Gregor}''s presence, and, on confessing his errors, re- ceived absolution, but was not restored to his king- dom, the pope referring him to the general diet. Hen- ry soon after resumed the insignia of royalty, and, be- ing supported by his Lombard vassals, and indignant at the humiliating scene of Canossa, recrossed the Alps, fought several battles in Germany, and at last defeat- ed and mortally wounded Rudolf of Suabia, wlio had been elected emperor in his stead, and was supported by Gregory. Having now retrieved his affairs in Ger^ many, he marched with an army into Itah^ in 1081 to avenge himself on the pope, whom he again deposed in another diet, having appointed Guibert, archbisliop of Ravenna, as his successor, under the name of Clement III. Gregorj' had meantime drawn to his party by timely concessions Robert Guiscard, the Korman con- queror of Apulia and Sicil}', who, however, could not prevent Henrj' from advancing to the walls of Rome ; but the city was well defended, and the summer heats obliged Henry to retrace his steps towards North Itah', where his soldiers ravaged the territories of the count- ess Mathilda. He repeated the attempt against Rome in 1083, lint witliout success. It was finallj' agreed that a general council should decide the questions be- tween the emperor and the pope. The council as- sembled at Rome in 1083, and Gregory did not again excommunicate the emperor, but negotiated with him without coming to any definitive result. In fact, Greg- ory's personal successes wore at an end, though the principles of papal supremac}' fur which he contended took root and grew up in after times. In 10.S4 Henry was invited ly some ambassadors from the Roman people, who were dissatisfied with the pope, to enter the city, which he did on the 21st of Marcli, and imme- diately took possession of the Lateran, the bridges, and other important positions. Gregory escaped into tlie castle of St. Angelo, and the anti-pope Guibert was puolicly consecrated on Palm Sundaj- by several bish- ops. On the following Easter Sunday Henry IV was crowned by him as emperor in St. Peter's church. After the ceremony Henry ascended the capitol and was publicl}' proclaimed, and acknowledged bj- the Ro- mans with acclamations. Hearing, however, that Rob- ert Guiscard was approaching Rome with troops, ho left the citv and withdrew towards Tuscany. Robert came soon after with his Norman and Saracen soldiers, who, under the pretence of delivering Gregory, who was still shut up in the castle of St. Angelo, plundered' Rome, and committed all kinds of atrocities. GregCT)', having come out of his stronghold, assembled another council, in which, for the fourth time, he excommuni- cated Henry and the anti-pope Guibert. When Rob- ert left the city to return to his own dominions, the pope, not thinking himself safe in Rome, withdrew with him to Salerno, where, after consecrating a mag- nificent church built ly Robert, he died. May 25, 1085. His last words were, ' I have loved justice and hated iniquit}', and therefore I die in exile.' He probably believed what he said. Gregory's character was in many respects a grand and noble one. But impartial history decides that the good he accomplished was far more than counterbalanced by his fanatical enforce- ment of celibacy (q. v.), whicli has continued to this day to demoralize the Romanist clergy, and by his semi-blasphemous assertions of almost divine power for the papacy. His earlier efforts for ecclesiastical reform were, no doubt, sincere and earnest ; but at a later period he was led astraj' by the ambition of ex- alting his see over all the dignities and powers of the earth, spiritual as well as temporal. Not content with making, as far as in him la}', the Church independent of the empire, and at the same time establishing the control of the papal authority over the princes of the earth, objects which he left to be completed by his suc- cessor [see Innocent III], Gregory determined to de- stroy the independence of the various national church- es. His object was to raise the pope to supreme pow«
GREGORY
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or over Church and State throughout Christendom. By a constitution of his predecessor Alexander 11, which he dictated, and which he afterwards conlirmed, it was enacted for the tirst time that no bishop elect should exercise his functions until he liad received his confirmation from the pope. Tlie Roman see had al- ready, in the 9th century, subverted tlie authoritj' of the metropolitans, under pretence of affording protec- tion to tiic bishops ; but now it assumed the right of citing tlie bishops, without distinction, before its tri- bunal at Itome to receive its dictates, and Gregorj' obliged the metropolitan to attend in person to receive the pallium. Tlic quarrel of Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, with William Eufus, was owing to that monarch not choosing to let him go to Rome, whither he had been summoned. The practice of sending apos- tolic legates to different kingdoms as special commis- sioners of the pope, with discretionarj' power over the national hierarchy, originated also with Gregory, and completed the establishment of absolute monarchy in the Church in lieu of its original popular or represent- ative form. This doctrine of papal absolutism in mat- ters of discipline was bj^ prescription and usage so in- termixed with the more essential doctrines of faith, that it came to be considered as a dogma itself, and has defied all the skill of subsequent theologians and statesmen to disentangle it from the rest, while at the same time it has probably been, though at a fearful cost, the means of preserving the unity of the Western or Roman Church" (^English Ci/clojKedid). The meas- ures accomplished and attempted by Gregorj' were (1) the abolition of the influence of the Roman nobilitj' in the election of the pope ; (2) the removal of all author- ity in the election of the popes from the emperors of German}^ ; (3) the establishment of the celibacj' of the clergy ; (4) the freedom of the Church in the matter of investitures. Great attention has been given to the history of Gregory VII, both bj^ ecclesiastical and po- litical writers, especially within the present centurj'. See Dninn, Eccks.Writeis (11th century); Mosheim, Ck. History, ch. xi, pt. ii, ch. ii ; Neander, Ch. History, vol. iv ; Ranke, History of the Papacy, i, 29 sq. ; Hase, Ch. History, § 181; Sir James Stephen, Essays in Ec- clesiastical Binyruphy, i, 1 ; also in Edinburgh Revieic, 1x5x1,143; Guizot, Hist, of Modern Civilizntion ; Bow- den, Life and Pontificate of Gregory VII (Lond. 1840, 2 vols. 8vo) ; Voigt, Hildebrand als Pahst Gregor VII (Weimar, 1813, 8vo ; 2d ed. 1846, 8vo) ; Si)ittler, Grer/or VII (Hamb. 1827, 4to) ; Greslej', Life and Pontificate of Gregory (7/ (Lond. 1829, 12mo) ; Madelaine, Pontifi- cut de Grigoire VII (Paris, 1837, 2 vols. 8vo) ; Cassan- der, Zeitulttr HildehrancVs (Darmstadt, 1842, 8vo) ; Soeltl, Gregor VII (Leipsig, 1847, 8vo) ; Milman, Latin Christianity, iii, 140 sq. ; Helfenstein, Gregorys VII Be- strebniigen (Frankf., 1856, 8vo); Gfrorer, Pnpst Gregor Vllu.sein ^eitoZter (ultramontane view; SchafFhausen, 1859-1861,7 vols. 8vo); English Cyclojxedia ; Herzog, Reid-Encyklop. v, 334 sq. ; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Gener. xxi, 801.