Who he was
Gerard, a Burgundian and former canon of Liège, was Bishop of Florence when Hildebrand and Duke Godfrey chose him to oppose Benedict X, set up by the Tusculan party. The cardinals elected him at Siena in December 1058 and he was crowned in Rome in January 1059. He remained Bishop of Florence as pope and died there in July 1061.
What he is remembered for
His Lateran synod of 1059 issued the decree that placed the election of the pope chiefly in the hands of the cardinals, to free it from the Roman factions and the emperor. The same year, at Melfi, he made the Norman leaders Robert Guiscard and Richard of Capua vassals and protectors of the Holy See. He also forbade lay investiture, and had Berengarius of Tours sign a renunciation of his errors on the Eucharist.
Sources
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