116

SINCERITY OF GREGORY'S RECONCILIATION WITH HENRY.

more and more confirmed. Or if he did not fulfil the condition, an opportunity would be given the pope to accuse him of violating the agreement, and again to pronounce the ban upon him. In what light would Gregory, with this fine-spun plan of revenge, requiring him to turn the most sacred acts into a means of deception, have to be regarded? If after having granted king Henry absolution, he had still been able to say to the enemies of that monarch, who were dissatisfied with this step, as he is represented to have said in a letter, that "they should give themselves no trouble about what he had done; he was only going to send them back Henry, loaded with deeper guilt," what diabolical malice and hypocrisy! Well might Waltram of Naumburg say, "he dismissed him in peace; but peace such as Judas pretended, not such as Christ bestowed." With perfect justice might he exclaim, in view of such an act of duplicity: "This is not acting like a successor of Peter; this is not feeding Christ's sheep, to send one away loaded with still heavier guilt, and one too who repented of his fault. This was not acting like a priest of our Lord, who himself says in the gospel, that in heaven there is more joy over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety and nine just men that need no repentance."

But we are listening to the words of a passionate antagonist. The language of party-passion, on either side, is to be heard with distrust. Who could penetrate into Gregory's heart, so as to be sure of the disposition in which he acted? The reasoning from an actual result to a deliberate purpose is always most unsafe. Even though Gregory had said what is laid to his charge, or something like it, still, a great deal depends on the question, in what connection he said it, and whether with some condition or in an unconditioned manner. The dignity and self-respect which Gregory ever exhibits in his public communications, render it extremely unlikely, that he would suffer himself to be hurried by passion to utter words so much in contradiction with those qualities. In granting king Henry absolution, Gregory assuredly said nothing to him which could have been designed to deceive him. He gave him plainly enough to understand, that all was depending on his future behavior. He even persisted in declaring that the whole matter was reserved for the trial which was to take place under his presidency in Germany; earlier than this, nothing was to be determined in relation to the settlement of the government. By his own judicial decision, everything should be set to rights in Germany; and only in case he submitted wholly to this,

1 Ne sitis solliciti, quoniam culpabiliorem eum reddo vobis.

2

Concerning Henry: Dimissus est in pace, qualem scilicet pacem Judas simulavit; non qualem Christus reliquit.

3 His words: Certe culpabiliorem facere aliquem, praecipue autem regem, quem praecipit Petrus apostolus honorificare, hoc non est oves Christi pascere. Culpabiliorem, inquam, facere, praecipue eum, quem poeniteat culpabilem existere, hoc non est, sacerdotem Domini esse, cum ipse in evan

gelio Dominus dicat, gaudium fieri in coelo super uno peccatore poenitentiam agente, quam super nonaginta novem justis, qui non indigent poenitentia.

As he says in his letter, in which he reported to the Germans his transactions with Henry, ep. iv, 12. Ita adhuc totius negotii causa suspensa est, ut et adventus noster et consiliorum vestrorum unanimitas permaxime necessaria esse videantur. Comp. the remarks already quoted, p. 114, in the note.

HENRY'S BREACH WITH GREGORY.

RUDOLPH OF SUABIA. 117

could Henry calculate on a lasting peace with the pope. As to the fact, therefore, the remarks of Waltram with regard to the precarious position of the emperor, however he might act, were correct; though it cannot be said of the pope that, from the first, he only became reconciled to Henry in appearance, and had nothing else in view than his utter destruction. He acted thus, impelled by that reckless and persevering resolution with which he followed out false principles. He sacrificed to his consistency the true interests of the misled king and the well-being of the German people. It must be owned, however, that it was Henry who, hurried on by the force of circumstances, first broke the terms of the treaty.

When he returned back to his friends, and with them repaired to the states of Lombardy, he found the tone of feeling there very much. altered. Men were highly indignant at the manner in which he had been made to humble himself before the detested Gregory. They were upon the point of renouncing him; they were for nominating his son emperor, and with the latter marching straight to Rome. As then Henry had so many enemies in Germany, as he could not place any great reliance on the pope, and as he here found a considerable party, who were willing to do anything for him if he would place himself in their hands, he now went over wholly to this side. He allied himself once more with Gregory's enemies, acted once more as monarch, and resumed once more the counsellors whom the pope had excommunicated. As the earlier-appointed assembly in Germany could not be holden, the states dissatisfied with king Henry appointed another assembly, to meet in the beginning of March 1077, and invited the pope to be present for the purpose of restoring order and tranquillity to Germany. But this also was prevented by Gregory's detention in Italy. Gregory sent to Germany two legates, who reported to the assembly what causes had hindered him from coming to Germany, and left it to them to provide, as they deemed best, for the necessities of the empire. At this assembly, Rudolph duke of Suabia was elected king in Henry's place. Although the pope was doubtless already resolved to renew the ban against Henry, if the latter did not alter his conduct, yet he still passed no definitive sentence. He declared himself, at first, neutral between the two parties, and named both the princes kings in his letters, and reserved it to himself, when he should visit Germany, to decide which party had the right. Meanwhile, in Germany, much blood was shed on both sides. The two parties per secuted each other with unrelenting ferocity. State and church were rent in pieces by these quarrels, while Gregory quietly looked on, and by his ambiguous declarations and acts kept up the contest. pressed his pain 1 at seeing so many thousand Christians fall victims to temporal and eternal death through the pride of one man; at seeing the Christian religion and the Roman church thereby prostrated to the ground. He did not declare, however, whom he meant by this individual. He only called upon the Germans to renounce obedience

1 Ep. 149, in Cod. Babenberg. Eccard. t. ii, f. 151.

He ex

118

NEW BAN ON HENRY.

GREGORY DEPOSED.

to the proud man, who hindered him from coming to Germany; on the other hand to obey him who showed himself devoted to the apostolical see. The partisans of Rudolph fiercely reproached him with hindering, by this ambiguous conduct, the decision of a quarrel, into which they at least had suffered themselves to be drawn in obedience to the papal see, when on the other hand, by a distinct declaration, he could bring the matter to an end. But Gregory was not moved by this language to depart from his plan. He exhorted the Germans to fidelity, and testified his firmness by declaring himself resolved to abide unswervingly by the principles on which he had always acted, without regarding the voice of the multitude, by which king Henry was defended and he himself accused of harshness towards that prince. When, however, in the year 1080, the weapons of Rudolph met with continual success, the pope finally, at a Roman synod, passed the definitive sentence. He pronounced anew the ban on king Henry, because by his means the assembly in Germany had been prevented from meeting, and he recognized Rudolph as emperor, sending him a crown, inscribed with a motto in correspondence with the principles of his consistent theocratical system, claiming to himself, as Peter's successor, full power and authority to decide the contest concerning the election of an emperor in Germany. But at the same time he gave him also to understand, that he should not yield an iota of the law against investiture.

It was now, however, for the first time, that Gregory's firmness was really to be put to the test; for as, in this same year, duke Rudolph lost his life in a battle on the Elster, although again victorious, so Henry saw himself no longer prevented from directing his course again to Italy. After sentence of deposition had already been passed, at a previous council of Mentz, by a small number of bishops of Henry's party, on Gregory the Seventh, the same thing was repeated by a more numerous assembly, held at Brixen, of those dissatisfied with the Hildebrandian principles of government from Italy and Germany. Characteristic of the spirit of this assembly, are some of the charges brought against Gregory; that he boasted of being favored with divine revelations, of possessing the gift of prophecy, that he was given to the interpretation of dreams, that he was a disciple of Berengar.3 One of Gregory's opponents, Guibert, archbishop of Ravenna, was chosen pope, under the name of Clement the Third. But this arbitrary proceeding appeared too much like a political movement to have the least influence on men's religious convictions. The free-minded

1 Mansi Consil. vii. 3. Quotquot Latini sunt, omnes causam Henrici praeter admodum paucos laudant ac defendunt et pernimiae duritiae ac impietatis circa eum me redarguunt.

Inscription: "Petra dedit Petro, Petrus diadema Rudolpho." Plank, in his history of the papacy (ii, 1, p. 198) says, certainly with injustice: "The pope, in this inscription, probably did not have half so much in his thoughts, as was attributed to him in

the issue." What we have said above concerning the principles of this pope, as they are made known to us in his letters, as well as what we know concerning the system of the entire party, proves, beyond question, that Gregory had actually in his mind all that these words literally contain.

3 Catholicam atque apostolicam fidem de corpore et sanguine in quaestionem ponentem, haeretici Berengarii antiquum discipulum, divinationum et somniorum cultorem.

GREGORY'S CONDUCT AFTER THE DEATH OF RUDOLPH. 119

bishop Dieteric of Verdun, rendered famous by his fidelity to king Henry, had been induced to take a part in these proceedings of the above-mentioned assembly at Mentz; but he soon repented of it, his conscience reproaching him for this step. He suddenly and in a secret manner forsook the assembly, and felt impelled to seek absolution from Gregory the Seventh, whom he recognized as the lawful pope.1

King Henry himself felt a want of confidence in his cause. He gladly offered his hand for peace, and declared himself ready, before penetrating farther with his army into Italy, to enter into negotiations for that purpose with the pope. But the latter showed no disposition to yield anything, though his friends represented to him, that all would go over to the side of the king in Italy, and that no help was to be expected from Germany. He replied that for himself it was not so very great a thing to be left destitute of all help from men.2 He exhorted the Germans, not to be in haste about the election of a new emperor after the death of Rudolph. He prescribed to the new king, without taking any notice of his own perilous situation, in an imperative tone, a form of oath drawn up in accordance with his theocratic system, whereby the king was to promise that he would faithfully observe, as became a genuine Christian, all that the pope should command in the name of true obedience,3 and consecrate himself, as soon as he should have an opportunity of meeting him in person, a miles sancti Petri et illius.

It is deserving of notice that the pope, who had shown so much strictness in his judicial sentences against married priests, now yielded on this point, for the moment, to the force of circumstances; that because Henry's party gained an advantage from the prevailing dissatisfaction with the laws respecting celibacy, and because the deficiency of ecclesiastics who would have been competent, according to the rigid construction of those earlier laws respecting celibacy, to administer the sacraments, was too great, he deemed it best to recommend to his legates the exercise of indulgence in this matter till more quiet times.4

The same inflexibility which Gregory opposed to king Henry, when that monarch was pressing towards Rome, he still maintained, when besieged during two years in Rome itself. No force could move him to enter into negotiations with the king, with whom, if he had been willing to crown him emperor, he might have concluded an advan

1 He writes about his participation in the above-mentioned convention: Multipliciter coactus sum ibi agere contra ordinem, contra salutem meam, imo contra dignitatem ecclesiasticam, abrenuntiavi sedenti in sede apostolica, et hoc sine ratione aliqua, cum praesens non audiretur, auditus discuteretur, discussus convinceretur. Abrenuntiavi illi, cui in examine meae ordinationis professus fueram obedientiam, cui subjectionem pollicitus eram, cui post b. Petrum suscepto regimine mihi commissae ecclesiae commissus fueram.

* Quod (auxilium) si nobis, qui illius

3

superbiam parvi pendimus, deficiat, non adeo grave videtur. Mansi Concil. ix, 3. Quodcunque mihi ipse papa praeceperit, sub his videlicet verbis, per veram obedientiam, fideliter, sicut oportet Christianum, observabo.

Lib. ix. ep. 3. Quod vero de sacerdotibus interrogastis, placet nobis, ut in praesentiarum tum propter populorum turbationes, tum etiam propter bonorum inopiam, scilicet quia paucissimi sunt, qui fidelibus officia religionis persolvant, pro tempore rigorem canonicum temperando debeatis sufferre.

120

LAST DAYS OF GREGORY'S LIFE. HIS DEATH.

tageous peace. He despised the threats of the Romans. He chose rather, as he declared, to die as a martyr, than to swerve in the least from the strict line of justice.1

At length, in the year 1084, the Romans, tired of the siege, and discontented with the defiance of the pope, opened their gates to king Henry and received him with demonstrations of joy, which he announced to his friends in Germany as a triumph bestowed by God himself.2 Gregory was obliged to retreat into the castle of St. Angelo (domum Crescentii). The emperor gave orders for convoking a numerous public assembly, in which the sentence of deposition on Gregory and the election of Clement were confirmed.3 At the Easter festival, the new pope, Clement, consecrated Henry emperor, and the latter soon departed from Rome. By the Norman duke, Robert Guiscard, Gregory was at length liberated from his confinement, and repaired to Cremona, where he soon after died, on the 25th of May, 1085. His last words are supposed to furnish evidence of his own conviction of the goodness of his cause; they were as follows: "I have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore I die in exile."4 These words harmonize at least with the conviction which Gregory, in his letters, to the last moment of his life, expresses in the strongest language; and it will be much sooner believed that he sealed the consistency of his life with such words than that he testified on his deathbed, as another account reports,5 his repentance at the controversy which he had excited, and recalled the sentence he had pronounced on his adversaries. At all events, we recognize in these two opposite accounts the mode of thinking which prevailed in the two hostile parties.

Under the name of this pope, we have a number of brief maxims relating to the laws and government of the church, called his dictates (dictatus). Although these maxims did not by any means proceed from himself, still, they contain the principles which he sought to realize in his government of the church, the principles of papal absolutism,signalizing that new epoch in the history of the papacy which is to be attributed to him as the author, whereby everything was made to depend on the decision of the pope, and the jurisdiction over emperors and kings, as over all the presiding officers of the church, was placed in his hands. Most of these maxims may be confirmed by passages from his letters.

1 Lib. ix. ep. 11.

2 Thus the emperor writes from Rome to Dieteric, bishop of Verdun: Incredibile videtur, quod verissimum probatur, quod factum est in Roma, ut ita dicam, cum decem hominibus in nobis operatus est Dominus, quod antecessores nostri si fecissent cum decem millibus, miraculum esset omnibus.

3 The emperor writes, in the above-cited letter, after his departure from Rome: (Romani) summo triumpho et fide prosequuti sunt nos, in tantum ut in Domino fiducialiter dicamus, quia tota Roma in manu nostra est, excepto illo castello, in quo conclusus

est Hildebrand, scilicet in domo Crescentii. Quem Hildebrandum legali omnium cardinalium (which certainly is exaggerated) ac totius populi Romani judicio scias abjectum et electum papam nostrum Clementem in sede apostolica sublimatum omnium Romanorum acclamatione, nosque a papa Clemente ordinatum et consensu omnium Romanorum consecratum in die s. Paschae in imperatorem totius populi Romani. Gesta Trevirorum ed. Wyttenbach et Mueller. Vol. i, p. 164, 1836.

4 Dilexi justitiam et odi iniquitatem, propterea morior in exilio.

By Sigebert of Gemblours ad h. a.