Gregory VII fled and hid when a crowd shouted for him to be pope
During the funeral of Alexander II in April 1073, clergy and people in the Lateran Basilica began shouting that Hildebrand the archdeacon should be pope. Hildebrand promptly ran off and hid, signalling that such an irregular election was unacceptable. He was tracked down at San Pietro in Vincoli and chosen properly by the cardinals.
Hildebrand was born around 1015 in Sovana, in what is now southern Tuscany, reportedly the son of a blacksmith, and studied in Rome at a monastery on the Aventine Hill. For decades before his election he worked behind the scenes, serving as a papal administrator and legate, helping oust an antipope and becoming archdeacon, the most important figure in the papal administration. He also shaped the new church law that gave cardinals the sole right to choose a pope.
Whether the 1073 outcry was spontaneous remains debated. A supporter claimed it was started by Cardinal Hugo Candidus leaping into a pulpit, and critics later noted the election broke several rules, including one requiring a wait of three days after a pope's burial. Gregory's own early letters openly described what happened, which helped settle doubts, and a second election confirmed him.
As pope he launched what became known as the Gregorian Reform. He attacked simony, the buying and selling of church offices, and was the first pope to make celibacy mandatory for clergy, who had until then often married. Most provocatively, he declared that only the pope could appoint, move or remove bishops, which set off the Investiture Controversy with Emperor Henry IV.
The conflict escalated quickly. In January 1076 a synod at Worms, backed by Henry, declared Gregory deposed; in February Gregory excommunicated Henry and released his subjects from their oaths of loyalty. German princes and rebellious Saxons largely sided with the pope. Over the struggle Gregory excommunicated Henry three times, and Henry set up an antipope, Clement III. Denounced by some contemporaries as autocratic, Gregory was later hailed as one of the greatest popes and is venerated as a saint. He died in 1085.
Source: Pope Gregory VII
