Digital Continent Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul 2016 | Page 75

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At the 1076 Lenten Synod, Pope
Gregory VII excommunicated both the
bishops and the king. He reminded
them that through the mediation of
Peter, God granted him the power to
both loose and to bind in heaven and
on earth. He absolved Henry’s
subjects from past and future oaths of
fidelity and pronounced anathema

Pope Gregory VII

upon the king, who believed that
tradition was on his side in his

judgment of a pope, despite the fact that no emperor or king had ever pronounced judgment upon
a pope from a distance.144 Gregory VII had been patient and had repeatedly urged the king to
reform. As a Christian, King Henry IV’s refusal to take heed was intolerable disobedience. In a
short matter of time the once hopeful situation deteriorated to a state of open hostility. For
Henry, his ego and his perceived need to maintain a tight grip on authority was, in his view, not
only his right but also necessary for realm stability. For Gregory, persistence in disobedience
and disregard for the Holy See obstructed reform and endangered the salvation of souls.
Pope Gregory VII embarked upon a letter writing campaign that spring and summer
addressed to all figures of authority in Germany. In his own defense he stated:
And God is our witness that we are moved against evil princes and faithless
priests by no question of worldly advantage, but by our sense of duty and by the
144

Blumenthal, The Investiture Controversy, 121-22.