Guido da Velate (died 1071) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1045 until his death, though he had simoniacally

Simony

Simony is the act of paying for sacraments and consequently for holy offices or for positions in the hierarchy of a church, named after Simon Magus , who appears in the Acts of the Apostles 8:9-24...

 abdicated in 1067. He had been chosen as successor to Aribert

Aribert, Archbishop of Milan

Aribert was the archbishop of Milan from 1018, a quarrelsome warrior-bishop in an age in which such figures were not uncommon....

 by the people in opposition to the choice of the noblesse and confrimed as archbishop by the Emperor Henry III.

Guido was the archbishop of Milan at a time when the Pataria

Pataria

The pataria was an eleventh-century religious movement in the Archdiocese of Milan in northern Italy, aimed at reforming the clergy and ecclesiastic government in the province and supportive of Papal sanctions against simony and clerical marriage...

 was gaining force in the city. Riot and unrest was a daily affair and Guido is reputed to have had a hand in much of it. He opposed the Papal reforms

Gregorian Reform

The Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, circa 1050–80, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy...

 and the Patarines who sought to outlaw clerical marriage and concubinage; he was a simoniac himself. Because he also refused to abide by the compromise of 1044, which would have limited his powers, he found himself at odds with the communards and the lesser nobility as well as the reform school.

After the death of Henry III in 1056, Hildebrand

Pope Gregory VII

Pope St. Gregory VII , born Hildebrand of Sovana , was Pope from April 22, 1073, until his death. One of the great reforming popes, he is perhaps best known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, his dispute with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor affirming the primacy of the papal...

, Anselm of Baggio, and Peter Damian

Peter Damian

Saint Peter Damian, O.S.B. was a reforming monk in the circle of Pope Gregory VII and a cardinal. In 1823, he was declared a Doctor of the Church...

 were sent to settle matters in Milan, but to little avail. The peace they brokered was broken incessantly until 1067, when Guido gave up his see and recommended the subdeacon Gotofredo da Castiglione

Gotofredo da Castiglione

Gotofredo da Castiglione was an Italian antibishop appointed by Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor to the office of Bishop of Milan. This began the Investiture Controversy, whereby Pope St...

 to the Emperor Henry IV (for a price). Guido was convinced by Anselm of Baggio, now pope, to repent of his abdication and return to his post. He died a few years later and Henry tried again (uncanonically) to appoint Gotofredo.

Sources

• Jordan, William Chester (2003). Europe in the High Middle Ages. London: Viking.