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Investiture Controversy

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Origins

Prior to the Investiture Controversy, secular authorities performed the appointment of church officials. Since a substantial amount of wealth was usually associated with the office of bishop or abbot, the sale of Church offices was an important source of income for secular leaders. Since bishops and abbots were usually part of the secular governments, because of their literate administrative resources, it was beneficial for a secular ruler to appoint someone who would be loyal. Finally, the Holy Roman Emperor had the special ability to appoint the Pope, and the Pope in turn would appoint and crown the next Holy Roman Emperor. Thus the cycle of secular investiture of Church offices was ensured to perpetuate from the top down indefinitely.
(1050-1110)

 
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The crisis began when members of the Gregorian Reform, decided to address the sin of simony or the sale of religious positions, by restoring the power of investiture to the Church. The Gregorian reformers knew this was not possible while Emperor maintained the ability to appoint the Pope. The first step was to liberate the papacy from the Emperors control. An opportunity came in the 1050s when Henry IV became Emperor at a young age. 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.

 

                                                      Scandal

 

In 1075, Pope Gregory VII declared in the Dictatus Papae, that God alone founded the Roman church and only the papal power was the sole universal power. This meant that the pope alone could appoint, depose or move churchmen. This radical departure from the early medieval balance of power eliminated the practice of investiture. The divinely appointed right of monarchy, to invest a prelate with the symbols of power, both secular and spiritual was removed. Since Henry IV of Germany was no longer a child, he reacted to this declaration by sending Gregory VII a letter removing him as the pope and thereby called for the election of a new pope.

 

In 1076 Gregory responded to the letter by excommunicating the king. Henry IV was politically no longer the king of Germany nor Holy Roman Emperor. This was the first time a king of his stature had been deposed since the 4th century. In effect, the pope and the emperor each claimed to have removed the other from office causing a civil war between church and state.
      
 
                     Civil war after the investiture Scandal
 
Enforcing the declarations was a different matter, but fate was first on the side of Gregory VII. The German aristocracy was happy to hear of their king's deposition. They used the cover of religion as an excuse for a continuation of the rebellion started at the First Battle of Langensalza, in 1075. The aristocracy would claim local lordships over peasants and property, and build castles, which had previously been outlawed. They also built localized fiefdoms to break away from the empire.Henry IV had no choice but to back down, needing time to marshal 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 wore a hairshirt and stood in the snow barefoot, in what has become known as the Walk to Canossa. Gregory lifted the excommunication, but the German aristocrats, were not so willing to give up their opportunity. In 1081 Henry IV was able to regain his throne. In the same year he invaded Rome with the intent to forcibly remove Gregory VII. The pope called on his allies the Normans, who were in southern Italy, and they rescued him from the Germans in 1085. The Normans managed to sack Rome in the process. When the citizens of Rome rose up against Gregory he was forced to flee south with the Normans and died soon afterwards.

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