Gregory VII

American  

noun

1. Saint Hildebrand, c1020–85, Italian ecclesiastic: pope 1073–85.

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Gregory VII British  

noun

1. Saint, monastic name Hildebrand. ?1020-–85, pope (1073–85), who did much to reform abuses in the Church. His assertion of papal supremacy and his prohibition (1075) of lay investiture was opposed by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, whom he excommunicated (1076). He was driven into exile when Henry captured Rome (1084). Feast day: May 25

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Example Sentences

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Gregory VII

It was a grovel akin to Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV standing barefoot in the snow for three days outside the castle of Pope Gregory VII, hoping to have his excommunication reversed.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 18, 2022

Fourteen years later, Pope Gregory VII began to reduce the number of laymen in favor of clerics.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 28, 2018

The last time that happened was 1415, when Gregory VII resigned as part of a negotiated deal to end the schism that had divided the church between rival papacies for close to 40 years.

From Time ● Feb. 14, 2013

Pope Leo IX and Pope Gregory VII enforced Church laws against simony and the marriage of priests.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2012

The monk of Cluny, Hildebrand of Savona, who had inspired the policy of four Popes during twenty-four years, became Pope himself in 1073, under the name of Gregory VII.

From A History of Germany From the Earliest Times to the Present Day by Taylor, Bayard