Science Fair Project Encyclopedia Pope Gregory VII On the death
of Leo IX he was sent by the Romans as their envoy to the German
court, to conduct the negotiations with regard to his successor.
The emperor pronounced in favour of Pope Victor II who again
employed Hildebrand as his legate to France. When Pope Stephen X
was elected, without previous consultation with the German
court, Hildebrand and Bishop Anselm of Lucca were sent to
Germany to secure a belated recognition, and he succeeded in
gaining the consent of the empress Agnes de Poitou. Stephen,
however, died before his return, and, by the hasty elevation of
Bishop Johannes of Velletri, the Roman aristocracy made a last
attempt to recover their lost influence on the appointment to
the papal throne: a proceeding which was dangerous to the Church
as it implied a renewal of the disastrous patrician régime. That
the crisis was overcome was essentially the work of Hildebrand.
Against Pope Benedict X, the aristocratic nominee, he supported
a rival pope in th