Gregory VII, pope (1073- 85)

In 1073, after the death of Alexander II, the leading exponent of the reformist party, archdeacon Hildebrand, from Soana, in Tuscany, was elected pope with the name of Gregory VII. In the councils of 1074 and 1075 he established the celibacy of the clergy and forbade simony and clerical concubinage; he also confirmed the prohibition of lay investiture and established the spiritual and temporal supremacy of the papacy over the whole of Christendom (Dictatus papae). When, in 1076, Emperor Henry IV attempted to depose the pope, the latter excommunicated him. In 1077 the emperor was obliged to humble himself and ask the pope’s forgiveness at Canossa. However, in 1084 Henry IV entered Rome, deposing Gregory and recognizing the antipope Guibert (Clement III). Gregory was then rescued by Robert Guiscard, who took him to Salerno, where he died in exile in 1085.