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Prior to the Investiture Controversy church officials were, in practice, appointed by secular authorities. Even though official appointments should have been done by the Church, this was usually not the case in practice. It was favorable for the secular rulers to make the appointments, and not the Church, for a number of reasons. A lot of money was associated with the position of Bishop or Abbot and thus it paid materially to appoint someone loyal to the secular ruler. As well, Bishops and Abbots were often part of the secular governments, due to their administrative skills, and thus it was beneficial to appoint someone who is trusted as part of the secular government.
In addition the Holy Roman Emperor had the special ability to appoint the Pope. The emperor wanted to control who was Pope because it was the Pope who would appoint the next Holy Roman Emperor, so it was in the emperor's best interest to have a friendly Pope.
The ceremony of investiture consisted of the newly appointed Bishop or Abbot coming before the secular leader who would then hand over a staff and ring as objects of power granted to them.
A crisis arose when a group within the church, members of the Gregorian Reform, decided to liberate the church from the power secular leaders held over them through elimination of the investiture ceremony. However, the Gregorian Reformers knew it would not be possible so long as the Emperor maintained the ability to appoint the Pope, so the first step was to liberate the papacy from control by the Emperor. An opportunity came in the 1050s when Henry IV became Emperor at a young age, and the Gregorian Reformers seized the opportunity to free the Papacy while he was still a child and could not react. In 1059 a church council in Rome declared secular leaders would play no part in the election of popes, and created the College of Cardinals, made up entirely of church officials. The College of Cardinals remains to this day the method used to elect popes.
Once the papacy gained control of the election of the pope, it was now ready to attack the practice of investiture on a broad front.
"I, Henry, king by the grace of God, with all of my Bishops, say to you, come down, come down, and be damned throughout the ages."
In 1076 Gregory responded to the letter by excommunicating the king, removing him from the Church, and deposing the king. Henry IV was no longer king, and no longer king of Germany. This was the first time a king of his stature had been desposed since the 4th century. In effect both pope and king were saying to each other they were to be removed from office.
Enforcing these declarations was a different matter but fate was on the side of Gregory VII. It just so happened the aristocracy of Germany was happy to hear of the their kings deposition. They would use the cover of religion as an excuse for rebellion in order to gain material benefit by seizing royal powers. The aristocracy would use the opportunity to claim local lordships over peasants and property, to build castles which had previously been outlawed and to build localized fiefdoms and break away from the empire.
Henry IV had no choice but to back down because he needed time to marshall his forces to fight the rebellion in his kingdom. In 1077 he traveled to CanossaCanossa is a former castle of Matilda, Countess of Tuscany, situated in the foothills of the Apennines, in the province of Reggio Emilia and about eighteen miles from Parma. Going to Canossa is a term coined in European history as where a King must go in in northern Italy to meet the pope and apologize in person. As penance for his sins he dramatically wore a hairshirtA hairshirt is worn by some Catholics as a sign of penance; there were uncomfortable. They trace to the very early history of the Christian church and were worn by Jews before Christians. They are made of coarse cloth, generally goats' hair and are worn c and stood in the snow barefoot in the middle of winter in what has become known as the Walk to CanossaIn 1077, the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV, asked the Pope, Gregory VII, for forgiveness during the Investiture Controversy, a conflict inspired, at least in part, by Gregorian Reform. While the Emperor was travelling to ask pardon, Gregory believed that h. Gregory lifted the excommunication, however the German aristocrats who were rebelling, known as the Great Saxon Revolt , were not so easily going to give up the opportunity and they elected a rival king named Rudolf .
In 1081Events Corfu taken from Byzantine Empire by Robert Guiscard, Norman King of Southern Italy Byzantine emperor Nicephorus III is overthrown by Alexius I Comnenus, ending the Middle Byzantine period and beginning the Comnenan dynasty Alexius I helps defend A Henry IV was able to capture and kill Rudolf, and in the same year he invaded Rome with the intent of forceably removing Gregory VII and installing a more friendly pope. Gregory VII called on his allies the NormansThis article talks about the Norman people. There is also a city named Norman, Oklahoma in the United States. The Normans (lit. Northmen") were Scandinavian invaders (especially Danish Vikings) who began to occupy the northern area of France now known as who were in southern Italy and they rescued him from the Germans in 1085Events May 25 Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo, Spain back from the Moors. Domesday survey commissioned by William I of England to ensure proper taxation and levies. Births Deaths May 25 Pope Gregory VII 1085.. However the Normans managed to sack Rome in the process, and when the citizens of Rome rose up against Gregory VII he was forced to flee south with the Normans and died there soon after.
The Investiture Constrovery would continue on for several decades as each succeeding pope tried to fight the investiture by stirring up revolt in Germany. With the death of Henry IV in 1106Events September 28 Henry I of England defeats his older brother Robert Curthose, duke of Normandy, at the Battle of Tinchebrai, and imprisons him in Cardiff Castle; Edgar Atheling and William Clito are also taken prisoner. Balaguer, Spain, is captured fr it did not end either because his son Henry VHenry V Holy Roman Emperor, ( 1081 May 23, 1125) was the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. He forced the abdication in 1105 of his father, the emperor Henry IV and secured his own election as king, assuming the imperial crown in 1111. Despite i was also unwilling to give up investiture.
After 50 years of fighting finally a compromise was reached in 1122 known as the Concordat of Worms. Most significantly, it was agreed investiture would be eliminated, but it still provided room for secular leaders to have non-official but important input in the appointment process.