The Investiture Controversy was a long conflict between the papacy and the Holy Roman emperors over who had the right to appoint bishops and abbots, and to invest them with the symbols of their office. The dispute became acute when Pope Gregory VII, a leader of the Church reform movement, forbade lay investiture, and Emperor Henry IV refused to accept. The pope excommunicated Henry, who was forced to do penance at Canossa in 1077, and the struggle went on with rival popes and civil war in Germany. It was resolved in the early 1120s by the Concordat of Worms, which allowed the Church to choose bishops while the emperor kept influence over their worldly possessions. The conflict strengthened papal independence and shaped the relationship of church and state in the West.
Before and after
- 1067Construction of Wartburg
- c. 1067Origins of Minsk
- 1070Construction of Windsor Castle
- 1072Construction of Durham Castle
- from 1075 to 1124Investiture controversy
- 1077Rise of Anushtegin dynasty
- from 1077 to 1307Sultanate of Rum
- from 1079 to 1318House of Hohenstaufen
- 1079Birth of Peter Abelard
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- from 6 April 1453 to 29 May 1453Fall of Constantinople
- from 22 May 1455 to 16 June 1487Wars of the Roses
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 11th century.