Reform and Crusade

Late in 1044, a faction of Romans drove the Tusculan Pope Benedict IX (1032-44) from office and chose a new pope, Sylvester III, elected in January 1045. Undaunted, Benedict expelled Sylvester from the city, but then decided to retire his office to yet another pope, Gregory VI (1045-46). Apparently, Benedict soon regretted his decision and tried to regain his position; not to be forgotten, Sylvester III refused to drop his claim to the papal office. In December 1046, the Salian Emperor Henry III intervened in this less than ideal situation, assembling a council at Sutri that deposed Benedict IX and Sylvester III, accepted Gregory VI’s resignation, and approved the installation of a new pope, Clement II (1046-47). When Clement died the following year, Henry arranged for the appointment of the briefly lived Damasus II (July–August 1048), followed by Bruno of Toul, who took the name Leo IX (1049-54). Not long after the emperor selected him as pope, however, Leo insisted upon having the Roman clergy and people confirm his election. According to the contemporary Life of Leo IX, the new pope arrived in Rome in the manner of a pilgrim, entering the city barefoot and offering to leave if the Romans decided he was not fit to be their bishop. In response, the assembled clergy and people unanimously acclaimed him as pope.1