St. Gregory the Great, also called Saint Gregory I, (born c. 540, Rome [Italy]—died March 12, 604, Rome; Western feast day, September 3 [formerly March 12, still observed in the East]), pope from 590 to 604, reformer and excellent administrator, “founder” of the medieval papacy, … When Gregory VI died in 1047, Hildebrand entered a monastery where he remained until Leo IX called him to Rome to serve as treasurer of the church. This resulted in the break-up of the German empire, not reunited until the nineteenth century and in … Pope Gregory VII was the pope from 1073 to 1085. Henry's conduct toward the pope was meanwhile characterized by the greatest duplicity, and, when he went so far as to threaten to set up an antipope, Gregory renewed in 1080 the sentence of excommunication against him. Gregory VII played an important role in Europe during his time, and was a major contributor both before and after his election to the reform. Educated in Rome, Hildebrand was chaplain to Gregory VI, whose exile he shared. Gregory VII Born Hildebrand c. 1020 in Tuscany, Pope/St. He is best remembered for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy and the reforms he proposed which later became known as the Gregorian Reforms. Pope Gregory VII One of the great reforming popes, Gregory is perhaps best known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, which pitted him against emperor Henry IV. Gregory VII was the first pope to depose a crowned ruler, Emperor Henry IV St. Gregory VII, ; canonized 1606; feast day, May 25), one of the greatest popes of the medieval church, who lent his name to the 11th-century movement now known as the Gregorian Reform or Investiture Controversy. When discussing the biography of Pope Gregory VII, there are many key topics one must address. Gregory VII was one of the great church reformers. Counted amongst the greatest of medieval popes, he was beatified by Pope Gregory XIII in 1584 and canonized in 1728 by Pope Benedict XIII.