In a palace in Rome, a man sat deep in thought. There was a deep frown on his forehead, and everyone could see that his thoughts could not be so nice.

The servants tried to do their duties as quietly as possible. For Pope Gregory VII was not an easy man to get along with, especially if they disturbed him!

The Pope was thinking about the emperor in Germany, Henry IV. This emperor was still young, but he ruled in Germany as if he were the boss over everything. Surely he was the boss in his own country, the Pope knew that, but the emperor also wanted to rule the church. This made the Pope angry. He, Gregory VII, was the head of the entire church in all the countries, he was sitting on the throne of Peter, the apostle, and everyone should obey him, even the emperor of Germany!

It was his task to appoint bishops; in this way he could send some friends he could trust into the Ger­man churches. The emperor, how­ever, had appointed the bishops himself, so he could choose his own friends. Oh, yes, the Pope knew why he had done this.

The emperor ruled with a firm hand, and he demanded obedience from all his subjects. That was not to the liking of the German dukes and nobles. They wanted to remain in control themselves, and they did not want to become the emperor's pages. They did not want to allow him to push them aside just like that.

Certainly, they obeyed the emperor, because they had to, but they obeyed him with much resent­ment in their hearts.

The emperor knew that. That was the reason he appointed some of his friends to be bishops. Now he was not alone, and these bishops could help him in the struggle against those nobles.

Pope Gregory VII shook his head. Since he had become Pope in 1073, he had made one regulation after another. It was all for the well-being of the church. The rule that the priests were not allowed to marry anymore had met much resistance. But the words of the Pope were as good as what was spoken by the apostles. So the people had to obey. Lately he made the rule that only he could appoint the bishops, but – the emperor had ignored the commands of the Pope.

Gregory VII arose from his throne. His servants came towards him from all sides, reverently waiting for his commands. They saw that his dark eyes were full of anger.

Slowly the Pope walked outside to think about the problem. He was the Pope, he wanted to be obeyed, and he wanted to free the church from the world. Not Henry IV, but he, Gre­gory VII, should rule the church, also in Germany. But how?

Just recently the emperor had again appointed five men, and he did not want to discharge them. The only solution was to excommunicate the emperor and to choose a new ruler in Germany.

The Pope should be the boss!

In a palace in Germany, another man sat deep in thought. There was a deep frown on his forehead, and everyone could see that his thoughts could not be so nice.

The servants tried to do their duties as quietly as possible. For Emperor Henry IV was not an easy man to get along with, especially if they disturbed him!

The emperor was thinking about the Pope in Rome, Gregory VII. The Pope ruled in Rome, but he also wanted to rule anywhere else he could. But the emperor wouldn't let him! Oh, no! He was the ruler in Germany. The Pope wanted to appoint the bishops? Oh, no! Henry IV wanted to do that himself. In that way he could appoint trustworthy friends, who would help him against those unruly nobles who always were so dissatisfied.

The emperor frowned. This Pope was not an easy man. He made his rules and wanted to be obeyed, but Henry IV did not consider that at all.

He had recently appointed five new advisors, but the Pope had cancelled everything. At first the emperor thought, "Let's try to keep peace," and to please the Pope he had sent the new advisors away.

However, after a while, Henry IV regretted his decision to obey the Pope. He thought, "I won't do it after all. I am the boss in my own country, and I should be able to make my own decisions, also in the church."

He had sent for those men and had again appointed them. And then the Pope was very angry! He was furious! The Pope even threatened him, "If you do not send them away immediately, then I shall excommunicate you!"

Henry IV knew this, but he laughed about it. He knew how to handle it. He called his friends, the bishops, and in a meeting they deposed the Pope. So now Gregory VII was no longer a pope!

The emperor should be the boss!