pope Gregory VII (ch. 16, sec. 5) , is one of the outstanding men of history. Hildebrand’s name would seem to indicate that he was of German descent. But he was born in Italy around the year 1020. His family was poor, and lived in very humble circumstances. An uncle of Hildebrand was abbot of the Cluny Monastery of St. Mary on the Aventine Hill in Rome. In that monastery Hildebrand acquired his education.

You will remember that Benedict IX sold the papacy to a man who as pope took the name of Gregory VI (ch. 13, sec. 6) . This Gregory VI was one of the very few able clerics living in Rome at that time. His buying the papacy was an act of simony forbidden by church law (ch. 15, sec. 3) . He knew it was unlawful to buy a church office, and especially to buy the highest church office. But he did it to rid the Church of a very bad pope. This Gregory VI took the young Cluny monk Hildebrand into his papal service. When Gregory was banished to Germany (ch. 15, sec. 2) for his act of simony, Hilde­brand out of loyalty to his bene­factor accompanied him into exile. While in the Rhine country he gained first-hand knowledge of the evils afflicting the Church in Ger­many. He learned that secular rulers quite openly appointed to church offices men who paid the highest price, even though they might be entirely unfit. He saw how in that way the Church was corrupted.

During his stay in Germany Hildebrand became acquainted with Bruno, bishop of Toul, who was cousin to the emperor Henry III. When the emperor elevated his cousin to the papal office as Leo IX, the new pope took Hilde­brand back with him from Ger­many to Rome (ch. 15, sec. 7). The Cluny monk now became the main­spring of papal policy (ch. 15, sec. 7; ch. 16). When in 1073 Hildebrand was made pope (ch. 16, sec. 5), he chose Gregory VII as his papal name to express his gratitude to his earliest benefactor, Pope Gregory VI. He also desired to testify to his belief that Gregory VI, in spite of the act of simony whereby he had attained the papal office, had been a lawful pope.

2. Cluny Reform Ideas Are Hilde­brand’s Inspiration No one on seeing Hildebrand would have gotten the idea that he was an unusual man. His figure was very small, his voice weak, and his whole appearance unim­pressive. Yet he was one of the most remarkable characters of all the Middle Ages. He had a power­ful mind, an inflexible will, daunt­less courage, and a fiery soul.

Like Pope Nicholas I (ch. 12, sec. 4) , and so many other aspiring men of medieval times, Hildebrand had come under the spell of St. Augustine’s greatest book, The City of God. In the monastery in Rome he had become imbued with the Cluny reform ideas. Through­out his life the ideas and ideals derived from these sources were his inspiration. They aroused in him all the tremendous energies which lay hidden within his nature. The highest ideal of his life was derived from Augustine’s City of God. That ideal was the establish­ment of the Kingdom of God on earth. Hildebrand believed that the divinely prepared and appointed agency for the realization of this ideal is the Church. He furthermore believed that the head of the Church on earth is the pope as Christ’s vicar (representative) . In his view the pope is above all ­above princes, kings, and emperors. Everybody is subject to him. The pope himself is answerable only to God. For the realization of these ideas Hildebrand had already been work­ing for more than twenty years as the power behind the throne of six popes. Now that he himself had become pope he continued to use all his marvelous energies and pow­ers in working for the realization of these ideas. In doing this he was not moved by self-interest. Money had no at­traction for him. He could not be bribed or bought, as could so many bishops and other church digni­taries of his day. Hildebrand was not moved by ambition or vain­glory. No doubt his motives were not always entirely pure. Whose are? Sometimes he was unscrupu­lous in the use of means; that is, he was determined to gain his end, even if he had to employ a wrong method in order to accomplish what he believed to be a good thing. It is also true that he loved to rule. It was in his blood. But funda­mentally he was moved by a sincere and strong desire to serve God and the Church, and thus promote the cause of God’s Kingdom in this world. The popes have vast treasures at their disposal. Hildebrand could have lived a life of self-indulgence, luxury, and idleness — as some popes before and after him did do. Instead of that he was always im­mersed in hard and fatiguing labors. He lived very simply and was a real ascetic (ch. 14, sec. 2). He gave up eating onions because he liked the taste.

If Hildebrand had wished, he could have become pope before, but he had heretofore declined the honor. At last the people of Rome thrust the papal office upon him by surprise (ch. 16, sec. 5) , but even then he took his seat upon the papal chair only reluctantly. And no wonder, for the times were diffi­cult. He foresaw that his duty as pope, as he understood that duty, might involve him in severe strug­gles. As the story of his pontificate which follows will show, he saw correctly.

3. The Struggle for the Right of Investiture Is a Battle for Sur­vival In order that the Church might be a fit agency for the establish­ment of God’s Kingdom on earth, the Church and the clergy, Hilde­brand felt, should be reformed according to Cluniac standards. In order to clear the way for reform the Church had to be freed from its bondage to the State, and the State had to be made subject to the Church. That meant that the right of in­vestiture (ch. 15, sec. 6) would have to be taken away from the emperors, and be lodged in the popes. This would have to be the very first step in the pathway to reform, before any further steps could be taken. As long as emperors and other secular rulers could appoint men to church office, and invest their appointees to bishoprics with the symbols of holy office, the Church could not expect that only such men would be appointed who would build the Church rather than cor­rupt it. Past experience was all against such expectation (sec. 1) . On the other hand the emperors could not give up their power of investiture without very seriously undermining and weakening their position. We should remember that at this time the feudal system pre­vailed (ch. 13, sec. 2) . Like other countries, Germany was divided into many parts ruled over by dukes, counts, and other nobles. Often these nobles came in conflict with the emperor. If a number of them combined, they might be more powerful than the emperor. The bishops and abbots in Germany were also great feudal lords. With their help the emperor could hope to keep the nobles in check. If the right of the investiture of bishops were taken away from the emperor he would lose his control over them, and he would no longer be able to count on their support. Deprived of their help he might lose his throne and crown to the nobles. For both popes and emperors the right of investiture was therefore a matter of life and death. But they could not both have it at the same time. One or the other would have to have it to the exclusion of the other. For if the pope did not have it exclusively, he could not hope to reform the Church. But if, on the other hand, the emperor did not have it exclusively, he would run great risk of losing his throne. So here was an irreconcilable dif­ference of interests between pa­pacy and empire. The struggle be­tween papacy and empire had been smoldering a long time. It was precisely over the question of the right of investiture that the bitter struggle between Pope Gregory VII and Emperor Henry IV now burst into flame.

4. Emperor Henry IV Challenges Pope Gregory VII

During the first two years of Gregory’s pontificate, Henry IV maintained friendly relations with the pope, at least on the surface. This was because rebellious nobles caused him great difficulties and made his position as king of Ger­many very weak. The pope, em­boldened by Henry’s weakness, in 1075 again forbade investiture by laymen. But later in that same year Henry gained a brilliant victory over his enemies. This changed the picture. Henry now felt strong enough to defy Gregory. Directly in violation of the decree against lay investiture he conferred inves­titure upon three bishops.

What would the pope do now? Would he overlook Henry’s viola­tion of the decree? On more than one occasion Greg­ory had shown that he was not a man to be trifled with. He could be very stern. When he was yet holding only a minor position on the staff of Gregory VI, he had marched at the head of an army against rebellious Italian nobles, and subdued them.

Later it had happened that the abbot of the monastery at Trimiti had inflicted brutal punishment upon four monks for an offense they had committed. He caused the eyes of three of them to be put out, and the tongue of the fourth one to be torn away. The abbot was deposed. But Hildebrand de­clared that the abbot had done his duty. He put him at the head of another monastery, and later made him bishop. Would Hildebrand now display the same boldness in dealing with Emperor Henry?

5. Actual Hostilities Are Opened by the Pope In December of the year 1075 Gregory sent Henry a letter in which he poured out all his fury. The message dictated final terms, and opened the hostilities between pope and emperor. The letter began: "Bishop Greg­ory, servant of the servants of God, to King Henry, greeting and apos­tolic benediction, that is if he be obedient to the Apostolic Chair as beseems a Christian king. Consid­ering and carefully weighing with what strict judgment we shall have to render account for the ministry entrusted to us by St. Peter, chief of the apostles, it is with hesitation that we have sent unto thee the apostolic benediction." The pope continued by pointing out to the emperor his sins. He reminded him that he was entirely under the authority of St. Peter and St. Peter’s successor, the pope. Gregory admonished Henry not to be puffed up because of his recent victory. He should keep in mind what happened to Saul after his victory over the Amalekites, when he was disobedient to Samuel, the prophet; and on the other hand what great blessings were be­stowed upon David for his humility in the midst of victory.

Gregory told Henry that because of his offenses he deserved to be excommunicated (cut off from membership in the Church) , and deposed from his office as king. Unless he repented he would be punished.

6. The Emperor Responds in Kind At the time the emperor received the pope’s letter he was flushed with victory. He was young, proud, and headstrong. As he read the letter he became more and more angry. By the time he finished reading he was thoroughly aroused. The emperor called a council of bishops. It met in Worms on the 24th of January, 1076. Upon the bidding of the emperor the council declared that it no longer recog­nized Gregory as pope. This deci­sion of the council was announced to the pope by letter.

HENRY IV AT THE COUNCIL OF BISHOPS, 1076
Schoenfeld Collection from Three Lion
The emperor declares that Gregory VII must come down from the papal throne. The letter began: "Henry, king not through usurpation but through the ordination of God, to Hilde­brand, at present not pope but false monk." The thrust of this sentence was that Hildebrand had obtained the papacy by illegal means and force. This was a conclusion drawn from the way in which he had become pope. You will remember that he had not been elected pope accord­ing to the decree of 1059 by the cardinals (ch. 16, sec. 2) , but through a spontaneous and tumul­tuous acclamation by the people of Rome (ch. 16, sec. 5) . The facts are these: Usually upon the death of a pope there was great commotion among the people of Rome. Various factions would pull for various men to be made the next pope. But upon the death of Pope Alexander II there was no commotion at all. Everything was quiet. So the cardinals, although they were thinking of electing Hildebrand as the next pope, felt that there was no hurry. They planned on going about his election in a very solemn and leisurely way. They decided that before proceed­ing to the election they would call upon God in prayer, accompanied by fasting, for the guidance of his Spirit. The action of the people at the funeral of Alexander II, their sudden, spontaneous, and insistent outcry for Hildebrand, took the cardinals totally by surprise. Later, however, they made Hildebrand’s irregular election by the people technically correct by formally electing him pope in the prescribed way. It was therefore not true that Hildebrand, as Henry implied, had become pope by usurpation. The emperor’s letter continued: "Thou, therefore, condemned by the judgment of all our bishops and by our own, descend and re­linquish the Apostolic Chair which thou hast usurped. Let another as­cend the throne of St. Peter who shall not practise violence under the cloak of religion, but shall teach the sound doctrine of St. Peter." The letter ended in a most vio­lent strain: "I, Henry, king by the grace of God, do say unto thee, to­gether with all our bishops: Come down, come down from the throne, and be damned throughout the ages."

7. The Pope Excommunicates the Emperor As can well be imagined, Greg­ory was not slow in countering the emperor’s blow. In a council held in Rome on the 14th of February he issued a solemn sentence depos­ing the emperor.

Said the pope in the sentence: "Blessed Peter, prince of the apos­tles, lend me, I pray thee, a favoring ear. It is because I am thy representative that thy grace has descended upon me, and this grace is the power granted by God to bind and loose in heaven and in earth. Strong in this faith, for the honor and defense of thy Church, on behalf of Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, by virtue of thy power and authority I deprive Henry son of the emperor Henry (Henry III), who has opposed thy Church with unheard of insolence, of the government of the whole kingdom of Germany and of Italy; I release all Christians from the oath which they have made to him or that they shall make to him. I forbid everyone to obey him as king."

8. The Emperor Pretends Submis­sion The emperor sent an appeal to the people of Rome urging them in the most vehement language to banish the "monk Hildebrand" from their city. The pope sent a message to the people of Germany telling them to choose someone else as king unless Henry repented. The emperor’s appeal was com­pletely ignored by the people of Rome. The pope’s appeal on the other hand met with a strong re­sponse in Germany. The great feu­dal lords were glad that they now had a pretext for discontinuing their obedience to the emperor. The mass of the people in Germany hated Henry because he had ruled very oppressively. In October, 1076, the German nobles held a meeting. There they discussed what to do with Henry. Many wanted to depose him as king at once. All wanted to humble him. At last the nobles decided that another meeting should be held in Augsburg on the second of Febru­ary of the next year, under the presidency of the pope. There they would give Henry a chance to clear himself of the things of which he was accused. If within one year Gregory had not freed him from the ban of excommunication, Henry was to forfeit the throne. In the meanwhile he was to live under guard in the city of Spires as a private citizen. He was further­more compelled to submit to the pope.

Henry’s position was desperate. He felt his crown slipping. He was willing to agree to anything to save it. To the pope he wrote: "In ac­cordance with the advice of my subjects, I hereby promise to show henceforth fitting reverence and obedience to the apostolic office and to you, Pope Gregory. I further promise to make suitable repara­tion for any loss of honor which you or your office may have suf­fered through me. And since I have been accused of certain grave crimes, I will either clear myself by presenting proof of my inno­cence or by undergoing the ordeal, or else I will do such penance as you may decide to be adequate for my fault."

9. The Emperor Sets Out for Italy to Seek Absolution At the same time that the em­peror thus humbled himself before the people of Germany and the pope, he was busily scheming how he might regain his former posi­tion. To be excommunicated meant to be cut off from the membership of the Church. When a king was ex­communicated his people were no longer under obligation to obey him. He lost his kingdom. To have the ban (decree) of excommunica­tion removed and to be restored to membership, a man had to receive absolution of his sins from the proper church officer. Before the church officer could grant absolu­tion the man had to do penance, and give proof of repentance. The doing of penance was a com­mon thing in the Middle Ages. There was a definite form for do­ing penance fixed by custom. The penitent had to be dressed in a certain way, and he had to fast while doing penance.

Just as today the richest and most highly-placed men in our churches are subject to the ordi­nances of the Church, so Henry was subject to the ordinances of the medieval Church, even though he was emperor.

It was absolutely necessary for Henry to obtain the pope’s abso­lution and to be freed from the ban of excommunication before the year was over. He contrived to es­cape from Spires, and with his wife, Bertha, his little son, and a few faithful followers he set out for Italy. It was in the dead of winter. The air was bitterly cold, and the passes of the Alps were choked with snow. After a journey full of hardships and dangers the little party surmounted the crest of the Alps and proceeded south­ward into Italy.

EMPEROR HENRY IV AT THE GATE OF CANOSSA
Schoenfeld Collection from Three Lions In the meanwhile the pope had started out upon his northward journey to attend the meeting which was to be held in Augsburg. As he was traveling through Tus­cany rumors reached him that Henry was approaching at the head of an armed force. Gregory turned aside, and took refuge with­in the strong walls of the castle of Canossa, located on the top of a hill. This castle belonged to Ma­tilda, countess of Tuscany, a great friend and powerful supporter of the pope (ch. 16, sec. 1).

10. The Emperor Waits in the Courtyard of Canossa On the morning of the twenty-fifth day of January, 1077, Henry climbed the hill to the castle of Canossa, and knocked at its outer gate. The gate was opened to him, and he was led through the gates of the first and the second walls. But the gate in the third wall re­mained closed. There he stood all day long in the courtyard before that third gate as a penitent. All day long he fasted. Over his ordi­nary clothes he wore the garb of a penitent, a coarse woolen robe. He was bareheaded and barefooted. Thus he stood in that courtyard in the cold and the snow. The shades of night were falling, and still the inner gate remained closed. There would be no opportunity any more that day to see the pope. Soon he would be retiring. It was useless to stay longer. With cold feet and leaden steps Henry slowly trudged back through the second and first gates and down the hill again to his lodging.

What went on in Henry’s soul all that long day and during the night? Nobody knows. The next morning Henry ap­peared again. Again he stood all day long barefoot in the snow. By nightfall the gate in the third wall was still closed, and once more Henry returned to his lodging, a miserable lodging for an emperor. The next morning saw Henry standing again as a penitent in the courtyard of Canossa. The long weary hours dragged on. The noon hour struck. Still nothing hap­pened. Then, when the afternoon was drawing to a close, on the twenty-seventh day of January, 1077, the inner gate slowly opened, and Henry was told to enter.

11. The Pope and Emperor Meet

There in the farther end of the room sat Hildebrand, once a poor boy, born of a lowly family, now a little, wizened old man, insignificant in appearance. But he was Pope Gregory VII.

There entered Henry. He was young, tall, powerfully built, im­pressive even in the penitent’s garb. He was Emperor Henry IV.

Here was drama. In tears the emperor prostrated himself to the ground. He kissed the pope’s foot and implored his forgiveness. Gregory granted Henry absolution, and lifted the ban of excommunication.

12. The Real Drama of Canossa Lay Beneath the Surface

Why did the pope keep the em­peror standing for three days bare­foot in the snow? Was it to hu­miliate him to the utmost limit? That is the way the ever memora­ble scene at Canossa has often been represented. The expression "to go to Canossa" has become prover­bial for submitting to the deepest humiliation. But that representa­tion rests upon an entirely wrong conception of what happened at Canossa.

Henry’s kingdom was at stake. If he had waited, and appeared be­fore the council in Augsburg (sec. 9) with the ban of excommunica­tion hanging over his head, he would have been lost. So he risked everything, and at the peril of his life crossed the wintry Alps and headed off the pope on his way to Augsburg.

Next, when Henry appeared not at the head of an armed force as had been rumored (sec. 9), but as a penitent, Gregory did not know what to do. When a man comes as a penitent, absolution must be granted. The word of Christ and the ordinances of the Church demand it. Gregory was torn between his Christian and ecclesiastical duty and political considerations. That is why he kept Henry waiting. For three whole days Gregory hesitated. A mighty struggle was going on inside him during those three days. The em­peror had put the pope "on the spot." The real drama of Canossa was enacted not outside in the courtyard, but inside the castle in the mind and soul of Gregory. In the end Henry literally wrung absolution from Gregory, and therewith the restoration of his kingdom. By humbling himself be­fore the pope the emperor gained a great diplomatic victory over the German nobles. Emperor Henry had "stooped to conquer."

13. The Struggle Continues and Confusion Reigns

Canossa was not the end of the fierce struggle between Henry and Gregory. It was only the most spec­tacular act in the drama.

Confusion now reigned. Ger­many and Italy were divided into two warring camps. Henry’s oppo­nents in Germany in 1077 elected Rudolph of Swabia to be king. So now there were two kings, or a king and an anti-king. In 1080 Gregory again put Henry under the ban, as the decree of excommuni­cation is called. But this time it had little or no effect. The tide had turned against the pope. Most of the bishops declared Gregory deposed, and elected another pope, known as an anti-pope. In the same year, in a battle between Henry and Rudolph, the latter was wounded and bled to death. Civil war continued to rage. Unspeak­able cruelties were committed on both sides. Germany was overrun and laid waste.

Now that Henry’s rival Rudolph was dead, Henry gathered an army, marched into Italy, besieged Rome, and took it. He installed the anti­pope of his own choice, who then crowned him emperor. When Greg­ory heard of Henry’s approach, he fled into the castle of St. Angelo on the left bank of the Tiber, and sent a call for help to the Normans in southern Italy. They came, and Henry fled. In revenge against the Romans for having surrendered the city to the enemies of the pope, the Normans plundered Rome and committed fearful excesses. The pope was not responsible for this, but it filled the hearts of the Ro­mans with hatred for him. This made his further residence in Rome impossible. When the Normans re­turned to southern Italy, Gregory went with them.

He died on the way, in Salerno in 1085, a broken man. His last words were: "I have loved right­eousness and hated iniquity; there­fore I die in exile."

14. The Struggle Ends in Compro­mise in the Concordat of Worms After the death of Gregory the struggle about investiture contin­ued for some thirty-five years. In 1093 Henry’s wife and his oldest son, Conrad, turned against him. Conrad died, and the second son, Henry, who had been made king by his father, also deserted him. Again Germany was plunged into civil war. At last Henry IV was forced to give up his throne, and soon thereafter, in 1106, he died. In 1122 the contestants, weary with the long drawn-out struggle, came to an agreement known as the Concordat of Worms. It was a compromise. According to the terms of this Concordat the popes from this time on were to invest the bishops with the symbols of their spiritual office, and the em­perors were to bestow upon them their feudal estates by a touch with the scepter.