The Council of Sutri (or Synod of Sutri) was called by Pope Gregory VI at the behest of Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor and opened on December 20, 1046. Gregory VI, né Johannes Gratianus, pope from 1045 to 1046, had earned a high reputation for learning and probity. ... Henry III (October 29, 1017 – October 5, 1056), called the Black, was a member of the Salian (sometimes Franconian) dynasty of Holy Roman Emperors. ... December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events First contact between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuks. ...

The council was called to resolve the confusion over the papacy. Gregory had, "in all good faith and simplicity", purchased the papacy from Pope Benedict IX in 1044. After the departure of Benedict, the Bishop of Sabina had also declared himself pope, [[Pope Silvester III]|Silvester III]. In 1045 Benedict, having not received his pay-off, returned to Rome and renewed his claim to the papacy. Each claimant had a number of supporters in the Roman church and held a portion of the city. Another faction in the church encouraged Henry III to intervene, both to resolve the conflict and to receive his crown from the pope in an official ceremony. Henry entered Italy in the autumn of 1046 and was met by Gregory at Sutri, some 40 km north of Rome. Benedict IX, né Theophylactus (c. ... Sutri (ancient Sutrium), a town and episcopal see of Italy, in the province of Rome, is picturesquely situated on a narrow hill, surrounded by ravines, a narrow neck on the west alone connecting it with the surrounding country. ...

The council summoned the three pontiffs and both Silvester and Gregory attended. The claims of all three popes were quickly dismissed. Silvester was exiled, Benedict resigned (apparently his words were:"I, Gregory, bishop, servant of the servants of God, do hereby adjudge myself to be removed from the pontificate of the Holy Roman Church, because of the enormous error which by simoniacal impurity has crept into and vitiated my election."), and the council ended on December 23. A form of the council was repeated in Rome the following day to oversee the dismissal of Benedict. On December 24-25 Suidger, Bishop of Bainberg, became the new pope, Clement II. Clement II, né Suidger of Morsleben (born Hornburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, 1005 - died October 9, 1047), pope (December 25, 1046 - October 9, 1047), son of Count Konrad of Morsleben and Hornburg and his wife Amulrad. ...

Benedict would again renew his claim to the papacy in 1047.

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