[6] In later times, Gregory VII became an exemplar of papal supremacy, and his memory was invoked both positively and negatively, reflecting later writers' attitude to the Catholic Church and the papacy.

Beno of Santi Martino e Silvestro, who opposed Gregory VII in the Investiture Controversy, accused him of necromancy, cruelty, tyranny, and blasphemy.

[7] In contrast, the modern historian and Anglican priest H. E. J. Cowdrey writes, "[Gregory VII] was surprisingly flexible, feeling his way and therefore perplexing both rigorous collaborators ... and cautious and steady-minded ones ... His zeal, moral force, and religious conviction, however, ensured that he should retain to a remarkable degree the loyalty and service of a wide variety of men and women.

[12] When the latter was deposed at the Council of Sutri in December of 1046, with approval of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry III[13] and exiled to Germany, Hildebrand followed him to Cologne.

[citation needed] Stephen died before being able to return to Rome, but Hildebrand was successful; he was then instrumental in overcoming the crisis caused by the Roman aristocracy's election of an antipope, Benedict X,[15] who, thanks also to Agnes's support, was replaced by the Bishop of Florence, Nicholas II.

[16] With the help of 300 Norman knights sent by Richard of Aversa, Hildebrand personally led the conquest of the castle of Galeria Antica where Benedict had taken refuge.

On the death of Alexander II on 21 April 1073, as the obsequies were being performed in the Lateran Basilica, there arose a loud outcry from the clergy and people: "Let Hildebrand be pope!

[21] He was finally found at the Church of San Pietro in Vincoli, to which a famous monastery was attached, and elected pope by the assembled cardinals, with the due consent of the Roman clergy, amid the repeated acclamations of the people.

In May 1074 Henry did penance at Nuremberg—in the presence of the papal legates—to atone for his continued friendship with the members of his council who had been banned by Gregory; he took an oath of obedience, and promised his support in the work of reforming the Church.

Henry sent Count Eberhard to Lombardy to combat the Patarenes; nominated the cleric Tedald to the archbishopric of Milan, settling a prolonged and contentious question; and made overtures to the Norman duke Robert Guiscard.

[28] Gregory VII replied with a harsh letter dated 8 December 1075, in which he accused Henry of breaching his word and of continuing to support excommunicated councillors.

[28] On the following day, 22 February 1076, Gregory solemnly pronounced a sentence of excommunication against Henry IV, divested him of his royal dignity, and absolved his subjects of their sworn allegiance.

As a result of the agitation, which was zealously fostered by the papal legate Bishop Altmann of Passau, the princes met in October at Trebur to elect a new German ruler.

Henry, who was stationed at Oppenheim on the left bank of the Rhine, was only saved from the loss of his throne by the failure of the assembled princes to agree on his successor.

This escort had not appeared when he received the news of Henry's arrival at Canossa, where Gregory had taken refuge under the protection of his close ally, Matilda of Tuscany.

[28] The reconciliation was only effected after prolonged negotiations and definite pledges on the part of Henry, and it was with reluctance that Gregory VII at length gave way, considering the political implications.

To the contrary, at Forchheim in March 1077 they elected a rival ruler in the person of Duke Rudolf of Swabia, with the papal legates declaring their neutrality.

Under pressure from the Saxons, and misinformed as to the significance of this battle, Gregory abandoned his waiting policy and again pronounced the excommunication and deposition of Henry on 7 March 1080.

[28] He summoned a council at Brixen, and on 25 June 1080 thirty bishops present pronounced Gregory deposed, electing archbishop Guibert (Wibert) of Ravenna as his successor.

A new imperial claimant, Hermann of Luxembourg, was put forward in August 1081, but he was unable to rally the papal party in Germany, and the power of Henry IV was at its peak.

[28] The pope's chief military supporter, Matilda of Tuscany,[37] blocked Henry's armies from the western passages over the Apennines, so he had to approach Rome from Ravenna.

[38] Gregory refused to entertain Henry's overtures, although the latter promised to hand over Guibert as a prisoner, if the sovereign pontiff would only consent to crown him emperor.

The pope was liberated, but after the Roman people became incensed by the excesses of his Norman allies, again withdrew to Monte Cassino,[39] and later to the castle of Salerno by the sea, where he died on 25 May 1085.

[42] King William felt himself so safe that he interfered autocratically with the management of the church, forbade the bishops to visit Rome, made appointments to bishoprics and abbeys, and showed little anxiety when the pope lectured him on the different principles which he had as to the relationship of spiritual and temporal powers, or when he prohibited him from commerce or commanded him to acknowledge himself a vassal of the apostolic chair.

The great concessions made to them under Nicholas II were not only powerless to stem their advance into central Italy, but failed to secure even the expected protection for the papacy.

[28] In the case of several countries, Gregory VII tried to establish a claim of sovereignty on the part of the Papacy, and to secure the recognition of its self-asserted rights of possession.

Spain, Hungary and Croatia were also claimed as her property, and an attempt was made to induce the king of Denmark to hold his realm as a fief from the pope.

Gregory, however, refrained from translating his threats into actions, although the attitude of the king showed no change, for he wished to avoid a dispersion of his strength in the conflict soon to break out in Germany.

When the news of the Muslim attacks on the Christians in the East filtered through to Rome, and the political embarrassments of the Byzantine emperor increased, he conceived the project of a great military expedition and exhorted the faithful to participate in recovering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre[28]—foreshadowing the First Crusade.

Gregory's demand that Berengarius perform a confession of this belief[52] was quoted in Pope Paul VI's historic 1965 encyclical Mysterium fidei:[53] I believe in my heart and openly profess that the bread and wine that are placed on the altar are, through the mystery of the sacred prayer and the words of the Redeemer, substantially changed into the true and proper and lifegiving flesh and blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, and that after the consecration they are the true body of Christ.