December 827, on which occasion he recognized the supremacy of the
Frankish emperor in the most unequivocal manner. His name is chiefly
associated with the quarrels between Lothair and Louis the Pious, in
which he espoused the cause of the former, for whom, in the Campus
Mendacii (_Lugenfeld_, field of lies), as it is usually called (833), he
secured by his treachery a temporary advantage. The institution of the
feast of All Saints is usually attributed to this pope. He died on the
25th of January 844, and was succeeded by Sergius II.
GREGORY V. (Bruno), pope from 996 to 999, a great-grandson of the
emperor Otto the Great, succeeded John XV. when only twenty-four years
of age, and until the council of Pavia (997) had a rival in the person
of the anti-pope John XVI., whom the people of Rome, in revolt against
the will of the youthful emperor Otto III., had chosen after having
expelled Gregory. The most memorable acts of his pontificate were those
arising out of the contumacy of the French king, Robert, who was
ultimately brought to submission by the rigorous infliction of a
sentence of excommunication. Gregory died suddenly, and not without
suspicion of foul play, on the 18th of February 999. His successor was
Silvester II.
GREGORY VI., pope from 1045 to 1046. As Johannes Gratianus he had earned
a high reputation for learning and probity, and in 1045 he bought the
Roman pontificate from his godson Benedict IX. At a council held by the
emperor Henry III. at Sutri in 1046, he was accused of simony and
deposed. He was banished into Germany, where he died in 1047. He was
accompanied into exile by his young protege Hildebrand (afterwards pope
as Gregory VII.), and was succeeded by Clement II. (L. D.*)
GREGORY VII., pope from 1073 to 1085. Hildebrand (the future pope) would
seem to have been born in Tuscany--perhaps Raovacum--early in the third
decade of the 11th century. The son of a plain citizen, Bunicus or
Bonizo, he came to Rome at an early age for his education; an uncle of
his being abbot of the convent of St Mary on the Aventine. His
instructors appear to have included the archpriest Johannes Gratianus,
who, by disbursing a considerable sum to Benedict IX., smoothed his way
to the papal throne and actually ascended it as Gregory VI. But when the
emperor Henry III., on his expedition to Rome (1046), terminated the
scandalous _impasse_ in which three popes laid claim to the chair of
Peter by deposing all three, Gregory VI. was banished to Germany, and
Hildebrand found himself obliged to accompany him. As he himself
afterwards admitted, it was with extreme reluctance that he crossed the
Alps. But his residence in Germany was of great educative value, and
full of significance for his later official activity. In Cologne he was
enabled to pursue his studies; he came into touch with the circles of
Lorraine where interest in the elevation of the Church and her life was
highest, and gained acquaintance with the political and ecclesiastical
circumstances of that country which was destined to figure so largely in
his career. Whether, on the death of Gregory VI. in the beginning of
1048, Hildebrand proceeded to Cluny is doubtful. His brief residence
there, if it actually occurred, is to be regarded as no more than a
visit; for he was never a monk of Cluny. His contemporaries indeed
describe him as a monk; but his entry into the convent must be assigned
to the period preceding or following his German travels and presumably
took place in Rome. He returned to that city with Bishop Bruno of Toul,
who was nominated pope under the title of Leo IX. (1048-1054). Under him
Hildebrand found his first employment in the ecclesiastical service,
becoming a sub-deacon and steward in the Roman Church. He acted,
moreover, as a legate in France, where he was occupied _inter alia_ with
the question of Berengarius of Tours, whose views on the Lord's Supper
had excited opposition. On the death of Leo IX. he was commissioned by
the Romans as their envoy to the German court, to conduct the
negotiations with regard to his successor. The emperor pronounced in
favour of Bishop Gebhard of Eichstadt, who, in the course of his short
reign as Victor II. (1055-1057), again employed Hildebrand as his legate
to France. When Stephen IX. (Frederick of Lorraine) was raised to the
papacy, without previous consultation with the German court, Hildebrand
and Bishop Anselm of Lucca were despatched to Germany to secure a
belated recognition, and he succeeded in gaining the consent of the
empress Agnes. Stephen, however, died before his return, and, by the
hasty elevation of Bishop Johannes of Velletri, the Roman aristocracy
made a last attempt to recover their lost influence on the appointment
to the papal throne--a proceeding which was charged with peril to the
Church as it implied a renewal of the disastrous patrician regime. That
the crisis was surmounted was essentially the work of Hildebrand. To
Benedict X., the aristocratic nominee, he opposed a rival pope in the
person of Bishop Gerhard of Florence, with whom the victory rested. The
reign of Nicholas II. (1059-1061) was distinguished by events which
exercised a potent influence on the policy of the Curia during the next
two decades--the _rapprochement_ with the Normans in the south of Italy,
and the alliance with the democratic and, subsequently, anti-German
movement of the Patarenes in the north. It was also under his
pontificate (1059) that the law was enacted which transferred the papal
election to the College of Cardinals, thus withdrawing it from the
nobility and populace of Rome and thrusting the German influence on one
side. It would be too much to maintain that these measures were due to
Hildebrand alone, but it is obvious that he was already a dominant
personality on the Curia, through he still held no more exalted office
than that of archdeacon, which was indeed only conferred on him in 1059.
Again, when Nicholas II. died and a new schism broke out, the
discomfiture of Honorius II. (Bishop Cadalus of Parma) and the success
of his rival (Anselm of Lucca) must be ascribed principally, if not
entirely, to Hildebrand's opposition to the former. Under the sway of
Alexander II. (1061-1073) this man loomed larger and larger in the eye
of his contemporaries as the soul of the Curial policy. It must be
confessed the general political conditions, especially in Germany, were
at that period exceptionally favourable to the Curia, but to utilize
them with the sagacity actually shown was nevertheless no slight
achievement, and the position of Alexander at the end of his pontificate
was a brilliant justification of the Hildebrandine statecraft.
On the death of Alexander II. (April 21, 1073), Hildebrand became pope
and took the style of Gregory VII. The mode of his election was bitterly
assailed by his opponents. True, many of the charges preferred are
obviously the emanations of scandal and personal dislike, liable to
suspicion from the very fact that they were not raised to impugn his
promotion till several years had elapsed (_c._ 1076); still it is plain
from his own account of the circumstances of his elevation that it was
conducted in extremely irregular fashion, and that the forms prescribed
by the law of 1059 were not observed. But the sequel justified his
election--of which the worst that can be said is that there was no
general suffrage. And this sequel again owed none of its success to
chance, but was the fruit of his own exertions. In his character were
united wide experience and great energy tested in difficult situations.
It is proof of the popular faith in his qualifications that, although
the circumstances of his election invited assault in 1073, no sort of
attempt was then made to set up a rival pontiff. When, however, the
opposition which took head against him had gone so far as to produce a
pretender to the chair, his long and undisputed possession tended to
prove the original legality of his papacy; and the appeal to
irregularities at its beginning not only lost all cogency but assumed
the appearance of a mere biased attack. On the 22nd of May he received
sacerdotal ordination, and on the 30th of June episcopal consecration;
the empress Agnes and the duchess Beatrice of Tuscany being present at
the ceremony, in addition to Bishop Gregory of Vercelli, the chancellor
of the German king, to whom Gregory would thus seem to have communicated
the result of the election.
The focus of the ecclesiastico-political projects of Gregory VII. is to
be found in his relationship with Germany. Since the death of Henry III.
the strength of the monarchy in that country had been seriously
impaired, and his son Henry IV. had to contend with great internal
difficulties. This state of affairs was of material assistance to the
pope. His advantage was still further accentuated by the fact that in
1073 Henry was but twenty-three years of age and by temperament inclined
to precipitate action. Many sharp lessons were needful before he learned
to bridle his impetuosity, and he lacked the support and advice of a
disinterested and experienced statesman. Such being the conditions, a
conflict between Gregory VII. and Henry IV. could have only one
issue--the victory of the former.
In the two following years Henry was compelled by the Saxon rebellion to
come to amicable terms with the pope at any cost. Consequently in May
1074 he did penance at Nuremberg in presence of the legates to expiate
his continued intimacy with the members of his council banned by
Gregory, took an oath of obedience, and promised his support in the work
of reforming the Church. This attitude, however, which at first won him
the confidence of the pope, he abandoned so soon as he gained the upper
hand of the Saxons: this he achieved by his victory at Hohenburg on the
Unstrut (June 9, 1075). He now attempted to reassert his rights of
suzerain in upper Italy without delay. He sent Count Eberhard to
Lombardy to combat the Patarenes; nominated the cleric Tedaldo to the
archbishopric of Milan, thus settling a prolonged and contentious
question; and finally endeavoured to establish relations with the Norman
duke, Robert Guiscard. Gregory VII. answered with a rough letter, dated
December 8, in which--among other charges--he reproached the German king
with breach of his word and with his further countenance of the
excommunicated councillors; while at the same time he sent by word of
mouth a brusque message intimating that the enormous crimes which would
be laid to his account rendered him liable, not only to the ban of the
church, but to the deprivation of his crown. Gregory ventured on these
audacious measures at a time when he himself was confronted by a
reckless opponent in the person of Cencius, who on Christmas-night did
not scruple to surprise him in church and carry him off as a prisoner,
though on the following day he was obliged to surrender his captive. The
reprimands of the pope, couched as they were in such an unprecedented
form, infuriated Henry and his court, and their answer was the hastily
convened national council in Worms, which met on the 24th of January
1076. In the higher ranks of the German clergy Gregory had many enemies,
and a Roman cardinal, Hugo Candidus, once on intimate terms with him but
now at variance, had made a hurried expedition to Germany for the
occasion and appeared at Worms with the rest. All the gross scandals
with regard to the pontiff that this prelate could utter were greedily
received by the assembly, which committed itself to the ill-considered
and disastrous resolution that Gregory had forfeited his papal dignity.
In a document full of accusations the bishops renounced their
allegiance. In another King Henry pronounced him deposed, and the Romans
were required to choose a new occupant for the vacant chair of St Peter.
With the utmost haste two bishops were despatched to Italy in company
with Count Eberhard under commission of the council, and they succeeded
in procuring a similar act of deposition from the Lombard bishops in the
synod of Piacenza. The communication of these decisions to the pope was
undertaken by the priest Roland of Parma, and he was fortunate enough to
gain an opportunity for speech in the synod, which had barely assembled
in the Lateran church, and there to deliver his message announcing the
dethronement of the pontiff. For the moment the members were petrified
with horror, but soon such a storm of indignation was aroused that it
was only due to the moderation of Gregory himself that the envoy was not
cut down on the spot. On the following day the pope pronounced the
sentence of excommunication against the German king with all formal
solemnity, divested him of his royal dignity and absolved his subjects
from the oaths they had sworn to him. This sentence purported to eject
the king from the church and to strip him of his crown. Whether it would
produce this effect, or whether it would remain an idle threat, depended
not on the author of the verdict, but on the subjects of Henry--before
all, on the German princes. We know from contemporary evidence that the
excommunication of the king made a profound impression both in Germany
and Italy. Thirty years before, Henry III. had deposed three popes, and
thereby rendered a great and acknowledged service to the church. When
Henry IV. attempted to copy this summary procedure he came to grief, for
he lacked the support of the people. In Germany there was a speedy and
general revulsion of sentiment in favour of Gregory, and the
particularism of the princes utilized the auspicious moment for
prosecuting their anti-regal policy under the cloak of respect for the
papal decision. When at Whitsuntide the king proposed to discuss the
measures to be taken against Gregory in a council of his nobles at
Mainz, only a few made their appearance; the Saxons snatched at the
golden opportunity for renewing their insurrection and the anti-royalist
party grew in strength from month to month. The situation now became
extremely critical for Henry. As a result of the agitation, which was
zealously fostered by the papal legate Bishop Altmann of Passau, the
princes met in October at Tribur to elect a new German king, and Henry,
who was stationed at Oppenheim on the left bank of the Rhine, was only
saved from the loss of his sceptre by the failure of the assembled
princes to agree on the question of his successor. Their dissension,
however, merely induced them to postpone the verdict. Henry, they
declared, must make reparation to the pope and pledge himself to
obedience; and they settled that, if, on the anniversary of his
excommunication, he still lay under the ban, the throne should be
considered vacant. At the same time they determined to invite Gregory to
Augsburg, there to decide the conflict. These arrangements showed Henry
the course to be pursued. It was imperative, under any circumstances and
at any price, to secure his absolution from Gregory before the period
named, otherwise he could scarcely foil his opponents in their intention
to pursue their attack against himself and justify their measures by an
appeal to his excommunication. At first he attempted to attain his ends
by an embassy, but when Gregory rejected his overtures he took the
celebrated step of going to Italy in person. The pope had already left
Rome, and had intimated to the German princes that he would expect their
escort for his journey on January 8 in Mantua. But this escort had not
appeared when he received the news of the king's arrival. Henry, who
travelled through Burgundy, had been greeted with wild enthusiasm by the
Lombards, but resisted the temptation to employ force against Gregory.
He chose instead the unexpected and unusual, but, as events proved, the
safest course, and determined to compel the pope to grant him absolution
by doing penance before him at Canossa, where he had taken refuge. This
occurrence was quickly embellished and inwoven by legend, and great
uncertainty still prevails with regard to several important points. The
reconciliation was only effected after prolonged negotiations and
definite pledges on the part of the king, and it was with reluctance
that Gregory at length gave way, for, if he conferred his absolution,
the diet of princes in Augsburg, in which he might reasonably hope to
act as arbitrator, would either be rendered purposeless, or, if it met
at all, would wear an entirely different character. It was impossible,
however, to deny the penitent re-entrance into the church, and the
politician had in this case to be subordinated to the priest. Still the
removal of the ban did not imply a genuine reconciliation, and no basis
was gained for a settlement of the great questions at issue--notably
that of investiture. A new conflict was indeed inevitable from the very
fact that Henry IV. naturally considered the sentence of deposition
repealed with that of excommunication; while Gregory on the other hand,
intent on reserving his freedom of action, gave no hint on the subject
at Canossa.
That the excommunication of Henry IV. was simply a pretext--not a
motive--for the opposition of the rebellious German nobles is manifest.
For not only did they persist in their policy after his absolution, but
they took the more decided step of setting up a rival king in the person
of Duke Rudolph of Swabia (Forchheim, March 1077). At the election the
papal legates present observed the appearance of neutrality, and Gregory
himself sought to maintain this attitude during the following years. His
task was the easier in that the two parties were of fairly equal
strength, each endeavouring to gain the upper hand by the accession of
the pope to their side. But his hopes and labours, with the object of
receiving an appeal to act as arbitrator in the dynastic strife, were
fruitless, and the result of his non-committal policy was that he
forfeited in large measure the confidence of both parties. Finally he
decided for Rudolph of Swabia in consequence of his victory at
Flarchheim (January 27, 1080). 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 King Henry (March 7, 1080), unloosing at the same time all oaths
sworn to him in the past or the future. But the papal censure now proved
a very different thing from the papal censure four years previously. In
wide circles it was felt to be an injustice, and men began to put the
question--so dangerous to the prestige of the pope--whether an
excommunication pronounced on frivolous grounds was entitled to respect.
To make matters worse, Rudolph of Swabia died on the 16th of October of
the same year. True, a new claimant--Hermann of Luxemburg--was put
forward in August 1081, but his personality was ill adapted for a leader
of the Gregorian party in Germany, and the power of Henry IV. was in the
ascendant. The king, who had now been schooled by experience, took up
the struggle thus forced upon him with great vigour. He refused to
acknowledge the ban on the ground of illegality. A council had been
summoned at Brixen, and on the 25th of June 1080 it pronounced Gregory
deposed and nominated the archbishop Guibert of Ravenna as his
successor--a policy of anti-king, anti-pope. In 1081 Henry opened the
conflict against Gregory in Italy. The latter had now fallen on evil
days, and he lived to see thirteen cardinals desert him, Rome
surrendered by the Romans to the German king, Guibert of Ravenna
enthroned as Clement III. (March 24, 1084), and Henry crowned emperor by
his rival, while he himself was constrained to flee from Rome.
The relations of Gregory to the remaining European states were
powerfully influenced by his German policy; for Germany, by engrossing
the bulk of his powers, not infrequently compelled him to show to other
rulers that moderation and forbearance which he withheld from the German
king. The attitude of the Normans brought him a rude awakening. 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. When Gregory was hard
pressed by Henry IV., Robert Guiscard left him to his fate, and only
interfered when he himself was menaced with the German arms. Then, on
the capture of Rome, he abandoned the city to the tender mercies of his
warriors, and by the popular indignation evoked by his act brought about
the banishment of Gregory.
In the case of several countries, Gregory attempted to establish a claim
of suzerainty on the part of the see of St Peter, and to secure the
recognition of its self-asserted rights of possession. On the ground of
"immemorial usage" Corsica and Sardinia were assumed to belong to the
Roman Church. Spain and Hungary 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. Philip I. of France, by his simony and the violence
of his proceedings against the church, provoked a threat of summary
measures; and excommunication, deposition and the interdict, appeared to
be imminent in 1074. Gregory, however, refrained from translating his
menaces 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. In England, again, William the
Conqueror derived no less benefit from this state of affairs. He felt
himself so safe that he interfered autocratically with the management of
the church, forbade the bishops to visit Rome, filled bishoprics and
abbeys, and evinced little anxiety when the pope expatiated to him on
the different principles which he entertained as to the relationship of
church and state, or when he prohibited him from commerce or commanded
him to acknowledge himself a vassal of the apostolic chair. Gregory had
no power to compel the English king to an alteration in his
ecclesiastical policy, so chose to ignore what he could not approve, and
even considered it advisable to assure him of his particular affection.
Gregory, in fact, established relations--if no more--with every land in
Christendom; though these relations did not invariably realize the
ecclesiastico-political hopes connected with them. His correspondence
extended to Poland, Russia and Bohemia. He wrote in friendly terms to
the Saracen king of Mauretania in north Africa, and attempted, though
without success, to bring the Armenians into closer contact with Rome.
The East, especially, claimed his interest. The ecclesiastical rupture
between the bishops of Rome and Byzantium was a severe blow to him, and
he laboured hard to restore the former amicable relationship. At that
period it was impossible to suspect that the schism implied a definite
separation, for prolonged schisms had existed in past centuries, but had
always been surmounted in the end. Both sides, moreover, had an
interest in repairing the breach between the churches. Thus,
immediately on his accession to the pontificate, Gregory sought to come
into touch with the emperor Michael VII. and succeeded. When the news of
the Saracenic outrages on the Christians in the East filtered 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 participation in the task of recovering the sepulchre of the
Lord (1074). Thus the idea of a crusade to the Holy Land already floated
before Gregory's vision, and his intention was to place himself at the
head. But the hour for such a gigantic enterprise was not yet come, and
the impending struggle with Henry IV. turned his energies into another
channel.
In his treatment of ecclesiastical policy and ecclesiastical reform,
Gregory did not stand alone, but on the contrary found powerful support.
Since the middle of the 11th century the tendency--mainly represented by
Cluny--towards a stricter morality and a more earnest attitude to life,
especially on the part of the clergy, had converted the papacy; and,
from Leo IX. onward, the popes had taken the lead in the movement. Even
before his election, Gregory had gained the confidence of these circles,
and, when he assumed the guidance of the church, they laboured for him
with extreme devotion. From his letters we see how he fostered his
connexion with them and stimulated their zeal, how he strove to awake
the consciousness that his cause was the cause of God and that to
further it was to render service to God. By this means he created a
personal party, unconditionally attached to himself, and he had his
confidants in every country. In Italy Bishop Anselm of Lucca, to take an
example, belonged to their number. Again, the duchess Beatrice of
Tuscany and her daughter the Margravine Matilda, who put her great
wealth at his disposal, were of inestimable service. The empress Agnes
also adhered to his cause. In upper Italy the Patarenes had worked for
him in many ways, and all who stood for their objects stood for the
pope. In Germany at the beginning of his reign the higher ranks of the
clergy stood aloof from him and were confirmed in their attitude by some
of his regulations. But Bishop Altmann of Passau, who has already been
mentioned, and Archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg, were among his most
zealous followers. That the convent of Hirschau in Swabia was held by
Gregory was a fact of much significance, for its monks spread over the
land as itinerant agitators and accomplished much for him in southern
Germany. In England Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury probably stood
closest to him; in France his champion was Bishop Hugo of Die, who
afterwards ascended the archiepiscopal chair of Lyons.
The whole life-work of Gregory VII. was based on his conviction that the
church has been founded by God and entrusted with the task of embracing
all mankind in a single society in which His will is the only law; that,
in her capacity as a divine institution, she outtops all human
structures; and that the pope, _qua_ head of the church, is the
vice-regent of God on earth, so that disobedience to him implies
disobedience to God--or, in other words, a defection from Christianity.
Elaborating an idea discoverable in St Augustine, he looked on the
worldly state--a purely human creation--as an unhallowed edifice whose
character is sufficiently manifest from the fact that it abolishes the
equality of man, and that it is built up by violence and injustice. He
developed these views in a famous series of letters to Bishop Hermann of
Metz. But it is clear from the outset that we are only dealing with
reflections of strictly theoretical importance; for any attempt to
interpret them in terms of action would have bound the church to
annihilate not merely a single definite state, but all states. Thus
Gregory, as a politician desirous of achieving some result, was driven
in practice to adopt a different standpoint. He acknowledged the
existence of the state as a dispensation of Providence, described the
coexistence of church and state as a divine ordinance, and emphasized
the necessity of union between the _sacerdotium_ and the _imperium_. But
at no period would he have dreamed of putting the two powers on an
equality; the superiority of church to state was to him a fact which
admitted of no discussion and which he had never doubted. Again, this
very superiority of the church implied in his eyes a superiority of the
papacy, and he did not shrink from drawing the extreme conclusions from
these premises. In other words, he claimed the right of excommunicating
and deposing incapable monarchs, and of confirming the choice of their
successors. This habit of thought needs to be appreciated in order to
understand his efforts to bring individual states into feudal subjection
to the chair of St Peter. It was no mere question of formality, but the
first step to the realization of his ideal theocracy comprising each and
every state.
Since this papal conception of the state involved the exclusion of
independence and autonomy, the history of the relationship between
church and state is the history of one continued struggle. In the time
of Gregory it was the question of appointment to spiritual offices--the
so-called _investiture_--which brought the theoretical controversy to a
head. The preparatory steps had already been taken by Leo IX., and the
subsequent popes had advanced still further on the path he indicated;
but it was reserved for Gregory and his enactments to provoke the
outbreak of the great conflict which dominated the following decades. By
the first law (1075) the right of investiture for churches was in
general terms denied to the laity. In 1078 neglect of this prohibition
was made punishable by excommunication, and, by a further decree of the
same year, every investiture conferred by a layman was declared invalid
and its acceptance pronounced liable to penalty. It was, moreover,
enacted that every layman should restore, under pain of excommunication,
all lands of the church, held by him as fiefs from princes or clerics;
and that, henceforward, the assent of the pope, the archbishop, &c., was
requisite for any investiture of ecclesiastical property. Finally in
1080 the forms regulating the canonical appointment to a bishopric were
promulgated. In case of a vacancy the election was to be conducted by
the people and clergy under the auspices of a bishop nominated by the
pope or metropolitan; after which the consent of the pope or archbishop
was to be procured; if any violation of these injunctions occurred, the
election should be null and void and the right of choice pass to the
pope or metropolitan. In so legislating, Gregory had two objects: in the
first place, to withdraw the appointment to episcopal offices from the
influence of the king; in the second, to replace that influence by his
own. The intention was not to increase the power of the metropolitan: he
simply desired that the nomination of bishops by the pope should be
substituted for the prevalent nomination of bishops by the king. But in
this course of action Gregory had a still more ambitious goal before his
eyes. If he could once succeed in abolishing the lay investiture the
king would, _ipso facto_, be deprived of his control over the great
possessions assigned to the church by himself and his predecessors, and
he could have no security that the duties and services attached to those
possessions would continue to be discharged for the benefit of the
Empire. The bishops in fact were to retain their position as princes of
the Empire, with all the lands and rights of supremacy pertaining to
them in that capacity, but the bond between them and the Empire was to
be dissolved: they were to owe allegiance not to the king, but to the
pope--a non-German sovereign who, in consequence of the Italian policy
of the German monarchy, found himself in perpetual opposition to
Germany. Thus, by his ecclesiastical legislation, Gregory attempted to
shake the very foundations on which the constitution of the German
empire rested, while completely ignoring the historical development of
that constitution (see INVESTITURE).
That energy which Gregory threw into the expansion of the papal
authority, and which brought him into collision with the secular powers,
was manifested no less in the internal government of the church. He
wished to see all important matters of dispute referred to Rome; appeals
were to be addressed to himself, and he arrogated the right of
legislation. The fact that his laws were usually promulgated by Roman
synods which he convened during Lent does not imply that these possessed
an independent position; on the contrary, they were entirely dominated
by his influence, and were no more than the instruments of his will.
The centralization of ecclesiastical government in Rome naturally
involved a curtailment of the powers of the bishops and metropolitans.
Since these in part refused to submit voluntarily and attempted to
assert their traditional independence, the pontificate of Gregory is
crowded with struggles against the higher ranks of the prelacy. Among
the methods he employed to break their power of resistance, the despatch
of legates proved peculiarly effective. The regulation, again, that the
metropolitans should apply at Rome in person for the pallium--pronounced
essential to their qualifications for office--served to school them in
humility.
This battle for the foundation of papal omnipotence within the church is
connected with his championship of compulsory celibacy among the clergy
and his attack on simony. Gregory VII. did not introduce the celibacy of
the priesthood into the church, for even in antiquity it was enjoined by
numerous laws. He was not even the first pope to renew the injunction in
the 11th century, for legislation on the question begins as early as in
the reign of Leo IX. But he took up the struggle with greater energy and
persistence than his predecessors. In 1074 he published an encyclical,
requiring all to renounce their obedience to those bishops who showed
indulgence to their clergy in the matter of celibacy. In the following
year he commanded the laity to accept no official ministrations from
married priests and to rise against all such. He further deprived these
clerics of their revenues. Wherever these enactments were proclaimed
they encountered tenacious opposition, and violent scenes were not
infrequent, as the custom of marriage was widely diffused throughout the
contemporary priesthood. Other decrees were issued by Gregory in
subsequent years, but were now couched in milder terms, since it was no
part of his interest to increase the numbers of the German faction. As
to the objectionable nature of simony--the transference or acquisition
of a spiritual office for monetary considerations--no doubt could exist
in the mind of an earnest Christian, and no theoretical justification
was ever attempted. The practice, however, had attained great dimensions
both among the clergy and the laity, and the sharp campaign, which had
been waged since the days of Leo IX., had done little to limit its
scope. The reason was that in many cases it had assumed an extremely
subtle form, and detection was difficult when the simony took the
character of a tax or an honorarium. The fact, again, that lay
investiture was described as simony, inevitably brought with it an
element of confusion, and, in the case of a charge of simoniacal
practices, enormously accentuates the difficulty of determining the
actual state of affairs. The war against simony in its original form was
undoubtedly necessary, but it led to highly complicated and problematic
issues. Was the priest or bishop, whose ordination was due to simony,
actually in the possession of the sacerdotal or episcopal power or not?
If the answer was in the affirmative, it would seem possible to buy the
Holy Ghost; if in the negative, then obviously all the official acts of
the respective priest or bishop--which, according to the doctrine of the
church, presupposed the possession of a spiritual quality--were invalid.
And, since the number of simoniacal bishops was at that period extremely
large, incalculable consequences resulted. The difficulty of the problem
accounts for the diversity of solutions propounded. The perplexity of
the situation was aggravated by the fact that, if the stricter view was
adopted, it followed that the sacrament of ordination must be pronounced
invalid, even in the cases where it had been unconsciously sought at the
hands of a simoniac, for the dispenser was in point of fact no bishop,
although he exercised the episcopal functions and his transgressions
were unknown, and consequently it was impossible for him to ordain
others. In the time of Gregory the conflict was still swaying to and
fro, and he himself in 1078 declared consecration by a simoniac null and
void.
The pontificate of Gregory VII. came to a melancholy close, for he died
an exile in Salerno; the Romans and a number of his most trusted
coadjutors had renounced him, and the faithful band in Germany had
shrunk to scant proportions. Too much the politician, too rough in his
methods, too exclusively the representative of the Roman see and its
interests, he had gained more enemies than friends. He was of course a
master of statecraft; he had pursued political ends with consummate
skill, causing them to masquerade as requirements of religion; but he
forgot that incitement to civil war, the preaching of rebellion, and the
release of subjects from their oaths, were methods which must infallibly
lead to moral anarchy, and tend, with justice, to stifle the confidence
once felt in him. The more he accustomed his contemporaries to the
belief that any and every measure--so long as it opened up some prospect
of success--was good in his sight, no matter how dangerous the fruits it
might mature, the fainter grew their perception of the fact that he was
not only a statesman but primarily the head of the Christian Church.
That the frail bonds of piety and religious veneration for the chair of
St Peter had given way in the struggle for power was obvious to all,
when he himself lost that power and the star of his opponent was in the
ascendant. He had given the rein to his splendid gifts as a ruler, and
in his capacity of pope he omitted to provide an equivalent
counterpoise. We are told that he was once an impressive preacher, and
he could write to his faithful countesses in terms which prove that he
was not wanting in religious feeling; but in the whirlpool of secular
politics this phase of his character was never sufficiently developed to
allow the vice-gerent of Christ to be heard instead of the hierarch in
his official acts.
But to estimate the pontificate of Gregory by the disasters of its
closing years would be to misconceive its significance for the history
of the papacy entirely. On the contrary, his reign forms an important
chapter in the history of the popedom as an institution; it contains the
germs of far-reaching modifications of the church, and it gave new
impulses to both theory and practice, the value of which may indeed be
differently estimated, but of which the effects are indubitable. It was
he who conceived and formulated the ideal of the papacy as a structure
embracing all peoples and lands. He took the first step towards the
codification of ecclesiastical law and the definite ratification of the
claims of the apostolic chair as corner-stones in the church's
foundation. He educated the clergy and the lay world in obedience to
Rome; and, finally, it was due to his efforts that the duty of the
priest with regard to sexual abstinence was never afterwards a matter of
doubt in the Catholic Christianity of the West.
On the 25th of May 1085 he died, unbroken by the misfortunes of his last
years, and unshaken in his self-certainty. _Dilexi justitiam et odivi
iniquitatem: propterea morior in exilio_--are said to have been his last
words. In 1584 Gregory XIII. received him into the _Martyrologium
Romanum_; in 1606 he was canonized by Paul V. The words dedicated to him
in the _Breviarium Romanum_, for May 25, contain such an apotheosis of
his pontificate that in the 18th and 19th centuries they were prohibited
by the governments of several countries with Roman Catholic populations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--A comprehensive survey of the sources and literature
for the history of Gregory VII. is given by C. Mirbt, s.v. "Gregor
VII." in Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopadie_, 3rd ed. vol. vii. pp. 96
sqq. The main source for the reign of Gregory consists of his letters
and decrees, the greater part of which are collected in the
_Registrum_ (ed. P. Jaffe, _Bibliotheca rerum Germanicarum_, ii.,
Berlin, 1865). The letters preserved in addition to this official
collection are also reprinted by Jaffe under the title of _Epistolae
collectae_. The _Dictatus Papae_--a list of twenty-seven short
sentences on the rights of the pope,--which is given in the
_Registrum_, is not the work of Gregory VII., but should probably be
ascribed to Cardinal Deusdedit. Further: A. Potthast, _Bibliotheca
historica medii aevi_, i. (2nd ed., Berlin, 1896), pp. 541 sq., ii.
1351; P. Jaffe, _Regesta pontificum_ (2nd ed., 1865), tome i. pp.
594-649, Nr. 4771-5313, tome ii. p. 751. The most important letters
and decrees of Gregory VII. are reprinted by C. Mirbt, _Quellen zur
Geschichte des Papsttums_ (2nd ed., Tubingen, 1901), Nr. 183 sqq., pp.
100 sqq. The oldest life of Gregory is that by Paul von Bermried,
reprinted, e.g. by Watterich, _Vitae pontificum_, i. 474-546. Among
the historians the following are of especial importance: Berthold,
Bernold, Lambert von Hersfeld, Bruno, Marianus Scotus, Leo of Ostia,
Peter of Marte Cassino, Sigebert of Gembloux, Hugo of Flavigny,
Arnulph and Landulf of Milan, Donizo--their works being reprinted in
the section "Scriptores" in the _Monumenta Germaniae historica_, vols.
v., vi., vii., viii., xii. The struggles which broke out under Gregory
VII. and were partially continued in the subsequent decades gave rise
to a pamphlet literature which is of extreme importance for their
internal history. The extant materials vary greatly in extent, and
display much diversity from the literary-historical point of view.
Most of them are printed in the _Monumenta Germaniae_, under the
title, _Libelli de lite imperatorum et pontificum saeculis XI. et XII.
conscripti_, tome i. (Hanover, 1891), tome ii. (1892), tome iii.
(1897). The scientific investigation of the Gregorian age has received
enormous benefit from the critical editions of the sources in the
_Monumenta Germaniae_, so that the old literature is for the most part
antiquated. This is true even of the great monograph on this pope--A.
F. Gfrorer, _Papst Gregorius VII. und sein Zeitalter_ (7 vols.,
Schaffhausen, 1859-1861), which must be used with extreme caution. The
present state of criticism is represented by the following works: G.
Meyer von Knonau, _Jahrbucher des deutschen Reichs unter Heinrich IV.
und Heinrich V._, vol. i. (Leipzig, 1890), ii. (1894), iii. (1900),
iv. (1903); W. Martens, _Gregor VII., sein Leben und Werken_ (2 vols.,
Leipzig, 1904); C. Mirbt, _Die Publizistik im Zeitalter Gregors VII._
(Leipzig, 1894); A. Hauck, _Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands_ (3 vols.,
Leipzig, 1894). The special literature on individual events during the
Gregorian pontificate is so extensive that no list can be given here.
On Gregory's elevation to the chair, cf. C. Mirbt, _Die Wahl Gregors
VII._ (Marburg, 1892). See also A. H. Mathew, D.D., _Life and Times of
Hildebrand, Pope Gregory VII._ (1910). (C. M.)
GREGORY VIII. (_Mauritius Burdinus_), antipope from 1118 to 1121, was a
native of southern France, who had crossed the Pyrenees while young and
had later been made archbishop of Braga. Suspended by Paschal II. in
1114 on account of a dispute with the Spanish primate and papal legate,
the archbishop of Toledo, he went to Rome and regained favour to such an
extent that he was employed by the pope on important legations. He
opposed the extreme Hildebrandine policy, and, on the refusal of
Gelasius II. to concede the emperor's claim to investiture, he was
proclaimed pope at Rome by Henry V. on the 8th of March 1118. He was not
universally recognized, however, and never fully enjoyed the papal
office. He was excommunicated by Gelasius II. in April 1118, and by
Calixtus II. at the synod of Reims (October 1119). He was driven from
Rome by the latter in June 1121, and, having been surrendered by the
citizens of Sutri, he was forced to accompany in ridiculous guise the
triumphal procession of Calixtus through Rome. He was exiled to the
convent of La Cava, where he died.
The life of Gregory VIII. by Baluzius in _Baluzii miscellanea_, vol.
i, ed. by J. D. Mansi (Lucca, 1761), is an excellent vindication of an
antipope. The chief sources are in _Monumenta Germaniae historica_,
_Scriptores_, vols. 5 and 20, and in J. M. Watterich, _Pontif. Roman.
vitae_, vol. 2. See C. Mirbt, _Die Publizistik im Zeitalter Gregors
VII._ (Leipzig, 1894); J. Langen, _Geschichte der romischen Kirche von
Gregor VII. bis Innocenz III._ (Bonn, 1893); Jaffe, _Regesta pontif.
Roman._, 2nd ed., (1885-1888); K. J. von Hefele,
_Conciliengeschichte_, Bd. 5, 2nd ed.; F. Gregorovius, _Rome in the
Middle Ages_, vol. 4, trans. by Mrs G. W. Hamilton (London,
1900-1902); P. B. Gams, _Kirchengeschichte von Spanien_, vol. 3
(Regensburg, 1876).
GREGORY VIII. (_Alberto de Mora_), pope from the 21st of October to the
17th of December 1187, a native of Benevento and Praemonstratensian
monk, successively abbot of St Martin at Laon, cardinal-deacon of San'
Adriano al foro, cardinal-priest of San Lorenzo in Lucina, and
chancellor of the Roman Church, was elected to succeed Urban III. Of
amiable disposition, he hastened to make peace with Henry VI. and
promised not to oppose the latter's claim to Sicily. He addressed
general letters both to the bishops, reminding them of their duties to
the Roman Church, especially of their required visits _ad limina_, and
to the whole Christian people, urging a new crusade to recover
Jerusalem. He died at Pisa while engaged in making peace between the
Pisans and Genoese in order to secure the help of both cities in the
crusade. His successor was Clement III.
His letters are in J. P. Migne, _Patrol. Lat._ vol. 202. Consult also
J. M. Watterich, _Pontif. Roman. vitae_, vol. 2 (Leipzig, 1862), and
Jaffe-Wattenbach, _Regesta pontif. Roman._ (1885-1888). See J. Langen,
_Geschichte der romischen Kirche von Gregor VII. bis Innocenz III._
(Bonn, 1893); P. Nadig, _Gregors VIII. 57 tagiges Pontifikat_ (Basel,
1890); P. Scheffer-Boichorst, _Friedrichs I. letzter Streit mit der
Kurie_ (Berlin, 1866); F. Gregorovius, _Rome in the Middle Ages_, vol.
4, trans. by Mrs G. W. Hamilton (London, 1896).
GREGORY IX. (_Ugolino Conti de Segni_), pope from the 19th of March
1227, to the 22nd of August 1241, was a nobleman of Anagni and probably
a nephew of Innocent III. He studied at Paris and Bologna, and, having
been successively archpriest of St Peter's, papal chaplain,
cardinal-deacon of Sant' Eustachio, cardinal-bishop of Ostia, the first
protector of the Franciscan order, and papal legate in Germany under
Innocent III., and Honorius III., he succeeded the latter in the papacy.
He had long been on friendly terms with the emperor Frederick II., but
now excommunicated him (29th of September 1227) for continued neglect of
his vows and refusal to undertake the crusade. When Frederick finally
set out the following June without making submission to the pope,
Gregory raised an insurrection against him in Germany, and forced him in
1230 to beg for absolution. The Romans, however, soon began a very
bitter war against the temporal power and exiled the pope (1st of June
1231). Hardly had this contest been brought to an end favourable to the
papacy (May 1235) when Gregory came into fresh conflict with Frederick
II. He again excommunicated the emperor and released his subjects from
their allegiance (24th of March 1239). Frederick, on his side, invaded
the Papal States and prevented the assembling of a general council
convoked for Easter 1241. The work of Gregory, however, was by no means
limited to his relations with emperor and Romans. He systematized the
Inquisition and entrusted it to the Dominicans; his rules against
heretics remained in force until the time of Sixtus V. He supported
Henry III. against the English barons, and protested against the
Pragmatic Sanction of Louis IX. of France. He sent monks to
Constantinople to negotiate with the Greeks for church unity, but
without result. He canonized Saints Elizabeth of Thuringia, Dominic,
Anthony of Padua and Francis of Assisi. He permitted free study of the
Aristotelian writings, and issued (1234), through his chaplain, Raymond
of Pennaforte, an important new compilation of decretals which he
prescribed in the bull _Rex pacificus_ should be the standard text-book
in canon law at the universities of Bologna and Paris. Gregory was famed
for his learning and eloquence, his blameless life, and his great
strength of character. He died on the 22nd of August 1241, while
Frederick II. was advancing against him, and was succeeded by Celestine
IV.
For the life of Gregory IX., consult his Letters in _Monumenta
Germaniae historica, Epistolae saeculi XIII. e regestis pontif. Roman.
selectae_ (Berlin, 1883); "Les Registres de Gregoire IX," ed. L.
Auvray in _Bibliotheque des ecoles francaises d'Athenes et de Rome_
(Paris, 1890-1905); A. Potthast, _Regesta pontif. Roman._ (Berlin,
1875) and "Registri dei Cardinali Ugolino d' Ostia et Ottaviano degli
Ubaldini," ed. G. Levi in _Fonti per la storia d' Italia_ (1890). See
J. Felten, _Papst Gregor IX._ (Freiburg i. B., 1886); J. Marx, _Die
Vita Gregorii IX. quellenkritisch untersucht_ (1889); P. Balan,
_Storia di Gregorio IX e dei suoi tempi_ (3 vols., Modena, 1872-1873);
F. Gregorovius, _Rome in the Middle Ages_, vol. 5, trans. by Mrs G. W.
Hamilton (London, 1900-1902); H. H. Milman, _Latin Christianity_, vol.
5 (London, 1899); R. Honig, _Rapporti tra Federico II e Gregorio IX
rispetto alla spedizione in Palestina_ (1896); P. T. Masetti, _I
Pontefici Onorio III, Gregorio IX ed Innocenzo IV a fronte dell'
Imperatore Federico II nel secolo XIII_ (1884); T. Frantz, _Der grosse
Kampf zwischen Kaisertum u. Papsttum zur Zeit des Hohenstaufen
Friedrich II._ (Berlin, 1903); W. Norden, _Das Papsttum u. Byzanz_
(Berlin, 1903). An exhaustive bibliography and an excellent article on
Gregory by Carl Mirbt are to be found in Hauck's _Realencyklopadie_,
3rd edition.
GREGORY X. (_Tebaldo Visconti_), pope from the 1st of September 1271, to
the 10th of January 1276, was born at Piacenza in 1208, studied for the
church, and became archdeacon of Liege. The eighteen cardinals who met
to elect a successor to Clement IV. were divided into French and Italian
factions, which wrangled over the election for nearly three years in the
midst of great popular excitement, until finally, stirred by the
eloquence of St Bonaventura, the Franciscan monk, they entrusted the
choice to six electors, who hit on Visconti, at that time accompanying
Edward of England on the crusade. He returned to Rome and was ordained
priest on the 19th of March 1272, and consecrated on the 27th. He at
once summoned the fourteenth general council of the Catholic Church,
which met at Lyons in 1274, with an attendance of some 1600 prelates,
for the purpose of considering the eastern schism, the condition of the
Holy Land, and the abuses in the church. The Greeks were persuaded,
thanks to St Bonaventura, to consent to a union with Rome for the time
being, and Rudolph of Habsburg renounced at the council all imperial
rights in the States of the Church. The most celebrated among the many
reform decrees issued by Gregory was the constitution determining for
the first time the form of conclave at papal elections, which in large
measure has remained ever since the law of the church. Gregory was on
his way to Rome to crown Rudolph and send him out on a great crusade in
company with the kings of England, France, Aragon and Sicily, when he
died at Arezzo on the 10th of January 1276. He was a nobleman, fond of
peace and actuated by the consciousness of a great mission. He has been
honoured as a saint by the inhabitants of Arezzo and Piacenza. His
successor in the papacy was Innocent V.
The registers of Gregory X. have been published by J. Guiraud in the
_Bibliotheque des ecoles francaises d'Athenes et de Rome_ (Paris,
1892-1898). See K. J. von Hefele, _Conciliengeschichte_, vol. 5, 2nd
edition (1873-1890); H. Finke, _Konzilienstudien z. Gesch. des 13ten
Jahrhunderts_ (Munster, 1891); P. Piacenza, _Compendia della storia
del b. Gregorio X, papa_ (Piacenza, 1876); F. Gregorovius, _Rome in
the Middle Ages_, vol. 5, trans. by Mrs G. W. Hamilton (London,
1900-1902); H. Otto, _Die Beziehungen Rudolfs von Habsburgs zu Papst
Gregor X._ (Innsbruck, 1895); A. Zisterer, _Gregor X. u. Rudolf von
Habsburg in ihren gegenseitigen Beziehungen_ (Freiburg i. B., 1891);
F. Walter, _Die Politik der Kurie unter Gregor X._ (Berlin, 1894); A.
Potthast, _Regesta pontif. Roman._ vol. 2 (Berlin, 1875); W. Norden,
_Das Papsttum und Byzanz_ (Berlin, 1903); J. Loserth, "Akten uber die
Wahl Gregors X." in _Neues Archiv_, xxi. (1895); A. von
Hirsch-Gereuth, "Die Kreuzzugspolitik Gregors X." in _Studien z.
Gesch. d. Kreuzzugsidee nach den Kreuzzugen_ (Munich, 1896). There is
an excellent article by Carl Mirbt in Hauck's _Realencyklopadie_, 3rd
edition.
GREGORY XI. (_Pierre Roger de Beaufort_), pope from the 30th of December
1370 to the 27th of March 1378, born in Limousin in 1330, created
cardinal-deacon of Sta Maria Nuova by his uncle, Clement VI., was the
successor of Urban V. His efforts to establish peace between France and
England and to aid the Eastern Christians against the Turks were
fruitless, but he prevented the Visconti of Milan from making further
encroachments on the States of the Church. He introduced many reforms in
the various monastic orders and took vigorous measures against the
heresies of the time. His energy was stimulated by the stirring words of
Catherine of Siena, to whom in particular the transference of the papal
see back to Italy (17th of January 1377) was almost entirely due. Whilst
at Rome he issued several bulls to the archbishop of Canterbury, the
king of England, and the university of Oxford, commanding an
investigation of Wycliffe's doctrines. Gregory was meditating a return
to Avignon when he died. He was the last of the French popes who for
some seventy years had made Avignon their see, a man learned and full of
zeal for the church, but irresolute and guilty of nepotism. The great
schism, which was to endure fifty years, broke out soon after the
election of his successor, Urban VI.
See H. J. Tomaseth, "Die Register u. Secretare Urbans V. u. Gregors
XI." in _Mitteilungen des Instituts fur osterreichische
Geschichtsforschung_ (1898); Baluzius, _Vitae pap. Avenion._ vol. I
(Paris, 1693); L. Pastor, _History of the Popes_, vol. I, trans. by F.
I. Antrobus (London, 1899); F. Gregorovius, _Rome in the Middle Ages_,
vol. 6, trans. by Mrs G. W. Hamilton (London, 1900-1902); J. P.
Kirsch, _Die Ruckkehr der Papste Urban V. u. Gregor XI. von Avignon
nach Rom_ (Paderborn, 1898); J. B. Christophe, _Histoire de la papaute
pendant le XIV^e siecle_, vol. 2 (Paris, 1853). There is a good
article by J. N. Brischar in the _Kirchenlexikon_, 2nd edition.
GREGORY XII. (_Angelo Coriaro_, or _Correr_), pope from the 30th of
November 1406, to the 4th of July 1415, was born of a noble family at
Venice about 1326. Successively bishop of Castello, Latin patriarch of
Constantinople, cardinal-priest of San Marco, and papal secretary, he
was elected to succeed Innocent VII., after an interregnum of
twenty-four days, under the express condition that, should the antipope
Benedict XIII. at Avignon renounce all claim to the papacy, he also
would renounce his, so that the long schism might be terminated. As
pope, he concluded a treaty with his rival at Marseilles, by which a
general council was to be held at Savona in September, 1408, but King
Ladislaus of Naples, who opposed the plan from policy, seized Rome and
brought the negotiations to nought. Gregory had promised not to create
any more cardinals, and when he did so, in 1408, his former cardinals
deserted him and, together with the Avignon cardinals, convoked the
council of Pisa, which, despite its irregularity, proclaimed in June
1409 the deposition of both popes and the election of Alexander V.
Gregory, still supported by Naples, Hungary, Bavaria, and by Rupert,
king of the Romans, found protection with Ladislaus, and in a synod at
Cividale del Friuli banned Benedict and Alexander as schismatical,
perjured and scandalous. John XXIII., having succeeded to the claims of
Alexander in 1410, concluded a treaty with Ladislaus, by which Gregory
was banished from Naples on the 31st of October 1411. The pope then took
refuge with Carlo Malatesta, lord of Rimini, through whom he presented
his resignation to the council of Constance on the 4th of July 1415. A
weak and easily-influenced old man, his resignation was the noblest act
of his pontificate. The rest of his life was spent in peaceful obscurity
as cardinal-bishop of Porto and legate of the mark of Ancona. He died at
Recanati on the 18th of October 1417. Some writers reckon Alexander V.
and John XXIII. as popes rather than as antipopes, and accordingly count
Gregory's pontificate from 1406 to 1409. Roman Catholic authorities,
however, incline to the other reckoning.
See L. Pastor, _History of the Popes_, vol. i., trans. by F. I.
Antrobus (London, 1899); M. Creighton, _History of the Papacy_, vol. 1
(London, 1899); N. Valois, _La France et le grand schisme d'occident_
(Paris, 1896-1902); Louis Gayet, _Le Grand Schisme d'occident_ (Paris,
1898); J. von Haller, _Papsttum u. Kirchenreform_ (Berlin, 1903); J.
Loserth, _Geschichte des spateren Mittelalters_ (1903); _Theoderici de
Nyem de schismate libri tres_, ed. by G. Erler (Leipzig, 1890). There
is an excellent article by J. N. Brischar in the _Kirchenlexikon_ 2nd
ed., vol. 5. (C. H. Ha.)
GREGORY XIII. (_Ugo Buoncompagno_), pope from 1572 to 1585, was born on
the 7th of January 1502, in Bologna, where he received his education,
and subsequently taught, until called to Rome (1539) by Paul III., who
employed him in various offices. He bore a prominent part in the council
of Trent, 1562-1563. In 1564 he was made cardinal by Pius IV., and, in
the following year, sent to Spain as legate. On the 13th of May 1572 he
was chosen pope to succeed Pius V. His previous life had been rather
worldly, and not wholly free from spot; but as pope he gave no occasion
of offence. He submitted to the influence of the rigorists, and carried
forward the war upon heresy, though not with the savage vehemence of his
predecessor. However, he received the news of the massacre of St
Bartholomew (23rd of August 1572) with joy, and publicly celebrated the
event, having been led to believe, according to his apologists, that
France had been miraculously delivered, and that the Huguenots had
suffered justly as traitors. Having failed to rouse Spain and Venice
against the Turks, Gregory attempted to form a general coalition against
the Protestants. He subsidized Philip II. in his wars in the
Netherlands; aided the Catholic League in France; incited attacks upon
Elizabeth by way of Ireland. With the aid of the Jesuits, whose
privileges he multiplied, he conducted a vigorous propaganda. He
established or endowed above a score of colleges, among them the
Collegium Romanum (founded by Ignatius Loyola in 1550), and the
Collegium Germanicum, in Rome. Among his noteworthy achievements are the
reform of the calendar on the 24th of February 1582 (see CALENDAR); the
improved edition of the _Corpus juris canonici_, 1582; the splendid
Gregorian Chapel in St Peter's; the fountains of the Piazza Navona; the
Quirinal Palace; and many other public works. To meet the expenses
entailed by his liberality and extravagance, Gregory resorted to
confiscation, on the pretext of defective titles or long-standing
arrearages. The result was disastrous to the public peace: nobles armed
in their defence; old feuds revived; the country became infested with
bandits; not even in Rome could order be maintained. Amid these
disturbances Gregory died, on the 10th of April 1585, leaving to his
successor, Sixtus V., the task of pacifying the state.
See the contemporary lives by Cicarella, continuator of Platina, _De
vitis pontiff. Rom._; Ciaconius, _Vitae et res gestae summorum
pontiff. Rom._ (Rome, 1601-1602); and Ciappi, _Comp. dell' attioni e
santa vita di Gregorio XIII_ (Rome, 1591). See also Bompiano, _Hist.
pontificatus Gregorii XIII._ (Rome, 1655); Ranke, _Popes_ (Eng.
trans., Austin), i. 428 seq.; v. Reumont, _Gesch. der Stadt Rom._ iii.
2, 566 seq.; and for numerous references upon Gregory's relation to
the massacre of St Bartholomew, _Cambridge Mod. Hist._ iii. 771 seq.
GREGORY XIV. (_Nicolo Sfondrato_), pope 1590-1591, was born in Cremona,
on the 11th of February 1535, studied in Perugia, and Padua, became
bishop of his native place in 1560, and took part in the council of
Trent, 1562-1563. Gregory XIII. made him a cardinal, 1583, but
ill-health forbade his active participation in affairs. His election to
the papacy, to succeed Urban VII., on the 5th of December 1590, was due
to Spanish influence. Gregory was upright and devout, but utterly
ignorant of politics. During his short pontificate the States of the
Church suffered dire calamities, famine, epidemic and a fresh outbreak
of brigandage. Gregory was completely subservient to Philip II.; he
aided the league, excommunicated Henry of Navarre, and threatened his
adherents with the ban; but the effect of his intervention was only to
rally the moderate Catholics to the support of Henry, and to hasten his
conversion. Gregory died on the 15th of October 1591, and was succeeded
by Innocent IX.
See Ciaconius, _Vitae et res gestae summorum pontiff. Rom._ (Rome,
1601-1602); Cicarella, continuator of Platina, _De vitis pontiff.
Rom._ (both contemporary); Brosch, _Gesch. des Kirchenstaates_ (1880).
i. 300; Ranke, _Popes_ (Eng. trans., Austin), ii. 228 seq.
GREGORY XV. (_Alessandro Ludovisi_) was born on the 9th of January 1554,
in Bologna, where he also studied and taught. He was made archbishop of
his native place and cardinal by Paul V., whom he succeeded as pope on
the 9th of February 1621. Despite his age and feebleness, Gregory
displayed remarkable energy. He aided the emperor in the Thirty Years'
War, and the king of Poland against the Turks. He endorsed the claims of
Maximilian of Bavaria to the electoral dignity, and was rewarded with
the gift of the Heidelberg library, which was carried off to Rome.
Gregory founded the Congregation of the Propaganda, encouraged missions,
fixed the order to be observed in conclaves, and canonized Ignatius
Loyola, Francis Xavier, Philip Neri and Theresa de Jesus. He died on the
8th of July 1623, and was succeeded by Urban VIII.
See the contemporary life by Vitorelli, continuator of Ciaconius,
_Vitae et res gestae summorum pontiff. Rom._; Ranke's excellent
account, _Popes_ (Eng. trans., Austin), ii. 468 seq.; v. Reumont,
_Gesch. der Stadt Rom_, iii. 2, 609 seq.; Brosch, _Gesch. des
Kirchenstaates_ (1880), i. 370 seq.; and the extended bibliography in
Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopadie_, s.v. "Gregor XV." (T. F. C.)
GREGORY XVI. (_Bartolommeo Alberto Cappellari_), pope from 1831 to 1846,
was born at Belluno on the 18th of September 1765, and at an early age
entered the order of the Camaldoli, among whom he rapidly gained
distinction for his theological and linguistic acquirements. His first
appearance before a wider public was in 1799, when he published against
the Italian Jansenists a controversial work entitled _Il Trionfo della
Santa Sede_, which, besides passing through several editions in Italy,
has been translated into several European languages. In 1800 he became a
member of the Academy of the Catholic Religion, founded by Pius VII., to
which he contributed a number of memoirs on theological and
philosophical questions and in 1805 was made abbot of San Gregorio on
the Caelian Hill. When Pius VII. was carried off from Rome in 1809,
Cappellari withdrew to Murano, near Venice, and in 1814, with some other
members of his order, he removed to Padua; but soon after the
restoration of the pope he was recalled to Rome, where he received
successive appointments as vicar-general of the Camaldoli, councillor of
the Inquisition, prefect of the Propaganda, and examiner of bishops. In
March 1825 he was created cardinal by Leo XII., and shortly afterwards
was entrusted with an important mission to adjust a concordat regarding
the interests of the Catholics of Belgium and the Protestants of
Holland. On the 2nd of February 1831 he was, after sixty-four days'
conclave, unexpectedly chosen to succeed Pius VIII. in the papal chair.
The revolution of 1830 had just inflicted a severe blow on the
ecclesiastical party in France, and almost the first act of the new
government there was to seize Ancona, thus throwing all Italy, and
particularly the Papal States, into an excited condition which seemed to
demand strongly repressive measures. In the course of the struggle which
ensued it was more than once necessary to call in the Austrian bayonets.
The reactionaries in power put off their promised reforms so
persistently as to anger even Metternich; nor did the replacement of
Bernetti by Lambruschini in 1836 mend matters; for the new cardinal
secretary of state objected even to railways and illuminating gas, and
was liberal chiefly in his employment of spies and of prisons. The
embarrassed financial condition in which Gregory left the States of the
Church makes it doubtful how far his lavish expenditure in architectural
and engineering works, and his magnificent patronage of learning in the
hands of Mai, Mezzofanti, Gaetano, Moroni and others, were for the real
benefit of his subjects. The years of his pontificate were marked by the
steady development and diffusion of those ultramontane ideas which were
ultimately formulated, under the presidency of his successor Pius IX.,
by the council of the Vatican. He died on the 1st of June 1846.
See A. M. Bernasconi, _Acta Gregorii Papae XVI. scilicet
constitutiones, bullae, litterae apostolicae, epistolae_, vols. i-4
(Rome, 1901 ff.); Cardinal Wiseman, _Recollections of the Last Four
Popes_ (London, 1858); Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopadie_, vol. vii.
(Leipzig, 1899), 127 ff. (gives literature); Frederik Nielsen,
_History of the Papacy in the 19th Century_, ii. (London, 1906).
(W. W. R.*)
GREGORY,[1] the name of a Scottish family, many members of which
attained high eminence in various departments of science, fourteen
having held professorships in mathematics or medicine. Of the most
distinguished of their number a notice is given below.
I. DAVID GREGORY (1627-1720), eldest son of the Rev. John Gregory of
Drumoak, Aberdeenshire, who married Janet Anderson in 1621. He was for
some time connected with a mercantile house in Holland, but on
succeeding to the family estate of Kinardie returned to Scotland, and
occupied most of his time in scientific pursuits, freely giving his
poorer neighbours the benefit of his medical skill. He is said to have
been the first possessor of a barometer in the north of Scotland; and on
account of his success by means of it in predicting changes in the
weather, he was accused of witchcraft before the presbytery of Aberdeen,
but he succeeded in convincing that body of his innocence.
II. JAMES GREGORY (1638-1675), Scottish mathematician, younger brother
of the preceding, was educated at the grammar school of Aberdeen and at
Marischal College of that city. At an early period he manifested a
strong inclination and capacity for mathematics and kindred sciences;
and in 1663 he published his famous treatise _Optica promota_, in which
he made known his great invention, the Gregorian reflecting telescope.
About 1665 he went to the university of Padua, where he studied for some
years, and in 1667 published _Vera circuli et hyperbolae quadratura_, in
which he discussed infinite convergent series for the areas of the
circle and hyperbola. In the following year he published also at Padua
_Geometriae pars universalis_, in which he gave a series of rules for
the rectification of curves and the mensuration of their solids of
revolution. On his return to England in this year he was elected a
fellow of the Royal Society; in 1669 he became professor of mathematics
in the university of St Andrews; and in 1674 he was transferred to the
chair of mathematics in Edinburgh. In October 1675, while showing the
satellites of the planet Jupiter to some of his students through one of
his telescopes, he was suddenly struck with blindness, and he died a few
days afterwards.
He was also the author of _Exercitationes geometricae_ (1668), and, it
is alleged, of a satirical tract entitled _The Great and New Art of
Weighing Vanity_, intended to ridicule certain fallacies of a
contemporary writer on hydraulics, and published at Glasgow in 1672,
professedly by "Patrick Mathers, archbeadle of the university of St
Andrews."
III. DAVID GREGORY (1661-1708), son of David Gregory (1627-1720), was
born in Aberdeen and educated partly in his native city and partly in
Edinburgh, where he became professor of mathematics in 1683. From 1691
till his death he was Savilian professor of astronomy at Oxford. His
principal works are _Exercitatio geometrica de dimensione figurarum_
(1684), _Catoptricae et dioptricae sphaericae elementa_ (1695), and
_Astronomiae physicae et geometricae elementa_ (1702)--the last a work
highly esteemed by Sir Isaac Newton, of whose system it is an
illustration and a defence. _A Treatise on Practical Geometry_ which he
left in manuscript was translated from the Latin and published in 1745.
He was succeeded in the chair of mathematics in Edinburgh by bis brother
James; another brother, Charles, was in 1707 appointed professor of
mathematics in the university of St Andrews; and his eldest son, David
(1696-1767), became professor of modern history at Oxford, and canon and
subsequently dean of Christ Church.
IV. JOHN GREGORY (1724-1773), Scottish physician, grandson of James
Gregory (1638-1675) and youngest son of Dr James Gregory (d. 1731),
professor of medicine in King's College, Aberdeen, was born at Aberdeen
on the 3rd of June 1724. He received his early education at the grammar
school of Aberdeen and at King's College in that city, and in 1741 he
attended the medical classes at Edinburgh university. In 1745 he went to
Leiden to complete his medical studies, and during his stay there he
received without solicitation the degree of doctor of medicine from
King's College, Aberdeen. On his return from Holland he was elected
professor of philosophy at King's College, but in 1749 he resigned his
professorship on account of its duties interfering too much with his
private practice. In 1754 he proceeded to London, where he made the
acquaintance of many persons of distinction, and the same year was
chosen fellow of the Royal Society. On the death in November 1755 of his
brother Dr James Gregory, who had succeeded his father as professor of
medicine in King's College, Aberdeen, he was appointed to that office.
In 1764 he removed to Edinburgh in the hope of obtaining a more extended
field of practice as a physician, and in 1766 he was appointed professor
of the practice of medicine in the university of Edinburgh, to whose
eminence as a medical school he largely contributed. He died of gout on
the 10th of February 1773.
He is the author of _A Comparative View of the State and Faculties of
Man with those of the Animal World_ (1765); _Observations on the
Duties, Offices and Qualifications of a Physician_ (1772); _Elements
of the Practice of Physic_ (1772); and _A Father's Legacy to his
Daughters_ (1774). _His Whole Works_, with a life by Mr Tytler
(afterwards Lord Woodhouselee), were published at Edinburgh in 1788.
V. JAMES GREGORY (1753-1821), Scottish physician, eldest son of the
preceding, was born at Aberdeen in January 1753. He accompanied his
father to Edinburgh in 1764, and after going through the usual course of
literary studies at that university, he was for a short time a student
at Christchurch, Oxford. It was there probably that he acquired that
taste for classical learning which afterwards distinguished him. He
studied medicine at Edinburgh, and, after graduating doctor of medicine
in 1774, spent the greater part of the next two years in Holland, France
and Italy. Shortly after his return to Scotland he was appointed in 1776
to the chair his father had formerly held, and in the following year he
also entered on the duties of teacher of clinical medicine in the Royal
Infirmary. On the illness of Dr William Cullen in 1790 he was appointed
joint-professor of the practice of medicine, and he became the head of
the Edinburgh Medical School on the death of Dr Cullen in the same year.
He died on the 2nd of April 1821. As a medical practitioner Gregory was
for the last ten years of his life at the head of the profession in
Scotland. He was at one time president of the Edinburgh College of
Physicians, but his indiscretion in publishing certain private
proceedings of the college led to his suspension on the 13th of May 1809
from all rights and privileges which pertained to the fellowship.
Besides his _Conspectus medicinae theoreticae_, published in 1788 as a
text-book for his lectures on the institutes, Dr Gregory was the
author of "A Theory of the Moods of Verbs," published in the _Edin.
Phil. Trans._ (1787), and of _Literary and Philosophical Essays_,
published in two volumes in 1792.
VI. WILLIAM GREGORY (1803-1858), son of James Gregory (1753-1821), was
born on the 25th of December 1803. In 1837 he became professor of
chemistry at the Andersonian Institution, Glasgow, in 1839 at King's
College, Aberdeen, and in 1844 at Edinburgh University. He died on the
24th of April 1858. Gregory was one of the first in England to advocate
the theories of Justus von Liebig, and translated several of his works.
He is also the author of _Outlines of Chemistry_ (1845), and an
_Elementary Treatise on Chemistry_ (1853).
VII. DUNCAN FARQUHARSON GREGORY (1813-1844), brother of the preceding,
was born on the 13th of April 1813. After studying at the university of
Edinburgh he in 1833 entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was
for a time assistant professor of chemistry, but he devoted his
attention chiefly to mathematics. He died on the 23rd of February 1844.
The _Cambridge Mathematical Journal_ was originated, and for some time
edited, by him; and he also published a _Collection of Examples of
Processes in the Differential and Integral Calculus_ (1841). A
_Treatise on the Application of Analysis to Solid Geometry_, which he
left unfinished, was completed by W. Walton, and published
posthumously in 1846. His _Mathematical Writings_, edited by W.
Walton, with a biographical memoir by Robert Leslie Ellis, appeared in
1865.