Benedict VIII. (1012-1024) was elevated to the Papacy as a reform Pope by Henry II. and the German party, though he was not a German. He belonged to the Clugniac reform party and was a brave, independent Pope who joined the Emperor in assailing simony and in sanctioning the celibacy of the clergy. Clement II. (1046-1047) was made Pope by Henry III. after deposing three rival Popes. He held a Roman synod which condemned simony for the future, forbade the practice by churchmen, made the penalty for disobedience excommunication, and endeavoured to eradicate the evil in Italy and Germany.[427:1] The reform efforts of the Popes were supplemented by the reforming monastic orders. St. Nilus (910-1005), a Greek born in Calabria, after his wife's death in 940 entered the monastery of St. Mercurius, where he soon gained renown for his tortures, piety, and studies. Becoming disgusted with the monastic practices, he left the convent and wandered about as a hermit, taking St. Anthony as his model. His fame soon spread abroad so that when he made a pilgrimage to Rome he was greatly honoured there and even consulted by Gregory V. and Otto III. It was not long before he gained a large following of ascetics in Italy and with them founded several cloisters which were models of lofty zeal and piety.[427:2] Another monk of this period imbued with the desire for reformation within the Church was St. Dunstan (924-988), the son of a West Saxon noble, educated in the monastic school of Glastonbury, and trained at court.[427:3] He early adopted the life of a monk, became a hermit, studied the Scriptures and made bells, and was given to prayers and visions. Appointed Abbot of Glastonbury in 945, he began to reform the monastic life by restoring the early purity and simplicity. Becoming too much absorbed in the politics of his day and thereby coming under the displeasure of the king, he was banished to Flanders in 956 where he first learned of St. Benedict's rule. Two years later, however, he was recalled to England and soon appointed Archbishop of Canterbury. Then he went to Rome to receive the pallium and, returning to his native land, put himself at the head of the reform party. He sought to replace the seculars by monks, to introduce the Benedictine rule, to enforce celibacy, to prevent concubinage, to require all priests to learn trades, and to forbid the clergy to hunt, hawk, play dice, get drunk, and scold.