Another evidence of the harmonious relations which existed between these two princes is to be found in the fact that Henry gave the force of imperial laws to the decrees enacted by Benedict, at the Synod of Pavia (A. D. 1018), for the repression of the vices of simony and concubinage, so common in that age. But, before a thorough reformation could be effected, Henry II. was carried to the grave. He died July 13, A. D. 1024, at Grona, near Göttingen. "Let Europe mourn," writes, a contemporary author, "for she has suffered. the loss of her chief; let Rome lament, for she has been deprived of a protector; let the whole world deplore the death of Henry II., the defender of Europe, the terror of the disturbers of the public peace, and the foe of every form of despotism."1

He was, according to his own wish, interred in the cathedral of Bamberg, where, nine years later on, his holy wife, Cunigunde, who, upon her husband's death, had entered a Benedictine convent, was laid by his side. Henry was the last of the line of Saxon Emperors, who, beginning with Henry I., had reigned for a century.

The States Ecclesiastical and Secular met and elected Conrad of Franconia, Emperor.

§ 189. The Popes under the Franconian Emperors.

Thietmar, Chron., in Pertz, V. Glaber Radulph. (monach. Cluniac., about 1046), Hist. sui temp. (du Chesne, T. IV.) Wippo (capellan. Conrad. et Henr. III.), de vita Conradi Salic. (Pistorius, T. III.) Bonizo (Episc. Sutrien. †1039), lib. ad amic.; seu de persecut. eccl. in (Oefelii Script. rer. Boicar., T. II.) Migne, T. CXLII.; Desiderii, Abb. Casin. (Victoris III. †1086), Dialogi, libb. III. (Max. bibl., T. XVIII.) Jaffé, Bibl. rer. Germ. II., Berl. 1865. Stenzel, Hist. of Germ. under the Franconian Emperors, Lps. 1827 sq., 2 vols. Giesebrecht, Vol. II., p. 213–336, concerning Conrad; V. II., p. 337 sq., on Henry III. Cf. Damberger, Synchronist. Hist., Vol. VI. Gfrörer, Ch. H., Vol. IV., p. 209-627. Höfler, German Popes, 2 vols., Ratisb. 1839. Cf. Will, The Beginning of the Restoration of the Church from the Eleventh Century, Marburg, 1859-1864.

Benedict VIII., who died in the same year as the Emperor Henry, was succeeded by his brother, under the name of

1 Damberger, Vol. V., p. 889-890, and Gfrörer, Ch. H., Vol. IV., p. 1–209. Giesebrecht, Hist. of the Period of the German Emperors, Vol. II., p. 13–210. Löger, Henry II. and Joseph II. in their relation to the Church, Vienna, 1869.

John XIX. (A. D. 1024). This Pope placed the imperial crown (A. D. 1027) upon the head of the German King, Conrad II. (A. D. 1024-1039), the first representative of the Franco-Salic line, who had already conquered the kingdom of Lombardy. Contemporary writers of every shade of opinion represent John XIX. as zealous in the administration of ecclesiastical affairs and relentless in the pursuit and punishment of brigands. But the Emperor, who was by no means indifferent to the abuses which then existed, did not, like his predecessor, co-operate with the Pope in carrying out the decrees for the reformation of morals and the enforcement of ecclesiastical discipline. Conrad looked carefully after the interests of his subjects, and, in the course of his reign, made a journey through Germany, for the purpose of obtaining a knowledge of their condition, administering justice, and removing such grievances and hardships as might exist. In order the better to effect these ends, he established the Truce of God (Treuga Dei), by which the right of feud for the redress of private wrongs was suspended during the seasons of Advent and Lent, and on week days especially consecrated to the Passion and Resurrection of our Lord, or during the time intervening between the sunset of Wednesday and the sunrise of Monday.

The abbey church at Limburg, in the Hardt, and the unfinished cathedral of Spire, with its immense vaults in Byzantine style, as well as many other churches and monasteries, prove that Henry was possessed of taste and generosity rivaling, if not surpassing, any similar qualities in his predecessors. Six members of the house of Tusculum had already been forced upon the papal throne, and now Count Alberic, the brother of Benedict VIII. and John XIX., succeeded, by means of unbounded bribery, in having his son, Theophylactus, a young man of only eighteen (12?), but far more proficient in vice than became one of his age, elected Pope, under the name of Benedict IX. (A. D. 1033-1044). For eleven years did this young profligate disgrace the chair of St. Peter. One of his successors,1 in speaking of him, said "that it was only with

1 Desiderius, Abbot of Monte Cassino, as Pope Victor III. (TR.)

feelings of horror he could bring himself to relate how disgraceful, outrageous, and execrable was the conduct of this man after he had taken priest's orders." The Romans put up with his misconduct and vices for a time; but, seeing that he grew worse instead of better, from day to day, they finally lost all patience with him, and drove him from the city.

The Emperor Conrad had, in the meantime, come into Italy to suppress a revolt that had broken out at Milan, and was at this time at Cremona, whither Benedict went in order to obtain his assistance. He represented to the Emperor that he was an innocent and an injured person, and, to further recommend himself to the latter, excommunicated the Archbishop of Milan, who had taken part in the revolt. Conrad then conducted him back to Rome and reinstated him in his office (A. D. 1038); but, on the death of the former, Benedict was again forced to leave the city, and his enemies, by making liberal distributions of money among the people, reconciled public opinion to the election of an antipope in the person of John, Bishop of Sabina, who took the name of Sylvester III. (A. D. 1044.) After an absence of a few months, Benedict was brought back by the members of the powerful family to which he belonged; but he had scarcely been fairly seated on his throne when he gave fresh offense to the people by proposing a marriage between himself and his cousin.

The father of the young lady refused to give his consent to the proposed union, unless Benedict would first resign the papacy, and the archpriest John, a man of piety and rectitude of life, fearing the consequences so great a scandal would bring upon the Church, also offered him a great sum of money if he would withdraw to private life. Benedict, who longed for privacy, that he might the more fully indulge his passions, listened with pleasure to these suggestions, and finally consented to resign and retire to live as a private citizen, in one of the castles belonging to his family.

It was the honest purpose of the archpriest John to raise the Holy See from the degradation to which it had been sunk by the tyranny and bribery of the nobles; but, at the same time, conscious that the only way to defeat them was to outbid. them in the purchase of the venal populace, he distributed

money lavishly, but judiciously, and thus secured his own election. He took the name of Gregory VI. But the love of power and notoriety soon grew upon Benedict. He repented of the step he had taken, and, coming forth from the privacy which had now lost its fascination, and supported by his powerful relatives, he again put forth his claims to the papacy. There were now three persons claiming the same dignity. This condition of affairs brought grief to the hearts of the well-disposed of all parties, and they coming together, invited Henry III. of Germany, the successor to Conrad (A. D. 1039–1056), to put an end to the confusion and restore order. On his arrival in Italy, he caused a synod to be convened at Pavia (s. D. 1046); but, as the bishops refused to condemn the Pope without having first heard him in his own defense, the Emperor caused a second one to be held at Sutri,1 at which Sylvester III. was condemned and ordered to retire to cloister, and there pass the remainder of his days. Benedict's claims, owing to his resignation, were not taken into account,2 and Gregory came forward, and, on his own motion, declared that, though he had had the best intentions in aiming at the papacy, there could be no question that his election had been secured "by disgraceful bribery and accompanied by simoniacal heresy,3 and that, in consequence, he should of right be deprived of the papal throne, and did hereby resign it." Accompanied by his disciple, Hildebrand, he afterward retired to the monastery of Clugny. It is evident that the respect and reverence of the people for the dignity and authority of the Head of the Church must have been deep-seated, and the result of a complete and overwhelming conviction, when they were not impaired by the disgraceful circumstances just related. The words of Leo the Great were verified then, if ever. "The dignity of St. Peter," said he, "does not lose

1 The Acts, in Mansi, T. XIX., p. 617 sq. Harduin, T. VI., Pt. I., p. 921 sq. Conf. Engelhardt, Observationes de Synod. Sutriensi., Erlang. 1834, 4to. Giesebrecht, Vol. II., p. 399 sq. Watterich, T. I., p. 71-82, where also the Laus Henrici III. imperatoris, by Peter Damian.

2 Döllinger, Ch. H., Vol. II., p. 144. (TR.)

3 A dangerous or bad practice which might be traced back to an heretical principle, was, in the Middle Ages, called a heresy. (TR.)

that character even when lodged in an unworthy successor to his office."

The Romans had sworn that they would not choose another Pope during the lifetime of Gregory, and they therefore begged Henry III., as he with his successors enjoyed the title of Patrician of Rome, to make choice of one. Henry selected for the office Suidger, Bishop of Bamberg, who took the name of Clement II. (A. D. 1046-1047.) The newly elected Pope now placed the imperial crown upon Henry and his consort.1 At a synod, held in Rome in the year 1047, at which the Emperor also assisted, decrees were passed, declaring that any one who should purchase a benefice, or procure ordination by bribery, was thereby excommunicated; and that such as should accept orders from a simoniacal bishop, should undergo an ecclesiastical penance of forty days. This energetic work, at the beginning of his reign, gave promise that had Clement lived, he would have pursued the abuses which then existed in the Church, and particularly that of simony, until he had fully corrected them. But unfortunately he was not spared. Upon the representation of Peter Damian that the clergy, and notably those of the Romagna, were frightfully degenerate and corrupt, he set out to try, by personal influence, to bring them back to a sense of their obligations and the dignity of their office; and, while engaged in this work of love, took sick and died, at the monastery of St. Thomas, at Aposella, October 9, 1047.

Hearing of his death, Benedict IX. again contrived, with the aid of his powerful relatives, to gain possession of the Holy See, which he retained for eight months. On the death of Clement, an embassy at once set out from Rome to bring the intelligence to the Emperor, and request him to appoint as pope, Alinard, Archbishop of Lyons; but the latter having declined, they settled upon Poppo, Bishop of Brixen, who took the name of Damasus 11.2 On the very day on which Damasus ascended the Papal throne, Benedict, seized with

1 Clementis II. vita et epist., in Mansi, T. XIX., p. 619 sq.; in Harduin, T. VI., Pt. I., p. 923. Conf. Höfler, German Popes, Pt. I., p. 199–268.

2 Damasi II. vita, in Mans, T. XIX., p. 629. Conf. Höfler, in 1. 1., Pt. I., p. 269-273.