A. The Monastery at Cluny
1. In spite of some of the problems of asceticism, the monastery at Cluny, in France, began to influence the church for good.
2. They petitioned the emperor, Henry III, to settle the problem of the three popes.
3. Henry did settle the dispute and appointed the next few popes.
4. Leo IX, a supporter of reform, became pope in 1049.
5. He changed the College of Cardinals so that it represented the whole church and not just Rome.
6. He was against marriage by priests and simony.
7. He also said that the people had the right of consent to a priest or bishop over them.
B. Hildebrand
1. Leo IX had put Hildebrand in charge of the finances of the papal court.
2. Hildebrand was also a supporter of the reform movement.
3. After the deaths of Leo and Henry, it was Hildebrand who became the real power behind the pope.
4. He served under 6 different popes.
5. In 1073, Hildebrand was chosen pope and became Gregory VII.
C. Gregory vs. Henry
1. Soon after this, the new emperor, Henry IV, defied Gregory by appointing his own bishops.
2. In December, 1075, Gregory wrote to Henry informing him that he would be excommunicated from the church if he continued his defiance.
3. Henry responded that Gregory was a false pope.
4. On February 14, 1076, Gregory excommunicated and deposed Henry.
5. Henry appealed to the people of Rome to overthrow Gregory.
6. But by October, the German nobles were beginning to agree with the pope.
7. Henry decided to submit to the pope to save his position as emperor.
8. In January, 1077, in dead of winter, Henry waited outside to see Gregory and ask his forgiveness.
9. Henry was dressed as a penitent, bare-headed and bare-footed, waiting for three days in the snow.
10. Gregory eventually granted absolution and re-instated Henry as emperor.
11. However, this was only a ploy by Henry to buy time.
12. In 1085, Henry led an army into Rome and took over.
13. Gregory fled and died soon after in exile.
14. In 1122, at the Concordat of Worms, an agreement was finally reached on the question of lay investiture.