Gregoire VI

Gregoire VI (? - Cologne? , at the beginning of 1048) was elected pope on May 1st, 1045 and abdicated in Sutri on December 20th, 1046.

In 1045 the papal throne was occupied by a discharged young person, Benoît IX; its family had placed there following a simoniaque election though it did not have the least vocation; as the idea to him had just married, he asked council his godfather Jean Gratien, archpriest of Midsummer's Day Porte Latin, whose uprightness was known, if it were allowed to him to abdicate. When it had been explained to him that it had the right of it, it offered to its godfather to yield to him his place against a large allowance (perhaps money thousand or two thousand books). A little naively Jean Gratien accepted, convinced that it was not to better leave pope such an unworthy on the throne of Pierre saint and he succeeded to him under the name of Gregoire VI. The reformers accommodated it with joy and it had even the support of saint Pierre Damien, so strictly legalist however. Unfortunately the business was not finished: it is that another candidate was in string, Jean, bishop of Sabina, proclaimed pope under the name of Sylvestre III. He had been formerly opposed to Benoît IX, had been made also elect him by a simoniaque election and, although finally overcome, had not given up its claims.

To complicate all, like Benoit IX, the outgoing pope, had not succeeded in obtaining the girl whom he coveted, he reconsidered his abdication and they is from now on three popes who disputed the seat.

Under these conditions, with an empty Treasure and a corrupted clergy, it was a superhuman task for Gregoire to conclude his spot of reform, it was unaware of that she was to thereafter be begun again by her Hildebrand secretary who would become the famous Gregoire VII. Finally part of the clergy gave up the three popes then and required the arbitration of the king de Germanie Henri III which came to Italy to the autumn 1046.

At the request of the king, who seemed to recognize it, Gregoire VI convened a synod which opened with Sutri on December 20th. He condemned Sylvestre III like usurper, declared it deposed its dignities episcopal and sacerdotal, and locked up it in a convent for the remainder of its days. With Benoît IX one made even less way: he had abdicated and thus did not have any more any right. But one was turned over then against Gregoire VI by recalling him that it had bought its throne and was thus simoniaque than the others, so that it was obliged to resign, leaving the place with a German, Clément II, the bishop of Bamberg. It followed then Henri III to Germany where it died soon, probably with Cologne.

Source

This article is inspired by the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913 (public domain) with the article Gregoire VI.

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