Benno presents us with a regular catalogue of the ecclesiastical
sorcerers of this period: Benedict the Ninth, and Laurence, archbishop
of Melfi, (each of whom, he says, learned the art of Silvester),
John XX and Gregory VI. But his most vehement accusations are directed
against Gregory VII, who, he affirms, was in the early part of his
career, the constant companion and assistant of these dignitaries in
unlawful practices of this sort.
Gregory VII, whose original name was Hildebrand, is one of the great
champions of the Romish church, and did more than any other man to
establish the law of the celibacy of the clergy, and to take the
patronage of ecclesiastical dignities out of the hands of the laity.
He was eminently qualified for this undertaking by the severity of his
manners, and the inflexibility of his resolution to accomplish whatever
he undertook.
His great adversary was Henry the Fourth, emperor of Germany, a young
prince of high spirit, and at that time (1075) twenty-four years of
age. Gregory sent to summon him to Rome, to answer an accusation, that
he, as all his predecessors had done, being a layman, had conferred
ecclesiastical dignities. Henry refused submission, and was immediately
declared excommunicated. In retaliation for this offence, the emperor,
it is said, gave his orders to a chief of brigands, who, watching his
opportunity, seized the pope in the act of saying mass in one of the
churches of Rome, and carried him prisoner to a tower in the city
which was in the possession of this adventurer. But no sooner was this
known, than the citizens of Rome, rose _en masse_, and rescued
their spiritual father. Meanwhile Henry, to follow up his blow,
assembled a synod at Worms, who pronounced on the pope, that for
manifold crimes he was fallen from his supreme dignity, and
accordingly fulminated a decree of deposition against him. But Henry
had no forces to carry this decree into execution; and Gregory on his
side emitted a sentence of degradation against the emperor, commanding
the Germans to elect a new emperor in his place. It then became
evident that, in this age of ignorance and religious subjugation, the
spiritual arm, at least in Germany, was more powerful than the
temporal; and Henry, having maturely considered the perils that
surrounded him, took the resolution to pass the Alps with a few
domestics only, and, repairing to the presence of the pope, submit
himself to such penance as the pontiff should impose. Gregory was at
this time at Canosa, a fortress beyond Naples, which was surrounded
with three walls. Henry, without any attendant, was admitted within
the first wall. Here he was required to cast off all the symbols of
royalty, to put on a hair-shirt, and to wait barefoot his holiness's
pleasure. He stood accordingly, fasting from morn to eve, without
receiving the smallest notice from the pontiff. It was in the month of
January. He passed through the same trial the second day, and the
third. On the fourth day in the morning he was admitted to the
presence of the holy father. They parted however more irreconcileable
in heart than ever, though each preserved the appearance of good will.
The pope insisted that Henry should abide the issue of the congress in
Germany, of which he constituted himself president; and the emperor,
exasperated at the treatment he had received, resolved to keep no
terms with Gregory. Henry proceeded to the election of an anti-pope,
Clement the Third, and Gregory patronised a new emperor, Rodolph, duke
of Suabia. Henry had however generally been successful in his military
enterprises; and he defeated Rodolph in two battles, in the last of
which his opponent was slain. In the synod of Brixen, in which Clement
the Third was elected, Gregory was sentenced as a magician and a
necromancer. The emperor, puffed up with his victories, marched
against Rome, and took it, with the exception of the castle of St.
Angelo, in which the pope shut himself up; and in the mean time Henry
caused the anti-pope, his creature, to be solemnly inaugurated in the
church of the Lateran. Gregory however, never dismayed, and never at
an end of his expedients, called in the Normans, who had recently
distinguished themselves by their victories in Naples and Sicily.
Robert Guiscard, a Norman chieftain, drove the Germans out of Rome;
but, some altercations ensuing between the pontiff and his deliverer,
the city was given up to pillage, and Gregory was glad to take refuge
in Salerno, the capital of his Norman ally, where he shortly after
expired, an exile and a fugitive.
Gregory was no doubt a man of extraordinary resources and invincible
courage. He did not live to witness the triumph of his policy; but his
projects for the exaltation of the church finally met with every
success his most sanguine wishes could have aspired to. In addition to
all the rest it happened, that the countess Matilda, a princess who in
her own right possessed extensive sovereignties in Italy, nearly
commensurate with what has since been styled the ecclesiastical state,
transferred to the pope in her life-time, and confirmed by her
testament, all these territories, thus mainly contributing to render
him and his successors so considerable as temporal princes, as since
that time they have appeared.
It is, however, as a sorcerer, that Gregory VII (Hildebrand) finds a
place in this volume. Benno relates that, coming one day from his
Alban villa, he found, just as he was entering the church of the
Lateran, that he had left behind him his magical book, which he was
ascustomed to carry about his person. He immediately sent two trusty
servants to fetch it, at the same time threatening them most fearfully
if they should attempt to look into the volume. Curiosity however got
the better of their fear. They opened the book, and began to read;
when presently a number of devils appeared, saying, "We are come to
obey your commands, but, if we find ourselves trifled with, we shall
certainly fall upon and destroy you." The servants, exceedingly
terrified, replied, "Our will is that you should immediately throw
down so much of the wall of the city as is now before us." The devils
obeyed; and the servants escaped the danger that hung over them. [155]
It is further said, that Gregory was so expert in the arts of magic,
that he would throw out lightning by shaking his arm, and dart thunder
from his sleeve. [156]
But the most conspicuous circumstance in the life of Gregory that has
been made the foundation of a charge of necromancy against him, is
that, when Rodolph marched against Henry IV, the pope was so confident
of his success, as to venture publicly to prophesy, both in speech and
in writing, that his adversary should be conquered and perish in this
campaign. "Nay," he added, "this prophecy shall be accomplished before
St. Peter's day; nor do I desire any longer to be acknowledged for
pope, than on the condition that this comes to pass." It is added,
that Rodolph, relying on the prediction, six times renewed the battle,
in which finally he perished instead of his competitor. But this does
not go far enough to substantiate a charge of necromancy. It is
further remarked, that Gregory was deep in the pretended science of
judicial astrology; and this, without its being necessary to have
recourse to the solution of diabolical aid, may sufficiently account
for the undoubting certainty with which he counted on the event.
In the mean time this statement is of great importance, as illustrative
of the spirit of the times in general, and the character of Gregory in
particular. Rodolph, the competitor for the empire, has his mind wrought
up to such a pitch by this prophetic assurance, that, five times
repulsed, he yet led on his forces a sixth time, and perished the
victim of his faith. Nor were his followers less animated than he, and
from the same cause. We see also from the same story, that Gregory was
not an artful and crafty impostor, but a man spurred on by a genuine
enthusiasm. And this indeed is necessary to account for the whole of
his conduct. The audacity with which he opposed the claims of Henry,
and the unheard-of severity with which he treated him at the fortress
of Canosa, are to be referred to the same feature of character.
Invincible perseverance, when united with great resources of intellect
and a lofty spirit, will enable a man thoroughly to effect, what a
person of inferior endowments would not have dared so much as to dream
of. And Gregory, like St. Dunstan, achieved incredible things, by
skilfully adapting himself to circumstances, and taking advantage of
the temper and weakness of his contemporaries.