GREGORY VI., pope from 1044 to 1046, who as Johannes Gratianus had earned a high reputation for learn-ing and probity, succeeded Benedict IX., having bought off the antipopes Sylvester III. and John XX. In a council held by the emperor Henry III. at Sutri, in 1046, he was accused of simony, and his election was found to have been informal. This led to his degradation, and was followed by his withdrawal into Germany, where he died in the following year (1047). He was succeeded by Clement II.