Electoral Decree of the Cardinals

J. Watterich (editor), Pontificum Romanorum Vitae I (Leipzig 1862) , pp. 293-294 [from Petrus Pisanus, "Gregorii VII Vita" ex codice Vaticano 3762; Migne, PL 148, columns 233-234]:

Regnante Domino Nostro Iesu Christo anno clementissimae incarnationis eius millesimo septuagesimo tertio, indictione, et luna undecima, decimo Kal. Maii feria secunda, die sepultura Domini Alexandri bonae memoriae Secundi Papae.

Ne Sedes Apostolica diu lugeat proprio destituta Pastore, congregati in Basilica beati Petri ad Vincula nos sanctae Romanae Catholicae et Apostolicae Ecclesiae Cardinales, Clerici, Acolythi, Subdiaconi, Diaconi, Presbyteri, praesentibus venerabilibus Episcopis et Abbatibus, Clericis et Monachis, consentientibus plurimis turbis utriusque sexus, diversique ordinis acclamantibus, elegimus nobis in Pastorem et Summum Pontificem, virum religiosum, geminae scientiae prudentiae pollentem, aequitatis et iustitiae praestantissimum amatorem, in adversis fortem, in prosperis temperatum et iuxta Apostoli dictum, bonis moribus ornatum, pudicum, modestum, sobrium, castum, hospitalem, domum suam bene regentem, in gremio huius matris Ecclesiae a pueritia satis nobiliter educatum et doctum, atque pro vitae merito in Archidiaconatus honorem usque hodie sublimatum, Hiltprandum videlicet Archidiaconum, quem a modo usque in sempiternum et esse et dici Gregorium Papam et Apostolicum volumus et approbamus. Placet vobis? Placet. Vultis eum? Volumus. Laudatis eum? Laudamus. Acta Romae decimo Kal. Maii, indictione undecima.

 

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This document appears to record the public announcement on April 22, 1073, of a successful election, which was made when the Election of Gregory VII was announced to the people of Rome, and their consent to the Election was requested. The date is in contrast to the one given by Bishop Bonizo of Sutri, who places the burial and election of Gregory VII on the day of the death of Alexander II. It is not an official record of what transpired in the election itself. The request is then made, according to the document, for the approval of the People: Placet vobis? The document contains neither the names nor the titles of any of the Cardinals, particularly not of the Cardinal Bishops, who had the right of nomination, and, for that matter, the Cardinal who the right to announce the result, that is to say the speaker of the speech (Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum, in the later classic phrase, uttered by the Cardinal Protodeacon—who was Hildebrand himself). The opening clause is remarkable and not in accordance with papal documents; indeed it is a parody of a properly notarized document which includes the name of the reigning Emperor or King of the Romans. "Indictione et luna undecima" is an unusual phrase. Neither of the standard formulae is present, that the Cardinals were unanimi, that the Electus was invitus. The effusive praise of the virtues of the Electus is not in accordance with documents announcing a successful election. No notary is named (though it is supposed to be Acta), no amanuensis (Datum per manum), as is normal in papal documents. Indeed it is not a papal document. The whole document looks like a concoction of the party of Gregory VII in the war of pamphlets over the legality of his election. And it suits the needs of the Gregorian party not to question its authenticity.

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Election of Cardinal Hildebrand

Gregory was actually elected uncanonically at the conclusion of the funeral of Alexander II in the Lateran Basilica. What took place at S. Pietro in Vincoli was only an enthronement [Bonizo, Bishop of Sutri, de persecutione Ecclesiae, in Watterich I, p.308; MGH SS Libelli Libelli de lite I, p. 601 Mirbt, Publizistik, pp. 42-43]:

Eodem itaque die prefati pontificis corpore in ecclesia sancti Salvatoris humato, cum circa sepulturam eius venerabilis Ildebrandus esset occupatus, factus est derepente concursus clericorum, virorum ac mulierum clamantium 'Ildebrandus episcopus'. Quo audito venerabilis archidiaconus expavit, et velociter volens populum placare cucurrit ad pulpitum; sed eum Ugo Candidus revenit et populum sic allocutus est: 'Viri fratres, vos scitis, quia a diebus domni Leonis papae hic est Ildebrandus, qui sanctam Romanam ecclesiam exaltavit et civitatem istam liberavit. Quapropter, quia ad pontificatum Romanum neque meliorem neque talem, qui eligatur, habere possumus, eligimus hunc, in nostra ecclesia ordinatum virum, vobis nobisque notum et per omnia probatum.' Cumque cardinales episcopi sacerdotesque et levitae et sequentis ordinis clerici conclamassent, ut mos est: 'Gregorium papam sanctus Petrus elegit,' continuo a populo trahitur rapiturque et ad VIncula beati Petri—non ad Brixianorium—invitus intronizatur. Qui sequenti die secum mente pertractans, ad quantum periculum devenisset, cepit estuare et mestus esse, tamen collectis fidei et spei viribus, quid potissimum faceret, non aliud invenit, quam ut regi suam notificaret electionem et per eum, si posset, sibi papale impositum onus devitaret. Nam missis ad eum continuo literis et mortem papae notificavit et suam ei electionem denunciavit, interminatusque, si eius electioni assensum praebuisset, nunquam eius nequitiam patienter portaturum. Sed longe aliter evenit, quam speravit.

Bishop Benizo says, in fact, that Hildebrand's election was approved by the Cardinal Bishops and Priests and Deacons during the demonstration in the Lateran Basilica after the burial of Alexander II.   Guido, Bishop of Ferrara [MGH SS 12, p. 154 and p. 168-169] can also be taken in the same sense: Bateae memoriae Alexandro defuncto necdum humato... eligitur . The Election took place during the funeral ceremonies of Alexander II. Gregory himself admits this in two letters written immediately after the event—where he calls himself Gregorius in Romanum Pontificem electus [Ep. I. 1 (April 23 ?? The date in the mss. is XI. Kal. Maii, which is impossible; VI Kal. Maii is more likely—April 26— not the XI in Migne), to Abbot Desiderius of Monte Cassino; Ep I. 3 (April 26), to Guibert, Archbishop of Ravenna: Migne, PL 148, column 235-237 ].

Dominus noster papa Alexander mortuus est, cujus mors super me cecidit, et omnia viscera mea concutiens, penitus conturbavit. Nam in morte quidem ejus Romanus populus, contra morem, ita quievit, in manu nostra consilii frena dimisit ut evidenter appareret ex Dei misericordia hoc provenisse. Unde accepto consilio, hoc statuimus ut, post triduanum jejunium, post litanias, et multorum orationem eleemosynis conditam, divino fulti auxilio statueremus quo melius de electione Romani pontificis videretur. Sed subito cum praedictus dominus noster papa in ecclesia Salvatoris sepulturae traderetur, ortus est magnus tumultus populi et fremitus, et in me quasi vesani insurrexerunt....

The essential canonical point is that Alexander's body was not yet buried when the "election" took place.  For what it is worth, the title of the Register of Gregory VII, in a Vatican ms. of the XVI cent. (Vat Lat. 4906), is:  incipit Registrum Epistolarum et Concilior(um) Domini Gregorii VII sanctissimi et gloriosiss(i)mi Romanorum Pontificis, qui electus fuit post mortem Domini Alexandri II. iun ecclesia sancti salvatoris  anno Domine incarnationis m.l.xxiii  V. [Forcella, Catalogo dei manoscritti relativi alla storia di Roma I (Roma 1879), p. 40 no. 136].

 

Synodal Decree of Boniface III

In neither of Pope Gregory's letters is the election at S. Pietro in vincoli mentioned, and indeed he says that it was Gregory's intention to wait until the third day after the pope's death (post triduanum jejunum). Even the crude attempt of the Electoral Decree to provide a legal basis for Gregory's election still ignores the canonical requirement that the Election should not take place until the third day after the Pope's death, which would have been April 23, 1073. This canon had been enacted in the seventh century (A.D. 607), under Pope Bonifatius III, in a synod at St. Peter's attended by 72 bishops, 33 Roman priests, deacons, and the entire clergy (Liber Pontificalis, in MGH 5, p. 164 ed. Mommsen):

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.

Why, then, does the Electoral Decree insist that this was done at the Titulus Apostolorum in Eudoxia? [The title of the Cardinal of S. Pietro at the time was actually presbyter tituli Apostolorum in Eudoxia . [See: MGH SS Libelli, Libelli de Lite 2, p. 293 notes 4-5]. Cardinal Albericus, the successor of Cardinal Desiderius, signed himself humilis presbyter tituli Apoistolorum ad Vincula [Migne PL 163, 40 (April 14, 1100)]   The "election" at S. Pietro is a mystery, unless one considers the story told in the Annales of Berthold, the follower of Hermannus Augiensis [MGH SS 5, p. 276]:

Romae Alexander papa decessit. Pro quo venerabilis Hiltebrandus Romanae ecclesiae archidiaconus, vir prudens sobrius et castus, communi omnium consilio expetitur papa constituendus. 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, papa CLVIII [158] ordinatur, et Gregorius VII appellatur.

This version of what happened has it that Hildebrand fled the ceremonies in the Lateran Basilica and hid himself at S. Pietro in Vincoli. He was in hiding, according to this story, for several days before he was discovered and led to the papal seat (presumably in S. Pietro in Vincoli) and there enthroned as Gregory VII. But the story does not say that he was elected there, only enthroned.   The Annales of Berthold apparently accepts the idea that he was elected in the Lateran Basilica. But this story is in complete contradiction to the Electoral Decree, which has it that the second election of Gregory VII took place at S. Pietro in Vincoli on the same day as the funeral of Alexander II.

Hildebrand protested throughout that he was unwilling and was being forced to assume the papal dignity. There is irony in his claim, as it was the same claim made by the Antipope Benedict X, John Bishop of Velletri (1058-1059), who was promoted through the intrigues of Gregory di Alberico of Tusculum (younger brother of Benedict IX), Count Gerard of Galeria (See Kehr, Italia Pontificia 2, p. 28), and Ottaviano Crescenzio di Monticelli. The unwilling Benedict was arrested, accused and tried by the Archdeacon Hildebrand. Despite the Antipope's protestations, he was convicted, ceremonially deposed, and degraded. The story is related in the Annales Romani and in the Liber Pontificalis (ed. L. Duchesne, Tome II [Paris 1892], p. 279]:

Hic expulsus et depositus fuit ab archidiacono qui vocabatur Ildebrandus de papatu suo, quoniam eo tempore quo Stephanus predictus papa migravit ad Christum, Romae non erat: et ipse extra Urbem ierat praectpto episcoporum et cardinalium, omnes ei dantes pacem et fidem, quod si papa, antequam ipse rediret, ex hac luce subtractus esset, ipsi nullo modo se de electione intromitterent, donec ipse ad urbem remeasset. Cum vero in partibus Tusciae apud Florentiam esset, audivit de morte papae, secum deduxit episcopum eiusdem civitatis, qui vocabatur Gerardus. Regressus itaque Romam, invenit sicut sibi relatum fuerat; cepit requirere ab episcopis et cardinalibus si bene promissionem quam fecerant observassent. Quidam se non defendebant, dicentes, "Non bene factum est, et nostro consilio quod factum est non fecerunt." Quidam vero quod fecerant defendebant, "quoniam bonus, sapiens, humilis, castus, benignus, et quicquid boni in aliquo reperitur monstratur in isto: et ideo quod fecimus, bene credimus fecisse." Sic denique contentione inter eos diu persistente, nullo modo animum archidiaconi ad hoc quod fecerant, propter sacramentum, flecteree quiverunt. Et quoniam maior pars clericorum et laicorum cum archidiacono erat, deposuerunt et ejecerunt praedictum Benedictum de papatu suo et sic elegerunt praedictum Gerardum, Florentinum episcopum, cui imposuerunt nomen Nicolaus...

Other details of the story are provided by Bishop Bonizo of Sutri, who removes the name of Hildebrand from the narrative, thereby protecting his hero from the impression of partisan and vindictive activities [MGH SS Libelli Libelli de lite I, p. 593]:

Interea Deo amabilis Ildebrandus cum cardinalibus episcopis et levitis et sacerdotibus Senam conveniens, elegit sibi Gerardum Florentinae civitatis episcopum, quem alio nomine appellavit Nicholaum. Hic idem praefatum Guibertum Italici regni cancellarium ex parte beati Petri et per veram obedientiam invitavit ad synodum et cum eo magnificum virum Gotefridum et non solum Tusciae sed et Longobardiae episcopos, ut venientes Sutrium de perioro et invasore tractarent consilium. Quos ubi Sutrium adventantes audivit prefatus Benedictus, conscientia accusante sedem, quam invaserat, deseruit et ad propriam domum se contulit. Hoc postquam Sutrio nunciatum est, venerabilis Nicholaus sine aliqua congressione victor Romam intravit et ab omni clero et populo honorifice susceptus est et a cardinalibus in beati Petri intronizatus est sede [January 24, 1159]. Non multo post tempore veniens prefatus Benedictus, qui alio nomine Mincius vocabatur, ad genua papae provolvitur clamans se vim perpessum, tamen periurium et crimen invasionis non negavit. Qui ex propria confessione episcopali et sacerdotali ordine depositus est.

With such a precedent, Hildebrand might well have found himself degraded and locked away in a monastery for his own uncanonical election by the People of Rome. In April, 1059, Pope Nicholas had held a synod, in which legislation was promulgated regulating the process of electing a pope.

 

The Synodal Decree of Nicholas II

In addition to a charge of violating the canonical rule of Boniface III —and it was a more important point in the minds of some contemporaries—the Election of Gregory VII had taken place in violation of the Synodal Decree of Pope Nicholas II, which assigned the leading role in the election of a pope to the Cardinal Bishops, and required imperial assent (1059) (the bull In Nomine Domini) [Doeberl, Monumenta Germaniae Selecta 3 (1889), pp. 11-16]. This was certainly the position of the German bishops who met at the Diet of Worms on January 24, 1076. Their letter to their brother Hildebrand [MGH Legum Sectio IV, Constitutiones et Acta Publica Imperatorum et Regum, Tomus I (1893), pp. 106-108] reads:

Cum primum ecclesiae gubernaculum invasisses, etsi bene nobis cognitum esset, quam illicitam et nefariam rem contra ius et fas familiari tibi arrogantia presumpsisses, dissimulanda tamen dispensatoria quadam taciturnitate tam vitiosa introitus tui exordia putavimus, sperantes videlicet tam criminosa principia consequentis regiminis tui probitate et industria emendanda et aliquatenus oblitteranda.... Illud etiam recordare, quomodo tu ipse, cum aliquos ex cardinalibus ambitio papatus titillaret, ad tollendam aemulationem hac occasione et conditione, ut idem hoc ipsi facerent, sacramento te obligasti, quod nunquam papatum habiturus esses. Utraqua haec sacramenta quam sancte observaveris tu videris. Praeterea cum tempore Nicolai papae synodus celebraretur, in qua CXXV episcopi consederant, sub anathemate id statutum et decretum est, ut nullus unquam papa fieret, nisi per electionem cardinalium et approbationem populi et per consensum auctoritatem regis. Atque huius consilii seu decreti tu ipse auctor, persuasor subscriptorque fuisti....

The information which the German bishops had was in direct contradiction to the Electoral Decree of the Cardinals (above), and was consistent with the narration of Benizo of Sutri and of Gregory himself. The election which took place during the funeral of Alexander II had not begun with the Cardinal Bishops, but with the People, and without the mandate of the King.

Elsewhere in that miscellany which goes under the name of Cardinal Beno, the charge of an uncanonical election is repeated, passing by in silence an election at S. Pietro in Vincoli and indeed contradicting it [MGH SS Libelli, Libelli de Lite 2, 370; Mirbt, Publizistik, pp. 60-63]:

Alexandro papa iuxta vespertinam horam defuncto, eadem die a laicis contra canones electus est. Sed cardinales non subscripserunt in electione eius: sub anathemate enim canones precipiunt neminem eligi in sedem romani pontificis ante diem tercium post sepulturam ipsius predecessoris.

Bishop Bonizo (quoted above) says, in fact, that Hildebrand's election was suggested and approved by the Cardinal Bishops and Priests and Deacons during the demonstration in the Lateran Basilica after the burial of Alexander II. Gregory fled to S. Pietro in Vincoli, but he was eventually found there and enthroned on the spot. It should be noted in passing that Cardinal Gerardus, Bishop of Ostia (1073-1077), did not take part in any of these proccedings. He was Apostolic Legate in France in 1093. He conducted a synod at Chalons on March 2, and then subsequently at Chartres, Paris and Reims. He then proceeded to Spain [Hüls, 100].

 

Ordination, Consecration, Coronation

Gregory VII was ordained a priest on Pentecost (May 22, 1073), and a bishop on the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul (June 29, 1073) (according to Bishop Bonizo— or on June 30, according to the Chronica S. Benedicti  [MGH SS 3, 203];  June 29 has a far greater symbolic significance). The reason for the delay between election and consecration is given an explanation in the Annales of Lambertus of Hersfeld [MGH SS 5 (1844), p. 194]:

Alexander papa, qui et Anshelmus, decessit. Cui Romani protinus inconsulto rege successorem elegerunt Hildebrandum, sacris litteris eruditissimum et in tota ecclesia, tempore quoque priorum pontificum, omni virtutem genere celeberrimum. Is quoniam zelo Dei ferventissimus erat, episcopi Galliarum protinus grandi scrupulo permoveri coeperunt, ne vir vehementis ingenii et acris erga Deum fidei districtius eos pro negligentiis suis quandoque discuteret. Atque ideo communibus omnes consiliis regem adorti orabant, ut electionem, quae eius iniussu facta fuerat, irritam fore decerneret; asserentes, quod nisi impetum hominis praevenire paturaret, malum hoc non in alium gravius quam in ipsum regem redundaturum esset. Statim rex a latere suo Eberhardum comitem misit, qui Romanos proceres conveniens, causam ab eis sciscitaretur, quare praeter consuetudinem maiorum rege inconsulto Romanae ecclesiae pontificem ordinassent, ipsumque, si non idonee satisfaceret, illicite accepta dignitate abdicare se praeciperet. Is veniens Romam, benigne a praedicto viro susceptus est. Cumque illi mandata regis exposuisset, respondit, se Deo teste honoris huius apicem numquam per ambitionem affectasse, sed electum se a Romanis, et violenter sibi impositam fuisse ecclesiastici regiminis necessitatem; cogi tamen nullo modo potuisse, ut ordinari se permitteret, donec in electionem suam tam regem quam principes Teutonici regni consensisse certa legatione cognosceret; hac ratione distulisse adhuc ordinationem suam, et sine dubio dilaturum, donec sibi voluntatem regis certus inde veniens nuncius intimaret. Hoc ubi regi est renunciatum, libenter suscepit satisfactionem, et laetissimo suffragio ut ordinaretur mandavit; quod et factum est anno sequente in purificatione sanctae Mariae.

 

Cardinal Hugo Candidus

One of Gregory's first acts, even before his ordination as a priest, was the appointment of Cardinal Hugo Candidus of S. Clemente as Apostolicae Sedis Legatus to Spain [Bullarium Romanum II (Torino 1865), p. 58 no. 1 (April 30, 1073)] and France [Gregorii VII Epistolae I. vi: Migne PL 148, 288 (April 30, 1073)]. It was Hugo Candidus [Cardinal (1049 ca. 1099) Ugo de Remiremont] who played a significant role in the events in the Lateran Basilica when the People elected Hildebrand as pope, giving the speech calling for his election and providing the phrases for the People to chant in favor of Hildebrand [Bonizo, Bishop of Sutri, de persecutione Ecclesiae, in Watterich I, p.308; MGH SS Libelli Libelli de lite I, p. 601]. Later (1080), when he was excommunicated and in schism, Cardinal Hugo was the only cardinal present at the "election" of the antipope "Clement III" (Guibert), who named him "Bishop of Palestrina".

Amazingly, no more than seven weeks before the Election of Hildebrand, during the Lenten season, at least according to Bonizo, Bishop of Sutri [de persecutione Ecclesiae, in Watterich I, p.308; MGH SS Libelli Libelli de lite I, p. 600; JL p. 587], Cardinal Hugo Candidus had been the subject of serious accusations of simony and had been excommunicated by Pope Alexander:

Eodem tempore Cadolus Parmensis episcopus corpore et anima defunctus est; et non multo post Ravennas episcopus mortuus est. Interea Parmensis Guibertus, de quo supra memoriam fecimus, Parmensem mirabiliter ambiebat episcopatum. Nam adiens regem multis precibus muneribusque satagebat, ut sibi daretur episcopatus. Quod cum impetrare non valuisset, omnibus tam propinquis suis quam extraneis, tam maioribus quam minoribus, tam clericis quam laicis omnino contradicentibus, ad imperatricem se contulit—forte ea ibi aderat his diebus [before July 25, 1072]—eaque interveniente Ravennatam accepit episcopatum. Parmensis vero cuidam Everardo Coloniensi clerico traditur. Praefatus vero Guibertus veniens Longobardiam, Ravennam intravit in multitudine gravi et in magno, ut sui moris est, potentatu. Et non post multos dies, in quadragesimae diebus Romam venit causa consecrationis, synodo iam celebrata; in qua et Ugo Candidus a Cluniacensibus monachis et a quibusdam religiosis episcopis publice de symonia arguitur, et in qua ortatu imperatricis quosdam regis consiliarios, volentes eum ab unitate ecclesiae separare, publice domnus papa excommunicavit.... Consecratione vero rite celebrata sacramento se obligavit se fidelem esse papae Alexandro eiusque successoribus, qui meliores essent electi cardinales, nullomodo imperatorem nec regem nominans vel patricium. Quod sacramentum bene conservavit. Nam venerabili Alexandro defuncto et venerabili Ildebrando per meliores cardinales electo religiosus archiepiscopus debitam subiectionem in tantum ei contulit, ut vocatus ad synodum veniret et in eadem synodo secundum privilegium suae ecclesiae dextra ei sederet et non extorta confessione, sed spontanea eum modis omnibus papam profiteretur. Sed iam rei ordinem prosequamur. Paschali igitur celebrata festivitate, cum a beato papa et venerabili archidiacono licentiam remeandi Ravennam accepisset, antequam eandem urbem intr4asset, ei mors papae ninciata est. Nam in natale sancti Georgii beatus Alexander spiritum celo reddidit [April 21, 1073].

It is clear that the charges were coming from monks [Bonizo of Sutri Liber ad amicum p. 600]: a Cluniacensibus monachis et a quibusdam religiosis episcopis publice de symonia arguitur. They had evidently learned that the word 'simony' is a useful charge to make in a dispute that turned on other issues. The charge is exceedingly common in the 11th century. The proof is harder to find. At no point, however, is it made clear that Cardinal Hugo Candidus was absolved of his alleged excommunication. Indeed it is quite unlikely that the new Pope, Gregory VII, whose views on simony were long-standing and vigorous, would have absolved a convicted simoniac Hugo, or employed him, only a week from his election. To do so would have made a fool, or a liar, out of Pope Alexander. It is perfectly plausible, though, that Cluniac religious were trying to make trouble for opponents of their brand of reform, and were willing to spread unsubstantiated stories, but the excommunication of a cardinal of over twenty-five years seniority by Pope Alexander seems completely implausible. The Gesta Arnulfi [MGH SS 8, p. 26; Baronius-Theiner 17, sub anno 1072, x, p. 331], which record the event, state;

Igitur auditis his quae Attoni contigerant, praefatus ille archidiaconus Hildeprandus sua, cum cardinalis esset, auctoritate illico iuramentum illud violentiae omnimodis iudicavit habendum invalidum. Hunc Romanus adeo verebatur antistes, ut eo inconsulto nichil omnino praesumeret, cum patenter sanctum praedicet evangenium, super magistrum non esse discipulum Unde factum est, ut collecto Romae coetu pontificum, instante ipso, Attonem iuste praedicaret electum, prostrato anathemate Gotefredo. Quae omnia Hildeprandus suis litteris saepe iam dicto retulit Arlembaldo Cui etiam ex suo, quod oppulentissimum habebat, aerario copiosam auri atque argenti fertur misisse peccuniam, ut distributo quibuscumque intifferenter pretio, fautores aggregaret quamplurimos. Non enim latebat illum prophetice dicta sententia: A maiore usque ad minorem omnes avaritiae student.

The synod (coetus pontificum), perhaps a Lenten synod of 1072 (though a church-man would have used the word synodus, not coetus, if that was what was meant), perhaps a judicial concilium summoned by the Pope especially to deal with the problem, is concerned with the succession to the church of Milan, and one of the candidates for that office was excommunicated. Tthe reception of the Archbishop-Elect of Ravenna, in the narrative of Bishop Bonizo, was one of the events of that time; he had come for his consecration, which was reserved to the pope personally; the attendance of suffragan bishops of Ravenna might have made it seem to Bishop Bonizo or his informant to be a more important council than it actually was. Or Bonizo may be conflating two different events. It is also possible that Bishop Bonizo was retroactively attacking one of Pope Gregory's greatest antagonists. At the time, however, Cardinal Hugo Candidus had just returned from a term as Apostolic Legate in Spain (1071), to great plaudits from Pope Alexander himself [JL 4691 (October 18, 1073), especially on the issue of the suppression of simony. His alleged excommunication makes no sense. Hugo was finally excommunicated, in the Lateran Synod of March 3, 1078, after his activities in the Synod of Worms which deposed Gregory VII, and died unreconciled in ca. 1099.

 

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On April 30, Gregory VII wrote a letter to Cardinal Giraldus of Ostia and the Subdeacon Raimbaldus, who were Apostolic Legates in France, that they should use their influence to put pressure on the Abbot and monks of Cluny to compose their differences with Cardinal Hugo Candidus [Ep. I. 6: Jaffé, Bibliotheca Germanica 2, p. 14-15]. On July 1, 1073 (two days after his consecration as Pope), Gregory VII was complaining in a letter to Cardinal Giraldus, Bishop of Ostia, that he had held a concilium in Spain as Apostolicae Sedis Legatus, but had not yet sent in a copy of the Acta, as practice required [Jaffé, Bibliotheca rerum Germanicarum 2, p. 28 no. 16]. Clearly Cardinal Giraldus was not in Italy at the time of Gregory's election, and did not exercise his right to consecrate the pope. His Acta from the Council of Châlons sur Saône of March 2, 1072 and the Synod of Claremont of the same year survive [Martene-Durand, Thesaurus novus anecdotorum 4, 97-98].

Pope Gregory was crowned on June 29 or 30. In the first week of July he left Rome and arrived in Benevento on August 20. A list of cardinals subscribing to a treaty struck between Gregory VII and Landulph, Prince of Benevento, dated August 12, 1073, nearly four months after the Election [Jaffé, Bibliotheca Rerum Germanicarum 2, p. 32-33; JL p. 600; Kehr, Italia Pontificia IX, p. 16 no. 37], shows the following members of the papal suite:

• Iohannes Portuensis episcopus
• Iohannes Tusculanensis episcopus
• Hubertus Prenestinus episcopus
• Desiderius Presbyter Romanae Ecclesiae
• Petrus Cardinalis Presbyter et Bibliothecarius Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae

 

 

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Constantin Höfler, Die deutschen Päpste  Zweite Abtheilung (Regensburg 1839). J. W. Bowden, The Life and Pontificate of Gregory VII 2 vv. (London 1840). A. fr. Gfrörer, Pabst Gregorius VII und sein Zeitalter Siebenter Band (Schaffhausen 1861). Julius Schirmer, De Hildebrando subdiacono Ecclesiae Romanae (Berlin 1860). G. Ruppel, Die Wahl Papst Gregors VII (Chemnitz 1876). W. Martens, Die Besetzung des papstlichen Stuhls unter den Kaisern Heinrich III. und Heinrich IV. (Freiburg 1887). Carl Mirbt, Die Wahl Gregors VII (Marburg: N. G. Ewert 1892). Carl Mirbt, Die Publizistik im Zeitalter Gregors VII (Leipzig 1894). G. Bossi, "I Crescenzi di Sabina, Stefaniani ed Ottaviani," Archivio della Società romana di Storia patria 41 (1918) 163 ff.  H. G. Krause, "Das Papstwahldekret von 1059 und seine Rolle im Investiturstreit," Studia Gregoriana VII (Roma 1960).  Tilmann Schmidt, Alexander II. (1061-1073) und die römische Reformgruppe seiner Zeit (Stuttgart: Anton Hiersemann 1977) [Päpste und Papsttum, 11].  Stuart Robinson, Authority and Resistance in the Investiture Contest. The Polemical Literature of the Late Eleventh Century (Manchester 1978).  H. E. J. Cowdrey, Pope Gregory VII, 1073-1085 (Oxford: Clarendon 1998).  Ovidio Capitani, "Benedetto X," Enciclopedia dei Papi (2000).

Otto Köhncke, Wibert von Ravenna (Papst Clemens III) (Leipzig 1888).

Bonizo of Sutri, "Liber ad amicum": Philippus Jaffe (editor) Bibliotheca rerum Germanicarum Tomus II: Monumenta Gregoriana (Berolini 1865), pp. 577-689.  Carolus Albrechtus Vogel, De Bonizonis episcopi Sutrini vita et scriptis (Jena: Typis Branii 1850).  L. Gatto, Bonizo di Sutri ed il suo Liber ad Amicum (Pescara 1968). Richard Bock, Die Glaubwürdigkeit der Nachrichten Bonithos von Sutri im Liber ad amicum und deren Verwertung in der neueren Geschichtsschreibung (Dissertation: Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität zu Berlin 1909). W. Berschein, Bonizo di Sutri (Spoleto 1992). Franz Lerner, Kardinal Hugo Candidus (1931).

Joseph Greving, Pauls von Benried Vita Gregorii VII. Papae; Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Quellen und Anschauungen aus der Zeit des Gregorianischen Kirchenstreites (Münster in W. 1893) [Kirchengeschichliche Studien II. 1] [esp. pp. 32-34].

T. Schieffer, Die päpstlichen Legaten in Frankreich (Berlin 1935).