Introduction: The Investiture Controversy, which raged from 1075 to 1122, was a struggle between the papacy and the Western Empire, an empire that Otto I (known as the Great) had recreated in 962 but that essentially encomapssed only Germany and northern Italy. The controversy ostensibly centered on the issue of laylords investing high-ranking church leaders with their offices and the symbols of their spiritual powers - in effect, turning them into vassals. However, the issues were far more complex than that.
The immediate background to the Investiture Controversy lay in successful attempts to free the Roman papacy from the control of local Roman factions and to reform the moral life of the Roman clergy, especially of the pope. Emperor Henry III (r. 1039-1056) played a major role in this reformation from 1046 until his death in 1056. During that decade he appointed four successive reform-minded popes from the ranks of the German clergy. His death at a youthful age and the succession of a child as king of Germany created a power vacuum that allowed more radical clerical reformers to take increasing control of the now reformed papacy. The radicals blamed lay control of the Church and its priests for what they perceived to be the moral degeneracy of Christendom. Their argument was simple: The laity, by virtue of its immersion in the corruption of this world, corrupted clerics whenever and wherever it controlled them, even when the laypeople were pious emperors. The situation was ripe for a confrontation when the young Henry IV (r. 1056-1106) came of age and endeavored to assert traditioinal imperial rights over the Church, and the situation reached a point of crisis when one of the radical reformers, a man named Hildebrand, assumed the papal throne as Gregory VII (r. 1073-1085).
The first document, known as the Dictatus Papae (The Pope's Proclamation), appeared in the official collection of Pope Gregory's correspondence for March 1075 under the title "What Is the Power of the Roman Pontiffs?" It is clearly not a letter. The best informed opinion is that, in the normal course of events, each of the twenty-seven assertions in this list would have been supported by citations from the Bible and other authoritative sources. It was, in other words, the outline of a proposed collection of canons (church laws and traditions) that never was published. As sketchy as it is, the document provides good insight into the program and mindset of the papal party as the situation was beginning to heat up but before the controversy became full blown.
The second document is a letter of January 24, 1076, that Henry IV sent to Pope Gregory in response to the pope's letter of December 1075, in which Gregory had warned Henry to fall into line and to obey papal mandates regarding papal attempts to reform the Church or else be ready to suffer the consequences. Henry's reply, which was drafted at a council of imperial church leaders that Henry had convened at Worms, was the opening salvo in what became a half century war of words and swords.
The third document is Gregory's first excommunication (exclusion from the Church) and deposition of King Henry in February 1076. With his authority in the empire seriously undermined by this excommunication, Henry performed penance before the pope in January 1077 at the northern Italian fortress of Canossa and was readmitted into the Church, but soon thereafter he fell to quarrelling with the pope again. In March 1080 Gregory declared Henry once again excommunicated and deposed from his royal office.
Gregory's thundering proclamations could not prevent Henry from capturing Rome in 1084 and installing his own antipope. Pope Gregory, however, escaped capture and went into exile south of Rome, where he died, reportedly proclaiming "I have loved Righteousness and hated iniquity, and, therefore, I die in exile." Surely this was the confident cry of triumph of a self-professed martyr.
Gregory's confidence that his position would prevail was not as misplaced as it might first appear. Despite Henry's apparent victory, the controversy dragged on between the papal reform party, which elected its own successor to Gregory VII, and the imperial party and its antipope. Finally, with both sides exhausted, Henry IV's son and successor, Henry V )r. 1106-1125), entered into a peace treaty with Pope Calixtus II (r. 1119-1124), which history knows as the Concordat of Worms of 1122. The concordat, which is the fourth document, settled the issue over which the two parties had struggled so bitterly for so long.
1. That the Roman church was established by God alone.
2. That the Roman ontiff alone is rightly called universal. [The term Roman Pontiff refers to the pope. This sentence means that the pope alone has universal authority over all churches.]
3. That he alone has the power to depose and reinstate bishops.
4. That his legate [a papal representative who possesses delegated papal power], even if he be of lower ecclesiastical rank, presides over bishops in council, and has the power to give sentence of deposition against them.
5. That the pope has the power to depose those who are absent [from a council. And the pope can do so without giving them a hearing].
6. That, among other things, we ought not to remain in the same house with those whom he has excommunicated.
7. That he alone has the right, according to the necessity of the occasion, to make new laws, to create new bishoprics....
8. That he alone may use the imperial insignia [a claim based on an eighth-century forgery known as The Donation of Constantine. According to the forged donation, Constantine ceded to Pope Sylvester I the prerogative of wearing all imerial insignia, as well as giving him dominion over Rome, Italy, and all the western regions.
9. That all princes shall kiss the foot of the pope alone.
10. That his name alone is to be recited in the churches.
11. That the name applied to him belongs to him alone [he alone may bear the title pope. By tradition, the patriarch of Alexandria (in Egypt) also bore the title].
12. That he has the power to depose emperors.
13. That he has the right to transfer bishops from one see [a seat, or place of residence and authority, of a bishop] to another when it becomes necessary.
14. That he has the right to ordain as a cleric anyone from any part of the church whatsoever.
15. That anyone ordained by him may rule [as bishop] over another church....
16. That no general synod [a general, or ecumenical, council (also called a general synod), in which high-ranking clerics representing the entire Church meet and settle important matters, especially regarding doctrine. Such councils are considered infallible, because they speak and act under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit] may be called without his order [between 325 and 870 eight ecumenical councils convened. Each was held in the East under the authority of the emperor. As far as the Byzantine Church was concerned, the last ecumenical council met at Constantinople between 869 and 870. The West, however, has another view: In a moment of strength following the Concordat of Worms, the papacy would call its own ecumenical council, the First Lateran Council in 1123] may be called without his order.
17. That no action of a synod and no book shall be regarded as canonical [legal according to church (canon) law] without his authority.
18. That his decree can be annulled by no one, and that he can annul the decrees of anyone.
19. That he can be judged by no one.
20. That no one shall dare to condemn a person who has appealed to the Apostolic See [the Roman papacy - the bishopric, or see, of the Apostle (Peter)].
21. that the important cases of any church whatsoever shall be referred to the Roman Church.
22. That the Roman Church has never erred and will never err to all eternity, according to the testimony of the holy scriptures.
23. That the Roman pontiff who has been canonically ordained [legally elected and consecrated] is made holy by the merits of St. Peter....
24. That by his command or permission subjects may accuse their rulers.
25. That he can depose and reinstate bishops without the calling of a synod.
26. That no one can be regarded as catholic who does not agree with the Roman Church.
27. That he has the power to absolve subjects from their oath of fidelity to wicked rulers.
Henry, king not by usurpation, but by the holy ordination of God, to Hildebrand, not pope, but false monk.
This is the salutation which you deserve, for you have never held any office in the Church without making it a source of confusion and a curse to Christian men instead of an honor and a blessing. To mention only the most obvious cases out of many, you have not only dared to touch the Lord's anointed, the archbishops, bishops, and priests; but you have scorned them and abussed them, as if they were ignorant servants not fit to know what their master was doing. This you have done to gain favor with the vulgar crowd. You have declared that the bishops know nothing and that you know everything; but if you have such great wisdom you have used it not to build but to destroy. Therefore we beliee that St. Gregory, whose name you have presumed to take, had you in mind when he said: "The heart of the prelate is puffed up by the abundance of subjects, and he thinks himself more powerful than all others." [Pope St. Gregory the Great (r. 590-604), The Pastoral Rule]. All this we have endured because of our respect for the papal office, but you have mistaken our humility for fear, and have dared to make an attack upon the royal and imperial authority [actually, Henry had not yet been crowned emperor by the pope. He was only king of Germany and emperor-elect] which we have received from God. You have even threatened to take it away, as if we had received it from you, and as if the empire and kingdom were in your disposal and not in the disposal of God.
Our Lord Jesus Christ has called us to the government of the empire, but he never called you to the rule of the Church. This is the way you have gained advancement in the Church: through craft you have obtained wealth; through wealth you have obtained favor; through favor, the power of the sword; and through the power of the sword, the papal seat, which is the seat of peace; [Henry claims that Gregory had usurped the papal throne. There had been a slight irregularity when Gregory was elected pope. The people of Rome enthusiastically acclaimed the popular Hildebrand as pope before the cardinals, the official electors, had voted. The caardinals then elected Hildebrand pope, and he assumed the name Gregory VII.] and then from the seat of peace you have expelled peace. For you have incided subjects to rebel against their prelates by teaching them to despise the bishops, their rightful rulers.
You have given to laymen the authority over priets, whereby they condemn and depose those whom the bishops have put over them to teach them. [a reference to the fact that Gregory and other radical reformers within the papal party had called upon Europe's laity to reject sinful bishops and priests]. You have attacked me, who, unworthy as I am, have yet been anointed to rule among the anointed of God, and who, according to the teaching of the fathers, can be judged by no one save God alone, and can be deposed for no crime except infidelity. For the holy fathers in the time of the apostate Julian did not presume to pronounce sentence of deposition against him, but left him to be judged and condemned by God. [a reference to Emperor Julian the Apostate (r. 361-363), who rejected Christianity and attempted to reinstate state worhsip of the ancient Greco-Roman deities.]
St. Peter himself said: "Fear God, honor the king" [1 Pet. 2:17]. But you, who fear not God, have dishonored me, whom He has established. St. Paul, who said that even an angel from heaven should be accursed who taught any other than the true doctrine, did not make an exception in your favor, to permit you to teach false doctrines. For he says: "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" {Gal. 1:8]. Come down, then, from that apostolic seat which you have obtained by violence; for you have been declared accursed by St. Paul for your false doctrines and have ben condemned by us and our bishos for your evil rule. let another ascend the throne of St. Peter, one who will not use religion as a cloak of violence, but will teach the life-giving doctrine of that prince of apostles. I, Henry, king by the grace of God, with all my bishops, say unto you: "Come down, come down, and be accursed through all the ages."
St. Peter, prince of the apostles, incine your ear to me, I beseech you, and hear me, your servant, whom you have nourished from my infancy and have delivered from my enemies who hate me for my fidelity to you. You are my witness, as are also my mistress, the mother of God, and St. Paul your brother, and all the other saints, that your holy Roman church called me to its government against my own will, and that I did not gain your throne by violence; that I would rather have ended my days in exile than have obtained your place by fraud or for worldly ambition. It is not by my efforts, but by your grace, that I am set to rule over the Christian world which was specially entrusted to you by Christ. It is by your grace and as your representative that God has given to me the power to bind and to loose in heaven and in earth.
Confident of my integrity and authority, I now declare in the name of omnipotent God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that Henry, son of the emperor Henry, is deprived of his kingdom of Germany and Italy; I do this by your authority and in defense of the honor of your church, because he has rebelled against it. He who attempts to destroy the honor of the Church should be deprived of such honor as he may have held. He has refused to obey as a Christian should, he has not returned to God from whom he had wandered, he has had dealings with excommunicated persons, he has done many iniquities, he has despised the warnings which, as you are witness, I sent to him for his salvation, he has cut himself off from your Church, and has attempted to rend it asunder; therefore, by your authority, I place him under the curse. It is in your name that I curse him, that lal people may know that you are Peter, and upon your rock the Son of the living God has built his Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Calixtus, Bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his beloved son, Henry, by the grace of God emperor of the Romans, Augustus. [Pope Paschal II had crowned Henry V as emperor in 1111 during a time of momentary accord.]
We hereby grant that in Germany the elections of the bishops and abbots who hold directly from the crown shall be held in your presence, such elections to be conducted canonically and without simony [the sin of buying or selling anything sacred, including a priestly office] or other illegality. In the case of disputed elections you shall have the right to decide between the parties, after consulting with the archbishop of the province and his fellow-bishops. You shall confer the regalia [delegated royal powers] of the office upon the bishop or abbot elect by the scepter [the emperor (or ing of Germany) could invest the new prelate (literally, "one set before," therefore, a high-ranking cleric) with secular powers by touching him (or her, in the case of an imperial abbess) with the imeprial scepter], and this shall be done freely without exacting any payment from him; the bishop or abbot elect on his part shall perform all the duties that go with the holding of the regalia.
In other parts of the empire the bishops shall receive the regalia from you in the same manner wihtin six months of their consecration, and shall in like manner perform all the duties that go with them. The undoubted rights of the Roman Church, however, are not to be regarded as prejudiced by this concession. If at any time you shall have occasion to complain of the carrying out of these provisions, I will undertake to satisfy your grievances as far as shall be consistent with my office. Finally, I hereby make a true and lasting peace with you and with all of your followers, including those who supported you in the recent controversy.
In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity.
For the love of God and his holy church and of Pope Calixtus, and for the salvation of my soul, I, Henry, by the grace of God, emperor of the Romans, Augustus, hereby surrender to God and his apostles, Sts. Peter and Paul, and to the holy Catholic Church, all investiture by ring and staff. [the symbols of a prelate's office] I agree that elections and consecrations shall be conducted canonically and shall be free from all interference. I surrender also the possessions and regalia of St. Peter which have been seized by me during this quarrel, or by my father in his lifetime, and which are now in my possession, and I promise to aid the Church to recover such as are held by any other persons. I restore also the possessions of all other churches and princes, clerical or secular, which have been taken away during the course of this quarrel, which I have, and promise to aid them to recover such as are held by any other persons.
Finally, I make true and lasting peace with Pope Calixtus and with the holy Roman Church and with all who are or have ever been of his party. I will aid the Roman Church whenever my help is asked, and will do justice in all matters in regard to which the Church may have occasion to make complaint.