Hildebrand took the name Gregory in memory of Gregory I, whose writings greatly influenced him. Gregory VII interpreted his election as a special call by God to continue unhesitatingly the fight for what he described as iustitia (“justice”), meaning the restoration of the church to what Gregory and his collaborators saw as its proper place in the world order. Indeed, they intended to revive the church’s ancient splendor and unquestioned leadership as instituted by Christ when he founded the church on the rock that was St. Peter (Matthew 16:18). Gregory was convinced that the pope was the living successor and representative of St. Peter. Because of this link, the pope, and he alone, would always remain a true Christian, never deviating from the faith and always cognizant of the will of God. Therefore, all Christians owed him absolute and unquestioned obedience. Disobedience was regarded as heresy, and obedience to God became obedience to the papacy.
Gregory linked the battle against simony and for clerical celibacy...chief characteristics of 11th-century ecclesiastical reform...with a marked emphasis on the papal primacy, a concept based on the primacy of the Roman church, which at the time of Leo IX in 1054 led to the break in diplomatic relations between Rome and Constantinople. Papal primacy included the subordination of all secular governments to papal authority as long as they were Christian, but it applied first of all to the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Gregory’s chancery revived and strengthened an oath of obedience that was required of all archbishops and bishops. Outranking every local authority, his legates intervened freely in internal diocesan affairs throughout Latin Christendom. Bishops had traditionally governed their dioceses more or less independently, and the changes introduced and systematized by Gregory VII were most unwelcome among all ranks of the clergy, including the highborn bishops, especially in Germany. The lower clergy in France and Germany also rebelled, but in this case against draconian decrees designed to enforce priestly celibacy.
On the basis of decisions by Leo IX and the Lateran synod of 1059, Gregory did not hesitate to call for popular rebellions against disobedient bishops that flew in the face of ancient canon law prohibiting inferiors (especially laymen but also clergy of a lower rank) from judging or accusing their superiors. Gregory created havoc in the French church when he established a new dignity, the primacy of Lyons, subjecting the prominent archbishops of Sens, Rouen, and Tours to its authority. Only the archbishop of Tours, a close friend of Gregory VII, willingly recognized the new “primate,” Hugh of Die. In general, Gregory insisted that canon law should be upheld, but he also ascribed to the pope alone the right to issue new laws if required by contemporary needs.
In the case of the primate of Lyons, Gregory was misled by a collection of canon law (Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals) which, unknown to him, had been forged in the 9th century. This forgery had introduced the concept of primate, with poorly defined functions designed to protect bishops from interference by their superiors, the archbishops. Gregory VII used it in an attempt to supervise the French bishops constantly and more closely, for the primate of Lyons also served as his standing legate. Not surprisingly, Gregory’s regimen aroused opposition and hostility among bishops in northern Italy and Germany especially, but also in France. On the other hand, a large extent of the English church was left to the government of William I and Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury.
Fortunately, Gregory’s pontificate can be evaluated not only on the basis of the often-polemical writings of his contemporaries but also in the light of a precise official source, his original register. It contains numerous letters and general notes as well as numerous excerpts from the councils that Gregory held regularly in Rome. In addition, there are charters for monasteries and bishoprics as well as his letters and conciliator decrees, which survived outside the register in the hands of their recipients or in canonical collections. Nonetheless, it is not easy to interpret this documentation because only a small percentage of his correspondence was included in the register and the selection criteria are unknown. Moreover, it was customary to supplement the most important points of a letter with oral messages.
The famous Dictatus Papae (“Dictates of the Pope”), however, is part of the register. It consists of 27 brief and pointed declarations that extol papal primacy and even includes the radical claim that the pope had the right to depose emperors. Scholars agree that Gregory was the author of these assertions and that the Dictatus strikingly reveals his unflinching vision of papal primacy, even though the sources and purpose of the Dictatus are still in dispute.
Politics
Gregory VII had an astute grasp of political realities and was always willing to take them into account, provided they fit in with his own reform efforts. Papal territorial claims intensified markedly. He was the first pope to try to contact every ruler of his time, asserting the over-lordship of the apostle Peter—that is, of the papacy—in several regions of Europe. The most successful example of the use of feudal arrangements by the papacy—Norman greed notwithstanding—was the alliance with the Norman leaders of southern Italy, concluded with Richard of Capua in 1073 and Robert Guiscard in 1059. Their obligations included fealty to the pope and his legitimate successors as well as military and financial aid. In return, the pope became their overlord and invested them with the imperial and Byzantine-Muslim territories that they had conquered or would conquer. In Spain, Croatia-Dalmatia, Denmark, Hungary, the kingdom of Kiev, Brittany, Poland, and Bohemia, as well as in England, Gregory tried to assert over-lordship, mostly unsuccessfully. William I of England, whose invasion of 1066 Hildebrand had supported, refused outright the oath Gregory requested, although he resumed the Anglo-Saxon payment of Peter's Pence (annual contribution to the pope). Except in southern Italy, areas of northern Spain, and the islands of Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia, Gregory’s attempts to expand the role of the papacy met with little success.
Direct papal intervention in the appointment of bishops created severe tensions in France and even more so in Germany, which, with Burgundy and much of Italy, constituted what would later be called the Holy Roman Empire. As early as December 1073, Gregory called King Phillip I of France (reigned 1059/60–1108) the worst of all princely tyrants oppressing the church because the king refused to invest a canonically elected bishop with the secular properties and rights of the bishopric. This controversy was inspired by Gregory’s vision of proper canonical elections, which meant election by the clergy and populace of a diocese without any interference from secular rulers of any rank. Election was then a flexible term and should not be confused with the modern concept of democratic election. It was accepted as self-evident that the Holy Spirit should speak through the most influential members of a community, be it a diocese or abbey. This was a strong contrast to traditions that had prevailed for many centuries. Royal nominations to bishoprics and abbeys agreed to by representatives of the respective diocese had constituted an important part of royal authority at the time, and Gregory’s insistence on the elimination of secular influence threatened the very existence of the kingdoms. This, at least, was the conviction of Emperor Henry IV. Philip of France also turned a deaf ear to papal commands, even when the pope threatened excommunication and interdict in December 1073 and a year later announced that he would do everything in his power to depose Philip. But the French bishops refused to make common cause with Gregory, and Philip’s reign continued. His quarrels with the pope were smoothed over, and both parties were able to compromise without loss of face.
This was not the case with regard to Henry IV and the empire, even though there were no signs of the coming conflict at the outset of Gregory’s pontificate. Gregory recognized that Henry IV would soon be emperor and he always thought very highly of Henry’s parents, Henry III and Agnes.
The pope suggested in a letter of December 1074 that Henry protect Rome and the Roman church during a papal expedition to the Holy Land that he wished to lead in the company of Empress Agnes and Countess Matilda of Tuscany.
He relied on Henry’s cooperation as well when he tried to bend the German bishops to his wishes and asked the king to order them to appear at his Roman synods. By December 1075, however, Gregory’s attitude had changed. By letter and messenger (who