DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.63447#0139
HILDEBRAND ELECTED POPE.
123
Cardinal, Deacon, Archdeacon, Legate, and Chancellor of
the Apostolic See. One step only was now wanting to com-
plete his elevation to the supreme power he had carefully
prepared his measures to obtain; and, at this memorable
juncture, he was suddenly proclaimed Pope by an apparent
burst of popular enthusiasm, at the obsequies of Alexander.
Silence having been obtained with difficulty from the
tumultuous people, the voice of one of the cardinals an-
nounced the election of the new Pope by the “ Sacred
College.”
Crowned instantly afterwards with the tiara, and
apparelled in the sumptuous robes of the Roman Pontiffs,
Hildebrand, under the title of Gregory VII., was then
presented to the people ; the joy and exultation of all
present contrasting strangely with the ceremonial gloom
of the funeral, and with the wail of the dirge sung in
the same church over the bier of his predecessor. After
this first burst of “freedom of election,” the greatest
decorum and outward respect to the Emperor marked the
subsequent proceedings. It was given out to the world
that—“ Of his grace and clemency, Henry, King of
Germany and Italy, calling himself ‘ Emperor ’ had
ratified the election of his dearly beloved Father,
Gregory VII.”
That same world, however, knew that despite the
Emperor’s hostility, the Pope was able and willing to
maintain his own rights; and that the Emperor,
instead of ratifying the popular election, would have
gladly driven the Pope from Rome as the most dangerous
of rebels, and the most subtle of men. But the coinci-
dence of official language and truth has been much the
same in all ages.
Twenty-five years had elapsed between the day on
which Hildebrand conducted Bruno (Leo IX.) to Rome,
and that of his own election to the Pontificate. During
all that time he had been the real governor of the Church,
and had pursued the same aggressive policy towards the
German Court, which now brought it into direct collision
with Rome.
123
Cardinal, Deacon, Archdeacon, Legate, and Chancellor of
the Apostolic See. One step only was now wanting to com-
plete his elevation to the supreme power he had carefully
prepared his measures to obtain; and, at this memorable
juncture, he was suddenly proclaimed Pope by an apparent
burst of popular enthusiasm, at the obsequies of Alexander.
Silence having been obtained with difficulty from the
tumultuous people, the voice of one of the cardinals an-
nounced the election of the new Pope by the “ Sacred
College.”
Crowned instantly afterwards with the tiara, and
apparelled in the sumptuous robes of the Roman Pontiffs,
Hildebrand, under the title of Gregory VII., was then
presented to the people ; the joy and exultation of all
present contrasting strangely with the ceremonial gloom
of the funeral, and with the wail of the dirge sung in
the same church over the bier of his predecessor. After
this first burst of “freedom of election,” the greatest
decorum and outward respect to the Emperor marked the
subsequent proceedings. It was given out to the world
that—“ Of his grace and clemency, Henry, King of
Germany and Italy, calling himself ‘ Emperor ’ had
ratified the election of his dearly beloved Father,
Gregory VII.”
That same world, however, knew that despite the
Emperor’s hostility, the Pope was able and willing to
maintain his own rights; and that the Emperor,
instead of ratifying the popular election, would have
gladly driven the Pope from Rome as the most dangerous
of rebels, and the most subtle of men. But the coinci-
dence of official language and truth has been much the
same in all ages.
Twenty-five years had elapsed between the day on
which Hildebrand conducted Bruno (Leo IX.) to Rome,
and that of his own election to the Pontificate. During
all that time he had been the real governor of the Church,
and had pursued the same aggressive policy towards the
German Court, which now brought it into direct collision
with Rome.