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The popes · No. 157 of 267

St Gregory VII

An emperor barefoot in the snow, and a pope who died in exile.

Pope 1073 to 85 · Gregory and the following three popes were opposed by Guibert ("Clement III"), antipope (1080-1100)

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The ruined stone walls of the castle of Canossa in the Apennines.

SIG SG 510, 2018. Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

Home / The popes / St Gregory VII

Canossa, northern Italy, January 1077

Outside a mountain castle, the most powerful ruler in Europe stands in the snow.1

Stripped of his royal robes and dressed as a penitent, King Henry IV asks to be let in to see the pope.1

The pope inside was Gregory VII, and the fight was over who appoints bishops: kings or the Church.

01St Gregory VII

A reformer’s war

Gregory had long served reforming popes before his own election in 1073.1

He fought the buying and selling of church offices and the control of bishops by lay rulers.1

Henry’s penance at Canossa did not last, and the king later set up an antipope against him.1

Exultet Rolls of Southern Italy, detail of Pope Gregory VII
Gregory VII in an Exultet roll from southern Italy, made within a few years of his death. Unknown author, 1087. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

02St Gregory VII

Last words

Driven from Rome, Gregory died at Salerno in 1085.1

“I have loved justice and hated iniquity, therefore I die in exile.”

Gregory VII, his last words1

He lost the battle and, in the long run, won the argument. The freedom of the Church to choose her own bishops runs back to men like him.

The most powerful pope of the Middle Ages was elected at thirty-seven.

Notes

  1. Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “Pope St. Gregory VII”. New Advent edition. newadvent.org

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: Douay-Rheims, Challoner revision (public domain). Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an error.