[431:1] Mabillon, _Ann. Ord. Benedict._, iii., iv., gives his life by Peter Damiani; Sachur, _Die Cluniozenser bis zur Mitte des 11th Jahrh._; Heimbucher, _Die Orden u. Kongregat. der Kath. Kirche_. [431:2] _Mon. Ger. Hist._, xii., 209. [432:1] Giseke, _Die Hirschauer während des Investiturstreites_, 1883. [433:1] Migne, vol. 144, p. 145; Vagler, _Peter Damiani_; Neukirch, _Das Leben des Peter Damiani_; Neander, iii., 382, 397; Hefele, iv.; Cooper, _Flagellation and the Flagellants_; Schaff, iv., 787. [434:1] _Cf._ Greenwood, bk. ix., ch. 4. [435:1] Bruno, _Vita S. Leonis IX._ [435:2] Mansi, xix., 705. [437:1] A large number of legends soon sprang up about Leo IX. [437:2] Bonizo, ii., 804; Muratori, iv., 403. [437:3] Harduin, vi., 1039. [437:4] _Ibid._; Bonizo, 806. [438:1] Greenwood, bk. x., ch. 1, p. 156. [439:1] Greenwood, bk. x., ch. 1, p. 160. [439:2] Henderson, 361. [439:3] Mansi, xix., 898. [439:4] Bowden, i., 200; Thatcher and McNeal, No. 59; Henderson, 361; Alzog, § 190. [440:1] Greenwood, bk. x., ch. 1, pp. 162, 163. [440:2] Alzog, § 194. [441:1] Bull _Postquam_, 1585. [441:2] Thatcher and McNeal, No. 58. CHAPTER XIX GREGORY VII. AND HIS WORK OUTLINE: I.--Condition of the Church in 1073. II.--Election of Hildebrand as Pope. III.--Gregory VII.'s matured papal theory and reform ideas. IV.--His efforts to realise his ideals. V.--The investiture strife. VI.--Conclusions. VII.--Sources. In 1073 the Church had been raised from the lowest condition to a comparatively high moral plane by the imperial reforms, the labours of earnest German Popes, the Clugniac reformation, and the Hildebrandine Popes. The papal crown was no longer the plaything of a Roman noble, nor the tool of the German Emperor, but had become largely independent of both and a mighty power in Europe. This change was due to the character of the Emperors and Popes, to the religious enthusiasm of the age, to the political confusion in Germany, and to the labours of Hildebrand, particularly in creating the College of Cardinals. A positive reform movement had also been started in the Church, but it remained to be continued and completed. The time, therefore, seemed ripe for the work of a great Pope like Hildebrand. For twenty-five years Hildebrand had been the power behind the papal throne. He had largely moulded the policy of eight successive Popes, he was the recognised champion of reformation in the Church, he had developed the constitution of the Papacy, he had managed the finances of Rome, he had become the greatest statesman and the shrewdest churchman in Europe, and he had formed a powerful party to champion his ideas.