Pope Victor II

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Pope Victor II

Victor II (c. 1018–July 28, 1057), born Gebhard, Count of Calw, Tollenstein, and Hirschberg, was Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and head of state of Vatican City. The current pope is Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected April 19, 2005 in Papal conclave, 2005....
from 1055 to 1057. He was one of a series of German reform

Gregorian Reform

The Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the Roman Curia , circa 1050?80, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy....
Popes.

Life
He was born Gebhard of Calw

Calw

Calw is a Municipalities of Germany in the middle of Baden-W?rttemberg in the south of Germany, capital of the Calw . It is located in the northern Black Forest....
, a son of the Swabia

Swabia

Swabia, Suabia, or Svebia is both a historic and linguistics region in Germany. Swabia consists of much of the present-day state of Baden-W?rttemberg , as well as the Bavarian Swabia ....
n Count Harwig of Calw and a kinsman of Emperor Henry III

Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry III , called the Black or the Pious, was a member of the Salian Dynasty of Holy Roman Empire. He was the eldest son of Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor and Gisela of Swabia and his father made him duke of Bavaria in 1026, after the death of Henry V, Duke of Bavaria....
(1039–1056). At the insistence of Gebhard, bishop of Ratisbon, the 24-year-old Gebhard was appointed bishop of Eichstätt

Bishop of Eichstätt

List of the Bishopric of Eichst?dt....
.

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Victor II (c. 1018–July 28, 1057), born Gebhard, Count of Calw, Tollenstein, and Hirschberg, was Pope

Pope

Gregorian Reform

Life

He was born Gebhard of Calw

Calw

Calw is a Municipalities of Germany in the middle of Baden-W?rttemberg in the south of Germany, capital of the Calw . It is located in the northern Black Forest....
, a son of the Swabia

Swabia

Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor

Bishop of Eichstätt

List of the Bishopric of Eichst?dt....
. In this position, he supported the Emperor's interests and eventually became one of his closest advisors.

After the death of Pope Leo IX

Pope Leo IX

Pope Saint Leo IX , born Bruno of Eguisheim-Dagsburg , was Pope from February 12, 1049 to his death. He is regarded as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, with the feast day of April 19....
, a Roman delegation headed by Hildebrand, later Pope Gregory VII

Pope Gregory VII

Pope Saint Gregory VII , born Hildebrand of Soana , was papacy from April 22, 1073, until his death. One of the great reforming popes, he is perhaps best known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, his dispute with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor affirming the primacy of the papal authority and the new canon law governing...
, travelled to Mainz and asked the Emperor for the nomination of a successor and suggested Gebhard, who was duly nominated in September 1054. Gebhard, taking the name Victor II, moved to Rome and was inthroned in St. Peter's Basilica

St. Peter's Basilica

The Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian language as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City....
on April 13, 1055.

In June 1055, Victor met the Emperor at Florence

Florence

Florence is the Capital city of the Italy Regions of Italy of Tuscany and of the provinces of Italy Province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany and has a population of 364,779 ....
and held a council, which reinforced Pope Leo IX

Pope Leo IX

Pope Saint Leo IX , born Bruno of Eguisheim-Dagsburg , was Pope from February 12, 1049 to his death. He is regarded as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, with the feast day of April 19....
's (1049–1054) condemnation of clerical marriage, simony

Simony

Simony is the ecclesiastical crime of paying for holy offices or positions in the hierarchy of a church, named after Simon Magus, who appears in the Acts of the Apostles 8:18-24....
, and the loss of the church's properties. In the following year, he was summoned to the Emperor's side, and was with Henry III when he died at Bodfeld in the Harz

Harz

The Harz is a mountain range in central Germany. It is the highest mountain chain in northern Germany occupying parts of the German states of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia....
on October 5, 1056. As guardian of Henry III's infant son Henry

Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry IV was King of Germany from 1056 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 until his forced abdication in 1105. He was the third emperor of the Salian dynasty and one of the most powerful and important figures of the 11th century....
(1056–1105) and adviser of the Empress Agnes

Agnes de Poitou

Agnes of Poitou, Agnes of Aquitaine or Empress Agnes was Empress dowager and regent of the Holy Roman Empire from 1056 to 1062....
, Henry IV's mother and regent, Victor II now wielded enormous power, which he used to maintain peace throughout the empire and to strengthen the papacy against the aggressions of the barons. He died shortly after his return to Italy, at Arezzo

Arezzo

Arezzo or Arretium is a city in central Italy, capital of Province of Arezzo, located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about 80 km south-east of Florence, at an elevation of 296 meters above sea level....
, on July 28, 1057.

Victor II's retinue wished to bring his remains to the cathedral at Eichstätt

Eichstätt

Eichst?tt is a city in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the Eichst?tt . It is located along the Altm?hl River, at , and had a population of 13,078 in 2002....
for burial. Before they reached the city, however, the remains were seized by some citizens of Ravenna

Ravenna

Ravenna is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The city is inland, but is connected to the Adriatic Sea by a canal. Ravenna once served as the seat of the Western Roman Empire and later the Ostrogoths and the Exarchate of Ravenna....
and buried there in the Church of Santa Maria Rotonda, the burial place of Theodoric the Great

Theodoric the Great

File:Theodoric bronze weight inlaid with silver issued by prefect Catulinus Rome 493 526.jpg'Theodoric the Great' , known in Latin as 'Flavius Theodericus' and in Greek sources, was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , and regent of the Visigoths ....
.

Although there have been eight German Popes, Victor II is one of only three Popes from the territory of present-day Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, the others being Pope Clement II

Pope Clement II

Clement II, born Suidger of Morsleben and Hornburg , was Pope from December 25, 1046 to his death. He was the first in a series of reform-minded Popes from Germany....
(1046–47) and the current Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI is the List of popes and reigning Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the head of the Roman Catholic Church and, as such, monarch of the Vatican City....
.