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Gregory VII, St, originally Hildebrand c.1020-85
Italian pope

Born near Soana, Tuscany, he was educated at the monastery of St Maria, Rome. He became a cardinal in 1049. As pope (1073-85), he worked to change the secularized condition of the Church, which led to conflict with the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, who declared Gregory deposed in a diet at Worms (1076), but then yielded to him after excommunication. In 1080 Henry resumed hostilities, appointing an antipope (Clement III), and after a siege took possession of Rome (1084). Gregory was freed by Norman troops, but was forced to withdraw to Salerno. He was canonized in 1606, and his feast day is 25 May.

Bibliography: Allan J MacDonald, Hildebrand: A Life of Gregory the Seventh (1932)