Gregory VII, Henry IV & the Investiture Conflict
A Reformist Pope Battles a Powerful Emperor Over Church Authority
Dec 12, 2008
The Investiture conflict in the mid to late 11th century detailed the extent of church and state disagreements and tensions. The reformist pope, Gregory VII, directly challenged Europe’s kings over simony – the selling of ecclesiastical offices, and over lay investiture, the naming and investing of bishops and abbots by secular rulers, a prerogative claimed by rulers like Henry IV of the Holy Roman Empire and Philip I of France. The confrontation over who would appoint the next bishop of Milan, however, led to a bitter fight leaving Henry IV as victor.
Pope Gregory VII Asserts Papal Authority
Elected in 1073 as Gregory VII, the new pope viewed his role as Vicar of Christ on earth with full authority in all spiritual matters, even if they intersected with secular considerations. Defining his role in Dictatus Papae (Power of the Pope), Gregory VII asserted that:
- All princes shall kiss the feet of the Pope.
- That he [the Pope] may be permitted to depose emperors.
- That he himself [the Pope] may be judged by no one.
In the matter of the Archiepiscopal See of Milan, Henry IV supported a candidate through whom he could control Northern Italy. Milan’s bishop was also the civil ruler. The “See of Ambrose,” however, was also one of the most important bishoprics, second only to Rome, and thus represented a highly significant principle in matters of investiture. [1]
Unable to compromise, relations between emperor and pope deteriorated. In 1075, reacting to a letter from the pope, Henry convened a synod of German bishops and declared Gregory a usurper. The pope’s response was swift. In February 1076, he formally excommunicated the emperor: “…I bind him in the bonds of anathema…” [2]
Results of Henry’s Excommunication
The pope’s actions left Henry abandoned. As an excommunicated person, all feudal vows of obedience and homage were voided. Germany’s powerful princes and dukes seized the opportunity to support a rival and the bishops refused to challenge the pope’s actions. A Diet or assembly was proclaimed, to take place in Augsburg in 1077 to deal with the issue, with the pope presiding.
But Henry IV was shrewd and conniving. Surprising Gregory VII in December 1076 at Canossa, he stood in the snow barefooted, asking for absolution. The strategy worked. Gregory VII absolved the king, and the excommunication was lifted. This action voided the need for the Diet, as Henry returned to Germany, fighting a bitter civil war that allowed him to consolidate his power and emerge victorious.
The Defeat of Gregory VII
Deposing the pope in 1080 and entering Rome four years later, Henry IV crowned an anti-pope while Gregory fled to the fortress of St. Angelo. As Henry’s army withdrew from Rome, Norman knights, heeding Gregory’s call for assistance, entered the city and ravaged it. Much of the old Roman Forum that survived countless barbarian raids was destroyed. The knights took Gregory with them to the south of Italy where he shortly died.
The Investiture conflict would be resolved in later years only after other powerful popes like Urban II continued Gregory’s fight. By 1095 Urban II launched the first Crusade, uniting much of secular Europe in a cause that helped divert conflict from Europe to the Middle East.
Sources
[1] Brian Tierney and Sidney Painter, Western Europe in the Middle Ages 300-1475, 5th ed. (New York: McGraw Hill, Inc., 1992) pp. 235-245.
[2] Pope Gregory VII, “Excommunication of Henry IV,” The Roman Lenten Synod of 1076, Book III, 10(a), p. 268. Feb. 14020, 1076, in The Correspondence of Pope Gregory VII: Selected Letters from the Registrum, Ephraim Emerton, ed., (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1969), pp.90-91.
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