Dag Tessore
Gregory VII: The Monk, the Politician, the Saint
(Gregorio VII: il Monaco, l'uomo politico, il santo, Città Nuova, Rome, 2003; 232 pages). Available only in Italian.
One of the most important Popes of the Church history and of the West.
Hildebrand, Pope with the name Gregory VII (†1085), was the protagonist of
extraordinary adventures. The rivality with the Empire and Henry IV, the
quarrel for the investitures, the king's excommunication and the Pardon of
Canossa are crucial facts, very known, that show Gregory VII as a man of Church
and a politician. Less known - maybe - is the "private" aspect of the
Pope's life, his experience as monk, his spirituality, his humanity: through
his rich and fascinating epistolary (till now never translated entirely into
any modern language), this book offers a precious occasion to approach the
"personality" of Gregory VII, with his choices, his doubts, his fears
and hopes. In the background of an historically and politically most
problematic and complicated Pontificate, a profound figure of human affects and
of remarkable spirituality emerges. Some "myths" are also here
discredited, like the one which presents the Pope as a pitiless enemy of Henry
IV and of the imperial insitution. A touching biographic portrait (scientific
and well-documented, but also readable and charming) of one of the more discussed Pontiffs of the
History.
INDEX
Cap. II. The situation of papacy and the education of
Hildebrand
Cap. III. The ecclesiastical career under Leo IX,
Victor II and Stephen IX
Cap. IV. Cardinal Hildebrand, dominus papae
Cap. V. Pope Gregory VII
Cap. VI. The first year as Pontiff
Cap. VII. The Roman Synod of 1075 and the disorders in Milan
Cap. VIII. Church
Cap. IX. The defense of tradition and the two letters
to Hermann of Metz
Cap. X. Towards the break with Henry IV
Cap. XI. The big excommunication
Cap. XII. The facts narrated by Gregory VII
Cap. XIII. The pardon of Canossa
Cap. XIV. The war begins
Cap. XV. From 1077 till 1079: the Pope's hesitation
Cap. XVI. The dearest friend: Mathild
Cap. XVII. Gregory VII as spiritual father
Cap. XVIII. The Dictatus
papae
Cap. XIX. Between papal allmightiness and respect to
tradition
Cap. XX. The relations with the other nations and
especially with the Normans
Cap. XXI. Gregory VII, forerunner of the Crusades?
Cap. XXII. Guide for kings and princes
Cap. XXIII. The definitive break
Cap. XXIV. «To fight, even till death, against God's
enemies...»
Cap. XXV. The final struggle between Henry and Gregory
Cap. XXVI. The fire of Rome
