High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Pope St. Gregory VII (c. 1015/1028 – May 25, 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana (Italian: Ildebrando da Soana), was Pope from April 22, 1073, until his death. One of the great reforming popes, he is perhaps best known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, his dispute with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor affirming the primacy of the papal authority and the new canon law governing the election of the pope by the College of Cardinals. He was at the forefront of both evolutionary developments in the relationship between the emperor and the papacy during the years before becoming pope. He was beatified by Pope Gregory XIII in 1584, and canonized in 1728 by Pope Benedict XIII as Pope St. Gregory VII. He twice excommunicated Henry IV, who in the end appointed the Antipope Clement III to oppose him in the political power struggles between Church and Empire. Hailed as one of the greatest of the Roman pontiffs after his reforms proved successful, Gregory was, during his own reign, despised by some for his expansive use of papal powers.Joseph McCabe, an untrained historian and avid opponent of ecclesiastical hierarchy, describes Gregory VII as a "rough and violent peasant, enlisting his brute strength in the service of the monastic ideal which he embraced." In contrast, the noted historian of the 11th century H.E.J. Cowdrey writes, "he {Gregory} was surprisingly flexible, feeling his way and therefore perplexing both rigorous collaborators...and cautious and steady-minded ones...His zeal, moral force, and religious conviction, however, ensured that he should retain to a remarkable degree the loyalty and service of a wide variety of men and women."