Editing Pope Alexander II (section)

=== Reforms ===
In an attempt to curtail [[simony]] (the buying and selling of sacred things or positions within the church), Alexander II sent out many legates and archbishops across Europe to enforce reform among local synods. Any clergy suspected of simony were then investigated. Any clergy who was invested in his office by a lay person were required to undergo a new investiture by a papal legate. A well-known victim of these campaigns included the bishop of Constance, who was removed from office for simony.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Popes: Every Question Answered|last=Matthews|first=Rupert|publisher=Metro Books|year=2013|isbn=978-1-4351-4571-9|location=New York|pages=137}}</ref>

On 30 March 1068, Alexander held a synod in Rome, in which he absolved the bishop of Tortosa of a charge of homicide, but deposed the bishop of Florence on the grounds of simony; a charge of simony was laid against the bishop of Chiusi, who begged for absolution. The pope also ordered that churches not be held by lay persons and that ecclesiastical goods not be transmitted from parents to children as though they were subject to the laws of inheritance.<ref>Jaffé, p. 583, and no. 4657.</ref>

By 1071, the future [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Henry IV]], though only 21 (and still only German King and Roman Patrician), was vigorously at work recovering the powers, privileges and properties which had been allowed to slip away from imperial control during his regencies. He crushed a riot in Saxony in 1069 and overcame the rebellion of the Saxon aristocrat [[Otto of Nordheim]] in 1071. But in 1071, Pope Alexander's reforming activities resulted in an open rupture with the King. Archbishop Guido of Milan recently died so Henry IV appointed Godfrey (Goffredo) de Castiglione as successor to Guido. However, Alexander II declared this investiture void, and appointed a Milanese priest named Attone (Atto), who had already been elected archbishop on 6 January 1072, in an electoral meeting sanctioned by Pope Alexander.<ref>Bonizo of Sutri, ''ad amicum'', VI (p. 653 Jaffé.</ref> In February 1072, he held a synod in Rome, in which he anathematized Goffredo, and confirmed Atto as archbishop. He wrote a letter to Henry IV, informing him of the papal actions.<ref>Jaffé, p. 587.</ref> Henry IV sent five men to Rome to discuss the issue, but Alexander rejected and subsequently excommunicated them. This led to increased pressure between Henry IV and the popes.<ref name=":0" />

On 1 October 1071, Pope Alexander consecrated the high altar of the new basilica dedicated to Saint Benedict at the monastery of Montecassino. He was assisted by Cardinal Hildebrand and other cardinals, by ten archbishops, and forty-four bishops, as well as abbots, clergy, nobles, and people.<ref>Tosti, ''Storia della Badia di Monte-cassino'' I, pp. 337–341; 403–411. Leo Marsicanus, "Chronica Monasterii Cassinensis", Book III, in: ''Monumenta Germaniae Historia Scriptorum Tomus VII'' (Hannover: Hahn 1846), pp. 719–722.</ref> He had already, perhaps at the beginning of his reign, granted Abbot Desiderius personally the lordship over Terracina.<ref>Paul Fridolin Kehr (1925), [https://archive.org/stream/italiapontificia08cath#page/n466/mode/1up ''Italia pontificia''] Vol. VIII (Berlin: Weidmann 1925), p.&nbsp;146. {{in lang|la}}</ref>

Pope Alexander also reformed the administration of the church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome and of the Lateran Basilica, by replacing the monks of the Order of Montecassino with Canons Regular of the Congregation of S. Frediano of Lucca.<ref>{{cite book|author=GabrielePennotti|title=Generalis totius Ordinis Clericorum Canonicrum historia tripartita|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cIlWU_4-j68C&pg=PA445|year=1624|publisher=Camera Apostolica|location=Rome|language=Latin|page=445}}</ref>

In liturgical matters, Alexander II ended the practice of singing or reciting the "Alleluia" during the Latin Church's observance of Lent.<ref>Cabrol, p. 46.</ref> This reform was permanent.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chapter II: The Structure Of The Mass, Its Elements, And Its Parts|url=http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/general-instruction-of-the-roman-missal/girm-chapter-2.cfm|website=General Instruction Of The Roman Missal|publisher=usccb.org|access-date=23 March 2017}}</ref>