When Humbert was 15 years old, his parents sent him to the
Abbey of Moyenmoutier in
Lorraine as an
oblate destined for monastic life according to the
Rule of St. Benedict. When he came of age, he entered the Order and was later elected abbot of the monastery. He became friends with Bruno,
Bishop of Toul, who was elected
Pope Leo IX in 1048 and who brought the monk to Rome to assist him after his election. Pope Leo appointed Humbert
Archbishop of Sicily in 1050. He translated the
Greek letter into
Latin and gave it to the Pope, who ordered a reply. This exchange led to Humbert being sent to
Constantinople at the head of a
legatine mission with Frederick of Lorraine (later
Pope Stephen IX), and Peter,
Archbishop of Amalfi, to confront the
Patriarch Michael Cerularius. In his later years, Humbert was appointed librarian of the
Roman Curia by
Pope Stephen IX, his former legatine companion, and he wrote the reform treatise
Libri tres adversus Simoniacos ("Three Books Against the Simoniacs") (1057), which criticized those who bought or sold ecclesiastical offices (
simony), including kings, for whom it had been common practice. Humbert's argument that simoniacal ordinations and sacraments were invalid was refuted by
Peter Damian. Humbert is also credited as the mastermind behind the
1059 Election Decree, which decreed that popes would henceforth be elected by the
College of Cardinals. He traveled extensively throughout Italy in the later years of his life, in part due to the election of
Antipope Benedict X in 1058. He did, however, attend the
Lateran Synod in April 1059. Humbert died in Rome on 5 May 1061, and was buried in the
Lateran Basilica. ==References==