council · 1049 · Reims
At the consecration of Saint-Remi's new basilica, Leo IX turned the assembly into a council and put the question of simony to each bishop in turn — depositions and confessions followed on the spot. The traveling reform councils of Leo's pontificate carried the new papacy's standards across the Alps; his legate to Constantinople five years later carried its temper.
Reims, located in the north-east of modern France, hosted several councils or synods in the Roman Catholic Church. These councils did not universally represent the church and are not counted among the official ecumenical councils.
Reform arrives in person: Leo IX asks every bishop present how he got his see.