Pope Gregory V

Bruno was a son of Otto I, Duke of Carinthia,{{sfn|Brooke|2014|p=438}} a member of the Salian dynasty who was a grandson of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, and his wife, Judith of Carinthia, most likely a member of the Luitpolding dynasty. He is the only pope who was born in modern Austria, and is sometimes referred to as "the first German pope" or as "the only Austrian pope;" German and Austrian identity was not formed at the time of Gregory's life.Gerhard Jelinek: Mutiger, klüger, verrückter: Frauen, die Geschichte machten, Amalthea Signum Verlag, 2020. (in German)Stephan Vajda: Die Babenberger: Aufstieg einer Dynastie, Orac, 1986, p. 26. (in German)

Bruno was the chaplain of his cousin, Emperor Otto III, who presented him as a candidate and arranged his election.{{sfn|Kalik|Uchitel|2019|p=35}}{{sfn|Baumgartner|2003|p=17}} Bruno was elected and succeeded John XV as pope, taking the name Gregory V{{sfn|Kitchin|1922|p=52}} to honour Pope Gregory the Great; he thus became the first pope to choose a regnal name for a reason other than avoiding a name that was too pagan or that of Saint Peter.{{sfn|McBrien|2000|p=164}} He is often counted as the first German pope (or the second if Boniface II, an Ostrogoth, is counted).{{sfn|McBrien|2000|p=138}} Following Otto's return to Germany, Gregory was forced to flee Rome, after the election of antipope John XVI, whom Crescentius II and the nobles of Rome had chosen against the will of Otto III.{{sfn|Baumgartner|2003|p=17}}

Politically, Gregory acted consistently as the Emperor's representative in Rome and granted many exceptional privileges to monasteries within the Holy Roman Empire. One of his first acts was to crown Otto III emperor on 21 May 996.{{sfn|Collins|2001|p=191}} Together, they held a synod a few days after the coronation in which Arnulf, Archbishop of Reims, was ordered to be restored to his See of Reims,{{sfn|Glenn|2004|p=109}} and Gerbert of Aurillac, was condemned as an intruder. King Robert II of France, who had been insisting on his right to appoint bishops, was ultimately obliged to retract his claim, and also to put aside his wife, Bertha of Burgundy, by the rigorous enforcement of a sentence of excommunication on the kingdom.{{sfn|Duckett|1988|p=130}}

Until the conclusion of the council of Pavia in 997, John XVI and Crescentius were in possession of Rome. The revolt of Crescentius II was decisively suppressed by Otto III, who marched upon Rome. John XVI fled, and Crescentius shut himself up in the Castel Sant'Angelo. The Emperor's troops pursued the antipope, captured him, cut off his nose and ears, cut out his tongue, blinded him, and publicly degraded him before Otto III and Gregory V.{{sfn|Levillain|2002|p=646}} When the much respected St. Nilus of Rossano castigated both the Emperor and Pope for their cruelty, John XVI was sent to the monastery of Fulda in Germany, where he lived until {{circa|1001}}.{{cite web| url = http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/72100| title = Agasso, Domenico. "San Nilo da Rossano", Santi e Beati, February 1, 2001}} The Castel Sant'Angelo was besieged, and when it was taken in 998, Crescentius was hanged upon its walls.

File:59-Gregorio-V.jpg

Gregory V died suddenly, not without suspicion of foul play, on 18 February 999. He is buried in St. Peter's Basilica near Pope Pelagius I. His successor was Gerbert, who took the name Sylvester II.

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |title=Behind Locked Doors: A History of the Papal Elections |first=Frederic J. |last=Baumgartner |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2003 }}
• {{cite book |title=Europe in the Central Middle Ages: 962-1154 |first=Christopher |last=Brooke |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 }}
• {{cite book |first=Eleanor Shipley |last=Duckett |title=Death and Life in the Tenth Century |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=1988 }}
• {{cite book |title=Politics and History in the Tenth Century: The Work and World of Richer of Reims |first=Jason |last=Glenn |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 }}
• {{cite book |title=The Papacy: An Encyclopedia |editor-first=Philippe |editor-last=Levillain |publisher=Routledge |year=2002 }}
• {{cite book |first=Richard P. |last=McBrien |title=Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to Benedict XVI |publisher=HarperCollins Publishers |year=2000 }}
• {{cite book |title= Slavic Gods and Heroes |first1=Judith |last1=Kalik |first2=Alexander |last2=Uchitel |publisher=Routledge |year=2019 }}
• {{cite book |title=Keepers Of The Keys Of Heaven: A History Of The Papacy |first=Roger |last=Collins |publisher=Basic Books |year=2001 }}
• {{cite journal |journal=The Catholic Historical Review |publisher=Catholic University of America Press |title=A Pope-Philosopher of the Tenth Century: Sylvester II (Gerbert of Aurillac) |first=William P.H. |last=Kitchin |volume=8| issue = 1, April |year=1922 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/i25006259 |pages=42–54}}

{{Commons category|Gregorius V|Gregory V}}

• [http://www.pilger-speyer.de/beitrag-aus-archiv/article/ein-salier-auf-dem-stuhl-petri/ Ein Salier auf dem Stuhl Petri], Online article on Gregory V, from the Diocese of Speyer's publication, Der Pilger {{inlang|de}}
• {{Geschichtsquellen Person|118697382|Gregorius V papa}} {{inlang|de}}

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{{s-hou|Salian dynasty ||972||999}}

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{{s-bef|before=John XV}}

{{s-ttl|title=Pope|years=996–999}}

{{s-aft|after=Sylvester II}}

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{{Popes}}

{{Catholicism}}

{{History of the Catholic Church}}

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Category:Popes

Category:German popes

Category:10th-century German clergy

Category:Salian dynasty

Category:970s births

Category:999 deaths

Category:10th-century popes

Category:Burials at St. Peter's Basilica