Leo IX elected pope

February 12, 1049

The Alsatian reformer Bruno of Toul, chosen by Henry III at Worms, refused to be installed until Roman clergy and people confirmed him. He brought Hildebrand and a generation of reformers to the curia. Papal power was being reinvented from within, a revolution that would soon turn against emperors. Leo's insistence on proper election was itself a reforming act, signaling that the papacy would no longer simply accept imperial appointments.