Investiture Controversy Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The Investiture Controversy was the most significant conflict between secular and religious authorities in medieval Europe. It began as a dispute in the 11th century between the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the Pope concerning who would control appointments of church officials (Investiture). It would eventually lead to nearly 50 years of civil war in Germany and the disintegration of the German empire, a condition it would not recover from until the reunification of Germany in 19th century.
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2 Investiture Controversy 3 Significance 4 Bibliography 5 External links 6 Sources |
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.
In 1075 Pope Gregory VII declared in the Dictatus Papae the elimination of the practice of investiture. By this time Henry IV of Germany was no longer a child and he reacted to this declaration by sending Gregory VII a letter in which he, in effect, removed Gregory VII as pope and called for the election of a new pope. His letter ends:
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 Canossa in northern Italy to meet the pope and apologize in person. As penance for his sins he dramatically wore a shirt made of hair and stood in the snow barefoot in the middle of winter in what has become known as the Walk to Canossa. 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 1081 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 Normans who were in southern Italy and they rescued him from the Germans in 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 1106 it did not end either because his son Henry V 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.
The dispute did not end with the Concordat of Worms. There would be future disputes between popes and Holy Roman Emperors until finally northern Italy was lost to the Empire entirely and the Church would turn the weapon of Crusade against the Holy Roman Empire under Frederick II.
This is an Article on Investiture Controversy. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Investiture Controversy Origins
Investiture Controversy
"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."
Significance
Before the Investiture Controversy Germany was one of the most powerful and united kingdoms in Europe. However during the 50 years that Germany was embroiled in the dispute with the Church it declined in power and broke apart. Localized rights of lordship over peasants grew, increasing serfdom and resulting in fewer rights for the population. Local taxes and levies increased while royal coffers declined. Rights of justice became localized and courts did not have to answer to royal authority. In the end, the results of the Concordat of Worms hardly made the damage done to the empire worth it. Bibliography
External links
Sources