St. Leo IX
Bruno of Egisheim-Dagsburg · 1049 – 1054
Launched the great reform of the eleventh-century Church, combating simony and clerical corruption, though the East-West Schism of 1054 occurred during his pontificate.
Bruno was a German nobleman and bishop of Toul who became pope in 1049 at the urging of Emperor Henry III. Rather than simply accepting the imperial appointment, he entered Rome as a pilgrim and was acclaimed by the people. He traveled tirelessly across Europe, holding reforming councils that attacked simony and enforced clerical celibacy. He surrounded himself with able reformers, including Hildebrand (the future Gregory VII). The great East-West Schism of 1054 technically occurred after his death, but the failed negotiations with Constantinople that led to it began under his watch.
Why He Matters
Leo IX set the eleventh-century reform movement in motion. Without his energy and his willingness to travel beyond Rome, the great reforms of Gregory VII might never have happened. He changed what people expected a pope to be.