300 FOUKTH PEKIOD. A. D. 590-1049.
DESIDERITJS (Abbot of M. Cassino, afterwards pope Victor Iir.,d. 1086):
De Miraculis a S. Benedicto aliisque monachis Cassiniensibus gestis
Dialog., in " Bibl. Patr." Lugd. XVIII. 853. Annales Romani in Pertz, Mon. Germ. VII. Annales Corbeienses, in Pertz, Mon. Germ. V. ; and in Jaffe, Monumenta
Corbeiensia, Berlin, 1864. ERNST STEINDORFF : Jahrbucher des deutschen Reichs unter Heinrich III.
Leipzig, 1874.
HEFELE: Conciliengesch. IV. 706 sqq. (2d ed.). See Lit. in g 64, especially HOFLER and WILL.
Emperor Henry III., of the house of Franconia, was appealed to by the advocates of reform, and felt deeply the sad state of the church. He was only twenty-two years old, but ripe in intel lect, full of energy and zeal, and aimed at a reformation of the church under the control of the empire, as Hildebrand after wards labored for a reformation of the church under the control of the papacy.
On his way to Rome for the coronation he held (Dec. 20, 1046) a synod at Sutri, a small town about twenty-five miles north of Rome, and a few days afterwards another synod at Rome which completed the work.1 Gregory VI. presided at first. The claims of the three rival pontiffs were considered. Benedict IX. and Sylvester III. were soon disposed of, the first having twice resigned, the second being a mere intruder. Gre gory VI. deserved likewise deposition for the sin of simony in buying the papacy; but as he had convoked the synod by order of the emperor and was otherwise a worthy person, he was al lowed to depose himself or to abdicate. He did it in these words : " I, Gregory, bishop, servant of the servants of God, do hereby adjudge myself to be removed from the pontificate of the Holy Roman Church, because of the enormous error which by simoniacal impurity has crept into and vitiated my election." Then he asked the assembled fathers : " Is it your pleasure
1 The sources differ in the distribution of the work between the two synods ' some assign it to Sutri, others to Kome, others divide it. Steindorff and Hefele (IV. 710) assume that Gregory and Sylvester were deposed at Sutri ; Benedict (who did not appear at Sutri) was deposed in Rome. All agree that the new pope was elected in Borne.
I 66. HENKY III. AND THE SYNOD OF SUTRI. 30l
that so it shall be?" to which they unanimously replied : "Your pleasure is our pleasure ; therefore so let it be." As soon as the humble pope had pronounced his own sentence, he descended from the throne, divested himself of his pontifical robes, and im plored pardon on his knees for the usurpation of the highest dignity in Christendom. He acted as pope de facto, and pro nounced himself no pope dejure. He was used by the synod for deposing his two rivals, and then for deposing himself. In that way the synod saved the principle that the pope was above every human tribunal, and responsible to God alone. This view of the case of Gregory rests on the reports of Bonitho and Desiderius. According to other reports in the Annales Corbcicnscs and Peter Damiani, who was present at Sutri, Gregory was deposed directly by the Synod.1 At all events, the deposition was real and final, and the cause was the sin of simony.
But if simony vitiated an election, there were probably few legitimate popes in the tenth century when everything was venal and corrupt in Rome. Moreover bribery seems a small sin com pared with the enormous crimes of several of these Judascs. Hildebrand recognized Gregory VI. by adopting his pontifical name in honor of his memory, and yet he made relentless war upon the sin of simony. He followed the self-deposed pope as chaplain across the Alps into exile, and buried him in peace on the banks of the Rhine.
Henry III. adjourned the Synod of Sutri to St. Peter's in Rome for the election of a new pope (Dec. 23 and 24, 1046). The synod was to elect, but no Roman clergyman could be found free of the pollution of " simony and fornication." Then the king, vested by the synod with the green mantle of the patriciate and the plenary authority of the electors, descended from his throne, and seated Suidger, bishop of Bamberg, a man of spot less character, on the vacant chair of St. Peter amid the loud hosannas of the assembly.2 The new pope assumed the name of
1 See Jaffa", Steindorff, and Hefele (IV. 711 sq.)-
* According to the Annal. Corb., Suidger was elected "canonice et synodice . . . unanimi deri et popuLi electionc."