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, Realencyklopädie, 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. Jaffé, Bibliotheca rerum Germanicarum, ii., Berlin, 1865). The letters preserved in addition to this official collection are also reprinted by Jaffé 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. Jaffé, 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., Tübingen, 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. Gfrörer, 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, Jahrbücher 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. 1, 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 römischen Kirche von Gregor VII. bis Innocenz III. (Bonn, 1893); Jaffé, 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 Jaffé-Wattenbach, Regesta pontif. Roman. (1885–1888). See J. Langen, Geschichte der römischen Kirche von Gregor VII. bis Innocenz III. (Bonn, 1893); P. Nadig, Gregors VIII. 57tägiges 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
