Editing Pope Clement II (section)

== Early career ==
Born in [[Hornburg]], [[Duchy of Saxony]], in what is now [[Lower Saxony]], [[Germany]], he was the son of Count Konrad von Morsleben-Horneburg and his wife, Amulrad von Meyendorf. In 1040, he became [[Bishop of Bamberg]].<ref name=Loughlin/>

In the autumn of 1046, there were three rival claimants to the papacy, in St. Peter's, the Lateran, and St. Mary Major's. Two of them, Benedict IX and Sylvester III, represented rival factions of the nobility. The third, Pope Gregory VI, in order to free the city from the House of Tusculum, and Benedict's scandalous lifestyle, had paid Benedict money in exchange for his resignation. Regardless of the motives, the transaction bore the appearance of simony. Questions regarding the legitimacy of any of them could undermine the validity of a coronation of Henry as Holy Roman Emperor. King Henry crossed the Alps at the head of a large army and accompanied by a retinue of the secular and ecclesiastical princes of the empire, for the twofold purpose of receiving the imperial crown and of restoring order.<ref name=Loughlin>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04017a.htm Loughlin, James. "Pope Clement II." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 26 September 2017</ref>