Western History 75: What was the Investiture Controversy?

While the church claimed the right of the spiritual domain and the lay rulers the material world a broad overlap in areas of responsibility often precipitated a struggle of wills. In the 11^th and 12^th centuries several popes has challenged the authority of the state rulers. England’s Henry I was at loggerheads for a time with Pope Paschal II during the period 1103 to 1107, however the clash between Pope Gregory VII and the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV known as the Investiture Controversy was the most notorious of all of these standoffs.

The clash itself emerged from the reforms of an earlier pope Gregory I who sought to take power of clerical investiture away from the ruling secular powers (such as the Holy Roman Emperor). Pope Gregory VII went further by composing the Dictatus Papae which stated that the Church was under the control of God and that the Pope alone could depose of clergymen and move them throughout the Holy see. This action fell afoul of the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV who reacted with a harsh letter to the Pope and the subsequent appointment of his own chaplain as the Bishop of Milan.

What followed was a series of events that included the the twice excommunication of Henry IV, an internal revolt against the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry’s penance at Canossa, the election of an Antipope (Clement III), the invasion of Rome by Henry, the sacking of Rome by Gregory’s Norman allies and  finally Gregory’s flight from Rome that preceded his death.

The controversy would continue several decades later with Henry son’s Henry V clashing with the Papacy. The Holy Roman Emperor  was himself excommunicated, before the Signing of the Concordat of Worms eventually eased tension between  Rome and the Imperial Power. The Concordat was confirmed by the First Lateran Council in 1123.

Significantly the Investiture Controversy represented a high point in the struggle between the Papacy and the secular authorities. It reflected the strength of the Papacy as the dominant force in the Middle Ages but it also provided a view into the challenges that the Holy see would face in the centuries to follow with respect to its apparent monopoly of power.