council · 1046 · Sutri
Henry III, crossing to Rome for his imperial crown, found three claimants to Peter's chair. The synod at Sutri deposed or accepted the abdication of them all, and a German reformer was installed as Clement II. The scandal's cure — emperor over pope — posed the question the Gregorian reform would spend a century answering the other way.
The Council of Sutri was called by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry III and opened on December 20, 1046, in the hilltown of Sutri, at the edge of the Duchy of Rome. The Catholic Church does not list this as an ecumenical council.
Three popes removed in a day; the empire clears the ground the reformers will build on.