G R E G O R y. 



railing in the government, Gregory adted yiiih fuch vigour, 

 that a powerful party was railed up againft him by thofc 

 vho had been accuftonicd to live by plunder. Morcri. 



GuuGOFtY VII. pope, who, by his talents, raifed the 

 Roman fee to the higheft pitch of power, is laid to have 

 been the ion of a carpenter, and to have been born at the fmall 

 town of Soano, in Tuicany. His original name was Hilde- 

 brand, by which he is frecniently known in hillory. He was 

 educated at Rome, where he was highly eftcemcd by Bene- 

 dict IX. and Gregory VI., on the latter of whom he at- 

 tended, when he was fent prifoner to Germany. Upon the 

 death of Gregory, Hildebrand embraced tlie monalUc life 

 in the monaftery of Cluny, where he was railed to the poll 

 of prior. By Leo IX. he was created fub-deacon, and by 

 Nicholas II., archdeacon of the Roman church ; by thcfe 

 pontiffs, and by fome others, he was fuccefsfuUy employed 

 in feveral negotiations. Under the poutiiicato of Alexander II. 

 he was made chancellor of the holy fee, and had the abfolute 

 adniiniftration of all affairs, both ecclefialHcal and civil, as 

 well as the entire difpofal of the revenues of the church of 

 Rome. Upon the death of pope Ale.Kander, Hildebrand 

 appointed a fall to be kept, and prayers to be offered up 

 for three days together, before they fliould proceed to the 

 eleftion of a new pope. While they were performing the 

 cbfequies of Alexander in the Lateran church, on the day 

 after his death, the afiembled people tumultuoufly cried 

 «ut with one voice, " Hildebrand is pope, St. Peter has 

 chofcn him:" upon which he was immediately laid hold of 

 and placed by force upon the pontilical throne. This elec- 

 tion was confirmed oa the fame day by tlie whole body of 

 •the clergy and people. His next objedl was to obtain 

 the conlinnation of the king of Germany, which was a 

 ir.atter of no great diiliculty, and immediately he took the 

 name of Gregory, out of refpetl to his friend, Gregory VI. 

 He was the lail pope, the decree of whofe elcdlion was 

 tranfmitted to the emperor, or king, before his confecration, 

 or who was confecrated in the prefenec of the imperial 

 envoy. Gregory began his reign by engaging in the moll 

 bold and daring fchemcs for extending the jurifdiction of the 

 Roman fee, and enriching the patrimony of St. Peter. He 

 conceived the defign, not only of emancipating the church 

 from all fubjedion to princes, but of fubjecling all princes 

 to the church, and the whole church to his fee : of conlli- 

 tutiiig hinifelf fupreme judge aiid determiner of all affairs, 

 both ecclefiaitical and civil ; the difpofer not only of bifhop- 

 ru's and lurchbilhoprics, and other ecclefiaftical beneflceB, 

 but of kingdoms and ilates, and the revenues of individuals ; 

 and, in fact, fole and defpotic monarch of the earth in 

 temporals as well as fpirituals. Gregory was foon embroiled 

 iu a difpute with Henry IV., and he omitted no meafures 

 which he thought likely to llrengthen his party, and, aided as 

 he v«is by the fuperllition of the times, as well as by the 

 rel'.-ntment of feveral princes, whom Henry had difobhged, 

 or who wlflied to (hake off liis authority, he foon created 

 a formidable body of confederates in his lupport. This 

 confederacy encouraged the pope to think of railing fome 

 other perfon to the throne inflead of Henry, and, without 

 helitation, he wrote a letter to the princes, bilhops, and 

 people of Germany, empowering them to cluife another 

 i.ing, if Henry did not, by a iincere repentance, render 

 himlelf worthy of being replaced on the throne, which ho 

 had forfeited by his difobedience to the apoftolic fee. Upon 

 the receipt of this letter, the confederate princes and bilhops 

 held a diet at Tribur, near Mentz, and they declared tlie 

 king fufpended from his royal dignity, and added, that if he 

 di4 not obtain abfolntion before the annivt rfiuy of his ex- 

 comn\unicution, he liiould be excluded for ever from the 



throne. Henrv fubmitted to the degradation of preparing 

 to throw himfelf at the feet of the pontiif, to ioliciC 

 abfolntion. He fet out for Italy with his wife and 

 infant fon, and, after fuftainhig uncommon hardfliips iri 

 the paffage of the Alps, amidit the rigours of an ex- 

 tremely fevcre winter, he arrived in that country. He 

 was there fpccdily attended by the counts and bifliops of 

 Lombardv, who encouraged him to revenge the treatment 

 which he had rect-ived from the pope, and offered to affiil 

 him with men and money. Gregory had, in the mean time, 

 proceeded as far as Lombardy accompanied by the countefs 

 Mathilda, whofe clofe intimacy with Gregory afforded too 

 much reafon for propagating many fcandalous reports. 

 Upon hiaring of the king's arrival, and of the reception he 

 had met wit'i from his Ilahan fubjetls, the pope retired to the 

 ilrong hold of Canofa, in the ciocefe ef Reggio. While 

 remaining in tliis fortrefs, many German bifhops, and others 

 who had been excommunicated for taking part with the king, 

 repaired to him barefooted, clothed in hair cloth, to pray 

 for abfolntion and forgivenefs, which they did not obtain 

 without fnbmitting to feverc penance and mortification. 

 The pontiff enjoyed the malignant plcafiire of feeing the 

 king added to the number of his humiliated fuppliants. It 

 was fome time before the pontiff would admit the monarch 

 into his prefence, and when the order was iffued for the ptir- 

 pofe, it was on the condition that he fhould enter at the outer 

 gate of the fortrefs without attendants ; and at the next 

 gate he was required to divell himfelf of the enligns of 

 royalty, and put on a coarfe woollen tunic, in which drefs, 

 and barefooted, he was fuffered to itand for three whole 

 days at the third gate, expofed to the feverity of the wea- 

 ther, falling and imploring the mercy of God and the pope. 

 At length the perfons of dillintlion who were with Gre- 

 gory, affefted at the fnfferings of the king, began to com- 

 plain of the feverity of his holincfs, which tiiey faid was more 

 becoming a tyrant than an apoflolical father or judge. 

 Thefe reports were carried to the pope, wlio on the fourth 

 day admitted the king, and after much difliculty granted 

 hiin abfolution. When the Lombard lords heard of the 

 treatment which the king had met with, and his opprobrious 

 convention, they were highly incenfed not only againft the 

 pope, but againll Henry, whom they accnfed of cowardice 

 and treachery, in fubmittiug to beg abfolution of a man 

 whom they were determined no longer to acknowledge as 

 their fpiritual head. They feemed, at firll, determined to 

 depole him, and place his infant fon on the thone in his 

 ftead, but to appeafe their refentment he broke the conven- 

 tion with the pope, refumed his title and other marks of 

 royalty whicli he had laid down, and putting himfelf at the 

 head of his forces, he prepared to check the pope's immo- 

 derate ambition. After various fuccelfes, in vvhicli the con- 

 tending armies were alternately vittorious, Henry fummoned 

 a council of German bifhops to meet at Mentz, who ad- 

 journed tlieir feflioris to Brixen, where they were joined bv 

 many of the Italian bilhops and German and Italian princes. 

 In this council, Gregory was accufed of overfetfiiig the 

 hierarchy, and making himfelf fole monarch of the church ; 

 encouraging fedition and rebellion ; pcrfeeuting, excommu- 

 nicating, and depofmg a peaceable king, and placing a rebel 

 on the throne. For thefe crimes they refolved tliat he fhould 

 be depofed, and another chofen in his room. Notwirh- 

 llanding thefe meafures, Gregory was able to recover him- 

 felf, but he was again embroiled in new ditTicid'.ies, and tlie 

 Romans became fo incenfed againft the pope whom they con- 

 fidered as the author of the many calamities whicli tliey had 

 endured, that apprelienfions were entertained of his fafcty at 

 Rome, and he thought proper to place himfelf under tlie 



proteftion 



