biography
| name: |
Gregory VII, St
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originally Hildebrand
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (c.1020–85)
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| biography:
| Pope (1073–85), the great representative of the temporal claims of the mediaeval papacy, born near Soana, NW Italy. He became a cardinal in 1049. As pope, he worked to change the secularized condition of the Church, which led to conflict with the German Emperor Henry IV, who declared Gregory deposed in a diet at Worms (1076), but then yielded to him after excommunication. In 1080 Henry resumed hostilities, appointing an antipope (Clement III), and after a siege took possession of Rome (1084). Gregory was freed by Norman troops, but was forced to withdraw to Salerno, where he died. He was canonized in 1606; feast day 25 May. |
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