{"id":"pope-gregory-vii","type":"person","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/pope-gregory-vii","language":"en","name":"Pope Gregory VII","name_en":"Pope Gregory VII","name_ne":null,"description":"Pope of the Catholic Church from 1073 to 1085","headline":"Pope of the Catholic Church from 1073 to 1085","also_known_as":[],"summary":"Pope Gregory VII (Latin: Gregorius VII; c. 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana (Italian: Ildebrando di Soana), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.","summary_more":["One of the great reforming popes, he initiated the Gregorian Reform, and is perhaps best known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, his dispute with Emperor Henry IV to establish the primacy of papal authority and the new canon law governing the election of the pope by the College of Cardinals. He was also at the forefront of developments in the relationship between the Holy Roman Emperor and the papacy in the years preceding his election as pope. He was the first pope to introduce a policy of obligatory celibacy for the clergy, which had until then commonly married, and also attacked the practice of simony.","During the power struggles between the papacy and the Empire, Gregory excommunicated Henry IV three times, and Henry appointed Antipope Clement III to oppose him. Although Gregory was hailed as one of the greatest of the Roman pontiffs after his reforms proved successful, during his own reign, he was denounced by some for his autocratic exercise of papal power.","In later times, Gregory VII became an exemplar of papal supremacy to both supporters and opponents of the papacy. Beno of Santi Martino e Silvestro, who opposed Gregory VII in the Investiture Controversy, accused him of necromancy, cruelty, tyranny, and blasphemy. This was eagerly repeated by later opponents of the Catholic Church, such as the English Protestant John Foxe. In contrast, the modern historian and Anglican priest H. E. J. Cowdrey writes, \"[Gregory VII] was surprisingly flexible, feeling his way and therefore perplexing both rigorous collaborators ... and cautious and steady-minded ones ... His zeal,…"],"facts":[{"key":"birthplace","label":"Place of birth","values":[{"text":"Sovana","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1231483"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q133063#P19"}},{"key":"died","label":"Died","values":[{"text":"25 May 1085","date":"1085-05-25"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q133063#P570"}},{"key":"deathplace","label":"Place of death","values":[{"text":"Salerno","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1083"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q133063#P20"}},{"key":"occupation","label":"Occupation","values":[{"text":"diplomat","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q193391"},{"text":"Catholic priest","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q250867"},{"text":"writer","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q36180"},{"text":"Latin Catholic monk","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q97722145"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q133063#P106"}},{"key":"positions","label":"Positions held","values":[{"text":"Pope (22 April 1073 – 25 May 1085)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19546","start":"1073-04-22","end":"1085-05-25"},{"text":"cardinal (since 6 March 1059)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q45722","start":"1059-03-06"},{"text":"cardinal-deacon","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2361374"},{"text":"Abbot of Saint Paul Outside the Walls","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q125692717"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q133063#P39"}}],"office":null,"sections":[],"cited":[],"cited_from":null,"videos":[],"last_reviewed":null,"organizations":[],"same_as":["https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_VII","https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q133063"],"faq":[{"q":"What positions has Pope Gregory VII held?","a":"Positions held by Pope Gregory VII include: Pope (1073–1085); cardinal (since 6 March 1059); cardinal-deacon; Abbot of Saint Paul Outside the Walls."}],"related":[{"name":"Pope Telesphorus","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/pope-telesphorus"},{"name":"Pope Gregory XIII","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/pope-gregory-xiii"},{"name":"Pope Clement VII","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/pope-clement-vii"},{"name":"Pope Pius I","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/pope-pius-i"},{"name":"Pope Boniface I","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/pope-boniface-i"},{"name":"Pope Agapetus I","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/pope-agapetus-i"},{"name":"Pope Hormisdas","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/pope-hormisdas"},{"name":"Pope Innocent VIII","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/pope-innocent-viii"},{"name":"Pope Alexander VIII","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/pope-alexander-viii"},{"name":"Pope Innocent X","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/pope-innocent-x"},{"name":"Pope Gregory VIII","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/pope-gregory-viii"},{"name":"Pope Paul II","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/pope-paul-ii"}],"places_in":[],"nearby":[],"image":{"url":"https://diginpl.com/kb-img/pope-gregory-vii-b8645767ee.jpg","width":305,"height":354,"license":"Public domain","credit":"Paul von Bernried, creator Armin P., original uploader","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gregorius_(Vita_Gregorii_VII).jpg"},"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia (English): Pope Gregory VII","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_VII","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"},{"label":"Wikidata item Q133063","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q133063","license":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},{"label":"Image: Gregorius (Vita Gregorii VII).jpg by Paul von Bernried, creator Armin P., original uploader (Public domain)","url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gregorius_(Vita_Gregorii_VII).jpg","license":null}],"license":{"text":"CC BY-SA 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","facts":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},"attribution":"Text from the Wikipedia article Pope Gregory VII, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Gregorius (Vita Gregorii VII).jpg — Paul von Bernried, creator Armin P., original uploader, Public domain.","cite":"\"Pope Gregory VII\". DigiNepal. Last updated 3 November 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/pope-gregory-vii. Retrieved 5 November 2026.","date_modified":"2026-11-03T06:43:32Z","facts_checked":"2026-11-05","alternates":{"html":"https://diginpl.com/people/pope-gregory-vii","en":"https://diginpl.com/people/pope-gregory-vii","ne":"https://diginpl.com/people/pope-gregory-vii?lang=ne"}}