The papal philosophy of Gregory VII. was based upon the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals. His conception of the Pope is summed up in the famous Dictatus Papæ in which he makes the successor of St. Peter God's representative on earth, the absolute sovereign of the Church, and the supreme feudal lord of the world.[448:1] This ideal he sought to realise in every particular. The clergy, according to his theory, were wholly dependent upon the Pope's will and must be absolutely free from every vice and worldly influence in order that they might labour only to save men's souls. Hence, he believed in the great need of reformation and in the correction of all abuses. The laity, from Emperor to slave, were entirely subjected to the Pope and his clergy in both temporal and spiritual matters, and therefore must render absolute obedience to the commands of the Church. In his reform policy as Pope, Gregory showed himself more hostile than ever against the crying evils of simony and the marriage or concubinage of the clergy. But twenty-five years of effort to cure these evils in the Church had taught him that the real cause of all the other evils was the subjection of the clergy to secular power. The solemn denunciations of simony by the Lateran councils were nil as long as kings and nobles offered each ecclesiastical office for sale to the highest bidder. It was useless to order the clergy to give up their luxurious habits and live in ascetic purity as long as they were tools of a licentious aristocracy. Therefore the papal ax must be laid at the very root of the evil,
namely, lay investiture and the secular control of the clergy.
In his first efforts to realise his lofty ideal, Gregory VII. desired to unite all Christendom under the suzerainty of the Pope and through this submission to conquer the world for God. On the very day of his consecration (April 30th) he sent Cardinal Hugo to Spain to replace the Gothic with the Roman ritual and thus to secure Spain as a papal fief.[449:1] A few days later he journeyed in person to southern Italy to secure renewal of the submission of the Normans. When Guiscard refused to comply with his demands, the Pope called on William of Burgundy for troops. Finally he had the Council of Rome excommunicate Guiscard and all his followers and thus forced their fealty.[449:2] He assumed feudal authority in Bohemia.[449:3] The Patriarch of Venice was sent to Constantinople to restore the friendly relations between the Greek and Roman churches.[449:4] He compelled the Italian nobles to swear to him the oath of allegiance.[449:5] He corrected the church of Carthage,[449:6] attempted to win over Swen, the King of Denmark, and forbade the King of Norway to interfere in Danish affairs.[449:7] He treated the King of Hungary as a vassal and rebuked him for recognising the King of Germany as his overlord.[449:8] Between the Duke of Poland and the King of Russia he
mediated and had the latter go to Rome to be crowned.[450:1] He forced the French King to promise obedience.[450:2] He voluntarily sought to act as arbiter between the German King and the Saxons.[450:3] He demanded Peter's pence from William the Conqueror. The pence was paid, but the oath of loyalty was refused. "I have not nor will I," said William, "swear fealty which was never sworn by any of my predecessors to yours."[450:4] He wrote an open letter to Christendom advocating a general crusade against the Mohammedans.[450:5] He asserted his right to end war and to dictate the terms of peace.[450:6] He declared it to be his duty to compel all rulers to govern their people in righteousness on pain of deposition.[450:7] In short, no region was too remote or too barbarous not to come within his idea of ecclesiastical unity and of papal suzerainty.[450:8]
As soon as elected Gregory VII. began to purify the Church by urging the bishops to enforce the laws against simony and celibacy which had been practically dead letters.[450:9] The King of France was called to account for his simoniacal practices and under threat of excommunication forced to promise reformation.[450:10] Early in 1074 a great reform council was summoned to meet in Rome.[450:11] Four famous reform decrees were enacted: (1) Churchmen guilty of simony were forbidden
to officiate in religious services. (2) Buyers of church properties were ordered to restore them and the traffic was prohibited for the future. (3) Priests guilty of marriage or concubinage were debarred from exercising clerical functions. Their blessings would be curses and their prayers sins. This was opposed to "once a priest always a priest." Later Wycliffe, Luther, and other reformers used this same idea with telling effect. (4) Laymen were commanded not to receive ministrations from clergymen guilty of violating these ordinances. Altogether these reform measures were the most radical yet passed. These revolutionary edicts were sent to the archbishops of the various countries with instructions to put them into immediate execution. A special delegation was sent to Henry IV. to inform him of the results of the council. It was headed by the Empress Agnes, Henry's mother, now a nun.[451:1] A solemn pledge was secured from the German King to execute the reform measures and to dismiss the five councillors, who had been put under the ban by Alexander II.
It will now be necessary to see how these reforms were received in the various countries. Celibacy will be considered first.[451:2] Historically this institution runs back through the Christian era to the Jewish period. Jewish priests married, but were forbidden to marry harlots, profane women, or widows.[451:3] The New Testament contains no absolute prohibition of marriage. The Apostles married[451:4]—even Peter—and the leaders of churches were advised to take unto
themselves wives,[452:1] but many passages were soon interpreted to favour celibacy.[452:2] The renunciation of all worldly enjoyments and the exaltation of the ascetic life above the social led to voluntary vows of celibacy as early as the second century. It was not long until the Church came to believe that the unmarried condition was the better for the clergy.[452:3] This belief soon developed a contempt for marriage; and the Popes Calixtus I. (221) and Lucius I. (255) are said to have forbidden the marriage of priests. In 385 the Bishop of Rome enjoined celibacy on all the clergy, and Innocent I., Leo the Great, and succeeding Popes followed the same policy. In the fourth century Church councils took up the question, and the East and the West began to diverge on the subject. All over western Europe councils and synods approved celibacy and sought to force it upon the Church over and over again. Civil law stepped in to confirm these papal and synodical decrees.
In 1073, although celibacy had been the law of the Church for a thousand years, it had never been universally enforced. The Hildebrandine Popes and the Clugniac reformers had made strenuous efforts to execute the reform edicts but had largely failed. In Italy, nearly all the clergy were married in Naples, while Lombardy, Florence, and Ravenna championed the institution; even in Rome itself the clergy were largely married. The sixty wardens in St. Peter's had wives. In Germany a majority of the clergy were opposed to celibacy and, consequently, they were ready to join the Emperor against the Pope. In France the
Norman bishops lived openly with their wives and families and the common priests of course followed their leaders. This was the situation which the new Pontiff was called upon to face.