Editing Pope Gregory VII (section)

==Election to the papacy==

Pope Gregory VII was one of the few popes [[Acclamation (papal elections)|elected by acclamation]]. On the death of Alexander II on 21 April 1073, as the obsequies were being performed in the [[Lateran Basilica]], there arose a loud outcry from the clergy and people: "Let Hildebrand be pope!", "Blessed Peter has chosen Hildebrand the Archdeacon!" Hildebrand immediately fled, and hid himself for some time, thereby making it clear that he had refused the uncanonical election in the Liberian Basilica.<ref>The ''Annales'' of Berthold, the follower of Hermannus Augiensis, in ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica'', Scriptorum Volume  5 (Hannover 1844), p. 276: ''Quo audito sese imparem tanto honori immo oneri reputans, inducias respondendi vix imploravit; et sic fuga elapsus aliquot dies ad Vincula sancti Petri occultatus latuit. Tandem vix inventus et ad apostolicam sedem vi perductus''....</ref> He was finally found at the Church of [[San Pietro in Vincoli]], to which a famous monastery was attached, and [[Papal election, 1073|elected pope]] by the assembled cardinals, with the due consent of the Roman clergy, amid the repeated acclamations of the people.<ref>Philippus Jaffé (editor), ''Regesta pontificum Romanorum''  editio secunda Tomus I (Leipzig 1885), p. 198.  [http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV1073.html Sede Vacante 1073 (Dr. J. P. Adams).]</ref><ref name="CE"/>

It was debated, at the time and since, whether this extraordinary outburst in favour of Hildebrand by clergy and people was wholly spontaneous, or could have been premediated.<ref name="CE"/> According to Benizo, Bishop of Sutri, a supporter of Hildebrand, the outcry was begun by Cardinal Ugo Candidus, Cardinal Priest of S. Clemente, who rushed into a pulpit and began to declaim to the people.<ref>Bonizo of Sutri, in  ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica'', 6, ''Libelli 1,  Libelli de Lite'' I (Hannover, 1891), p. 601 (ed. E. Dummler).  Carl Mirbt, ''Die Publizistik im Zeitalter Gregors'' VII (Leipzig 1894), pp. 42–43.</ref> Certainly, the mode of his election was highly criticized by his opponents. Many of the accusations against him may have been expressions of personal dislike, liable to suspicion from the very fact that they were not raised to attack his promotion until several years later. But it is clear from Gregory's own account of the circumstances of his election,<ref>J. P. Migne (editor), ''Patrologia Latina'' Volume 148, columns 235–237.</ref> in his Epistle 1 and Epistle 2, that it was conducted in a very irregular fashion, contrary to the Constitution of the Pope of 607. This ecclesiastical statute forbade a papal election to begin until the third day after a pope's burial.<ref>Liber Pontificalis, in ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica'' Scriptores,  Volume 5 (Hannover 1844), p. 164 (ed. Mommsen), p. 164: ''Hic fecit constitutum in ecclesia beati Petri, in quo sederunt episcopi LXXII, presbiteri Romani XXXIII, diaconi et clerus omnis, sub anathemate, ut nullus pontificem viventem aut episcopum civitatis suae praesumat loqui aut partes sibi facere nisi tertio die depositionis eius adunato clero et filiis ecclesiae, tunc electio fiat, et quis quem voluerit habebit licentiam eligendi sibi sacerdotem''.</ref> Cardinal Ugo's intervention was contrary to the Constitution of Nicholas II, which affirmed the exclusive right to name candidates to Cardinal Bishops; finally, it ignored the Constitution's requirement that the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] be consulted.<ref>The ''Annales'' of Lambertus of Hersfeld, in ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica''  Scriptorum  5 (1844), p. 194, states that Gregory did wait for a reply from the Emperor: ''cogi tamen nullo modo potuisse, ut ordinari se permitteret, donec in electionem suam tam regem quam principes Teutonici regni consensisse certa legatione cognosceret''.  Whether he got it, or whether the response was positive, is another matter.</ref> However, Gregory was then confirmed by a second election at S. Pietro in Vincoli.

Gregory VII's earliest pontifical letters clearly acknowledged these events, and thus helped defuse doubts about his election and popularity. On 22 May 1073, the [[Feast of Pentecost]], he received [[Presbyterium|ordination as a priest]], and he was consecrated a [[Bishop (Catholic Church)|bishop]] and enthroned as pope on 29 June, the Feast of St. Peter's Chair.<ref name="EB">{{EB1911|wstitle=Gregory (Popes)/Gregory VII|inline=1}}</ref>

In the decree of election, his electors proclaimed Gregory VII:<blockquote>"a devout man, a man mighty in human and divine knowledge, a distinguished lover of equity and justice, a man firm in adversity and temperate in prosperity, a man, according to the saying of the Apostle, of good behavior, blameless, modest, sober, chaste, given to hospitality, and one that ruleth well his own house; a man from his childhood generously brought up in the bosom of this Mother Church, and for the merit of his life already raised to the archidiaconal dignity. [...] We choose then our Archdeacon Hildebrand to be pope and successor to the Apostle, and to bear henceforward and forever the name of Gregory" (22 April 1073).<ref name="CE" /></blockquote>Gregory VII's first attempts in foreign policy were towards a reconciliation with the Normans of [[Robert Guiscard]]; in the end the two parties did not meet. After a failed call for a [[Crusades|crusade]] to the princes of northern Europe,<ref name="Paravicini Bagliani 76">{{cite journal|first=Agostino|last=Paravicini Bagliani|title=Sia fatta la mia volontà|journal=Medioevo|issue=143|date=December 2008|page=76}}</ref> and after obtaining the support of other Norman princes such as [[Landulf VI of Benevento]] and [[Richard I of Capua]], Gregory VII was able to excommunicate Robert in 1074.

In the same year Gregory VII summoned a council in the Lateran palace, which condemned [[simony]] and confirmed [[celibacy]] for the Church's clergy. These decrees were further stressed, under menace of excommunication, the next year (24–28 February).<ref name="Paravicini Bagliani 76" /> In particular, Gregory decreed that only the Pope could appoint or depose bishops or move them from [[diocese|see]] to see, an act which was later to cause the [[Investiture Controversy]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}