remorse, and desiring to do penance for the irregularities of his past life, withdrew to the monastery of Crypta, or Grotta Ferrata, near Frascati, where he spent the remainder of his days, and died A. D. 1065. The newly elected Pope died at Palestrina, twenty-three days after his elevation. His sudden death gave occasion to the rumor that he had come to his end by poison. This, together with the fact that the Church now seemed to be, if anything, worse off than ever, made the Papacy an object of little attraction to a German. § 190. Continuation-Popes Elected through the Influence of Hildebrand. Leo Ostiens. (bibliothecar. at Montecassino, and later Cardinal Bishop of Ostia), Chronic. Casin. (Muratori, Script., T. IV.) Petri Damiani, Epist. et opusc. ed. Cajetani, Romae, 1606 sq.; Bassani, 1783, 4 T. in fol. Migne, Ser. Lat., T. 144-145. Bonizo in l. c. Desiderius, 1. 1. *Voigt, Hildebrand as Gregory VII. and his Age (Weimar, 1815); Vienna, 1819, 2d ed., 1846, at the beginning; especially, Höfler, 1. c., On the German Popes, Leo IX., Victor II., Stephen IX., Nicholas II. Giesebrecht, Vol. II., p. 445 sq. Gfrörer, Pope Gregory VII., Vol. I., p. 560 sq. Will, The Beginnings of the Restoration of the Church in the Eleventh Century, Marburg, 1859-1864, 2 pts. The delegates who had set out from Rome on the death of Damasus II., met the Emperor at the great Diet of Worms (A. D. 1048). The latter conferred the Papal dignity upon Bruno, Bishop of Toul, his own uncle, a man universally beloved, and indefatigable in his efforts to do good, who was with difficulty prevailed upon to bear so heavy a burden. The monk Hildebrand, who had been selected as his companion, refused to accompany him, partly because he loved the peace and quiet of his monastery, but chiefly because he believed that it was the purpose of Bruno to govern the Church according to the principles of worldly wisdom and expedience, rather than ecclesiastical law.1 Bruno, after his appointment, 1 Leonis IX. vita et epist., in Mansi, T. XIX., p. 633 sq. Harduin, T. VI., I., p. 927 sq. Watterich, Pt. I., p. 93–177. Toul, vita Leon. (Muratori, T. III., Pt. I.) (ibid., T. III., Pt. II., and in Watterich, 1. c.) Hunkler, Leo IX. and his Age, Mentz, 1851. Pt. Wibertus, Bruno's archdeacon at set out for Rome in the garb of a pilgrim, in order to receive the suffrages of the Roman clergy and people. Having been unanimously elected Father of the Christian world, he took. the name of Leo IX. (A. D. 1049-1054.) He immediately or dained Hildebrand subdeacon, and appointed him administrator of the Patrimony of St. Peter, at that time not a very acceptable office, as there was not a penny in the Papal treasury, and no sources to draw from. Henry III. had arbitrarily disposed of the estates of the Holy See to the Roman nobility and to the Normans, and it was now in such an impoverished condition, that for two years Leo had only the slender revenues of the bishopric of Toul upon which to maintain the dignity of his court, and, in consequence, many of those who had followed him from Germany forsook him, and returned to their own country. He labored with unceasing energy to root out from the clergy the vices of immorality and simony,1 which were then so prevalent, and so detrimental to the interests of the Church, and which Peter Damian has painted in colors, if not too lurid, certainly not a shade brighter than the reality, in his work entitled "Liber Gomorrhianus." A great synod was held in Rome in the year 1049, after the close of which Leo put every appliance to work to accomplish his purpose. He held national councils, made journeys in person through Italy and into France and Germany, and where he was not able to go himself, he sent his legates. The great majority of the clergy were found guilty of the charges that had been imputed to them; many of them were deprived of their benefices and prohibited from officiating, but 1 Leo Ostiens.: Perrarus inveniretur, qui non esset uxoratus vel concubinatus. De simonia quid dicam? omnes paene ecclesiasticos ordines haec mortifera bellua devoraverat, ut qui ejus morsum evaserit, rarus inveniretur. Vita St. Joan. Gualb. So likewise Desiderii de mirac. St. Bened. dialog., lib. III., at the beginning: In tantum mala consuetudo adolevit, ut sacrae legis auctoritate postposita. divina humanaque omnia miscerentur: adeo ut populus electionem et sacerdotesconsecrationem donumque Spiritus Sancti, quod gratis accipere et dare divina auctoritate statutum fuerat, data acceptaque per manus pecunia, ducti avaritia venderent, ita ut vix aliquanti invenirentur, qui non hujus simoniacae pestis contagione foedati-existerent. VOL. II-21 by far the greater number were only condemned to undergo severe penance. It would seem that Heaven itself was visibly allied with the Pope in this great struggle, for more than one culprit was overtaken by Divine justice, and suffered what was generally regarded as a signal punishment of God.1 The Pope endeavored to rouse and direct the courage of the sluggish Pisans against the Saracens, who, under the lead of their chief, Mugottus, had already subdued the island of Sardinia; and to this end he sent them the standard of St. Peter, hoping that the sight of it might inspire them to undertake a crusade against these daring and aggressive infidels. Leo also put himself at the head of an inconsiderable army and marched against the Normans, who, since the year 1017, had been steadily gaining possession of the territories belonging to the Saracens and Greeks in Lower Italy. These conquerors acted with merciless rigor toward the inhabitants of the conquered territory, sacked their cities, and plundered and destroyed their churches and cloisters, and, still pursuing their conquests, finally seized upon portions of the patrimony of St. Peter, situated in Calabria and Apulia. Leo was indeed defeated by an unexpected attack of the Normans; but, for all that, he had shortly the happiness of seeing Robert Guiscard, the notorious chief, at his feet suing for pardon for past deeds and begging a blessing on his future undertakings. The Normans also accepted in fief, from the Holy Father, the lands they had already conquered, and such as they might in future conquer, from the Saracens in Lower Italy and Sicily. Although thus busily engaged at home, Leo watched with equal care and solitude over every other country of the Christian world. He maintained the most friendly relations with Edward, King of England, and advanced the interests of the English Church in every way in his power; labored to unite the Church of Spain more closely to the Holy See; offered his mediation and kind offices to put an end to the seditious aud schismatical movement at Constantinople, of which Michael Cerularius was the head; and, in short, did whatever 1 Conf. Höfler, 1. c., Pt. II., p. 57 et passim. might in any way conduce to the prosperity of the State or the interests of the Church. His death occurred April 19, A. D. 1054, and the loss which the Church then sustained is beautifully expressed by a legend, according to which all the bells of Christendom tolled spontaneously as soon as he had passed out of this world. After the death of Leo, Hildebrand, as plenipotentiary of the Roman clergy and people, set out for Germany to request Henry III. to name a German for the office of Pope. The Emperor reluctantly consented to part with his relative and counselor, Gebhard, Bishop of Eichstädt, whom he designated as his choice, and who, having been elected at Rome, ascended the papal throne under the name of Victor II. (a. D. 1055-1057.)1 Victor, being a man of superior virtue, and now possessed of supreme authority, fully realized the hopes that Hildebrand had entertained of him. IIe continued, on both sides of the Alps, the combat against the vices of simony and immorality, which his predecessor, acting under the advice of Hildebrand, had prosecuted with so much vigor. He entered upon the work of reformation by holding a synod at Florence in May, 1055, the month after his election, in which canons were enacted against the prevailing vices. Hildebrand was sent into France, as legate, to complete there the ecclesiastical reform commenced by St. Leo, and at Lyons deposed six bishops who had been accused and found guilty of simony. The Archbishops of Aix and Arles were also invested with legatine authority for the correction of abuses in the south of France. In order to combat successfully clerical concubinage and simony, this Pope was obliged to go a step beyond what had heretofore been done by his predecessors, and demand not only the possession, but also the full administration of all estates belonging to the Church. He went resolutely to work to improve the almost hopeless condition of the Church in Italy, France, and Germany. If proof were needed to show that his administration was conducted on sound principles and 1 Victoris II. vita et epist., in Mansi, T. XIX., p. 833 sq. Harduin, T. VI., Pt. I., p. 1037. Watterich, T. I., p. 177–188. Cf. Höfler, 1. c., Pt. II., p. 217–268. Will, Victor II. as Pope and Administrator of the Empire (Tübg. Quart. 1862, p. 185 sq.) directed by enlightened zeal, it might be found in the wise enactments of the synods of France and Rome held during his pontificate. He summoned Berengarius before a synod held at Tours, to give an explanation of the errors into which he had relapsed. He also sent his legates to Constantinople, who, by a public and solemn declaration made in the Church of Saint Sophia, disclaimed all connection with the Greek Church. The Emperor Henry, apprehending that his days were drawing to a close, called the Pope into Germany, and, dying shortly after the arrival of the latter, recommended the empress Agnes, and his young son, now only five years of age, to the protection of the Father of Christendom. Victor proved himself worthy of the confidence that had been reposed in him. By the influence which he exercised in virtue of his apostolic authority, he composed the difficulties existing between the empress and the discontented princes of the empire, regulated the affairs of State, and insured the succession of the young prince, Henry IV. He quitted Germany shortly after, and, on his way to Rome, passed through Tuscany, and while at Florence, where a number of Italian bishops had come to consult with him, fell sick and died, still in the prime of life (A. D. 1057). Fortunately, the Church gained a powerful ally in Italy by the marriage of Godfrey of Lorraine to Beatrice, the widow of the Margrave of Tuscany. Frederic, the brother of Godfrey, who had been appointed Abbot of Monte Cassino by the last Pope, was now forcibly, and much against his own will, elected and at once consecrated under the name of Stephen IX. (X.) (A. D. 1057, 1058.) He continued the measures of reform which had already been undertaken by his two immediate predecessors, and, in addition, promulgated severe ordinances against the concubinage of ecclesiastics and the marriage of persons nearly related by blood.1 1 The elevation of Peter Damian to the cardinalate, under the title of Cardinal Bishop of Ostia, a title which placed him at the head of the Sacred College, was, as it were, the signal for 1 1 Stephani IX. vita et epist., in Mansi, T. XIX., p. 861 sq. Harduin, T. VI., Pt. I., p. 1051 sq. Watterich, T. I., p. 188–202. Höfler, 1. c., Pt. II., p. 269 sq. Gfrörer, Gregory VII., Vol. I., p. 562 sq. |