 The militantly imperialist Benzone, Bishop of Alba, recorded in his "Ad Heinricum imperatorem libri VII" that Cencius worked to influence the election of Alexander II in 1061.However, despite all this, on 25 December 1075, Pope Gregory VII was kidnapped and imprisoned by Cencius while he was officiating in Santa Maria Maggiore.The pope was liberated by the people, but he accused the Emperor Henry IV of being behind the attempt.