ABSTRACT
Henry III in 1046 had rescued the Papacy once again from the Roman nobility, and during his lifetime its independence was assured. The Election Decree was the Council’s greatest work, but even apart from that it would have been important. It passed decrees to establish the independence not only of the Papacy but of all the clergy from lay control. The treaty of Melfi was one of the most important events in European history. The alliance with the Normans gave the Papacy the temporal assistance necessary to ensure its independence, and at the same time the recognition of its suzerainty over South Italy and Sicily. After the great events of 1059 the remainder of Nicholas’s Papacy was less stirring. There was a Council at Rome in 1060, and legates were sent to enforce the Roman decrees elsewhere, especially in France. Philip I of France was more openly hostile, though he was too weak to make his opposition effective.
