Investiture Controversy
Power struggle between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire during the late 11th and early 12th centuries; it began with a dispute about the lay investiture of bishops and abbots. Such prelates held land and often exercised secular as well as ecclesiastical functions; for this reason, lay overlords had an understandable interest in their appointment and frequently invested (formally presented) them with the symbols of their various offices.
Because Pope Gregory VII's condemnation (1075) of lay investiture immediately preceded his dispute with the German king and Holy Roman emperor Henry IV (reigned 1056–1106), historians have given to the quarrel and its aftermath the name Investiture Controversy; but the real conflict between Henry IV and Gregory, the main disputants, involved the issue of whether the pope or the emperor should dominate the church. The political results of their struggle, which generated civil war in Germany, were far-reaching. In Germany the power of the aristocracy, at the expense of the monarchy, was permanently enhanced, while in northern Italy the rise of the Lombard communes with papal support weakened imperial authority there. Gradually, the extreme papalists widened their opposition to any lay control over the episcopate. In 1106 Henry I of England renounced the practice of investing prelates with the symbols of their spiritual office, and in return the church conceded that homage to the king should precede episcopal consecration (thus ensuring that the candidate become the king's man before he became bishop). A similar compromise was effected by the Concordat of Worms (1122) between the emperor Henry V and Pope Calixtus II; and in Germany (but not in Burgundy or Italy) the emperor also acquired the right to have elections conducted in his presence.
Copyright © 1994-2002 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Sources
- Encylopedia Britannica 2002, Expanded Edition DVD
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