Pope Gregory VI (; died 1048), born Giovanni Graziano (John Gratian) in Rome (), was bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 May 1045 until his resignation at the Council of Sutri on 20 December 1046.
Accession
thumb|Gratian, later Gregory VI, was [[archpriest of San Giovanni a Porta Latina (the church exterior has changed little since his day).]]
Gratian, the archpriest of St. John by the Latin Gate, was a man of great reputation for uprightness of character. He was also the godfather of Pope Benedict IX, who, at the age of twenty, was foisted on the papacy by his powerful family, the Theophylacti, counts of Tusculum. Benedict IX, wishing to marry and vacate the position into which he had been thrust by his family, consulted his godfather as to whether he could resign the pontificate. When he was convinced that he might do so, he offered to give up the papacy into the hands of his godfather if he would reimburse him for his election expenses. Desirous of ridding the See of Rome of such an unworthy pontiff, John Gratian paid him the money and was recognized as Pope in his stead.
The accession of John Gratian, who took the name Gregory VI, did not bring peace, though it was hailed with joy even by such a strict upholder of the right as Peter Damian. When Benedict IX left the city after selling the papacy, there was already another aspirant to the Roman see in the field. John, bishop of Sabina, had been hailed as Pope Sylvester III by the faction of the nobility that had driven Benedict IX from Rome in 1044, and had then installed him in his place. Though Benedict IX soon returned, and forced Sylvester III to retire to his See of Sabina, Sylvester never gave up his claims to the papal throne, and through his political allies contrived apparently to keep some hold on a portion of Rome.