Walk to Canossa
Gregory had perhaps been inspired by his victory over the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV in the Walk to Canossa that year. In his letter he promised to send two legates to Spain, Bishop Amadeus of Olorón and Abbot Frotard of Saint-Pons-de-Thomiéres. It is certain that these legates never entered Alfonso's kingdom, although they were in Catalonia in late 1077 and early 1078, and that the king and his ally, Abbot Hugh I of Cluny, requested another legate. In a papal letter dated 7 May 1078 Gregory confirmed that he was sending Cardinal Richard to Castile "as the King of Spain has asked and your counsel has desired" ("sicut rex Hispaniae rogavit et vos consilium dedistis"). Alfonso had already been described as "King of the Spains" ("Hispaniarum rex") in a letter to Hugh of Cluny on 10 July 1077.