A Pope and an Emperor Compete for Power

POPE GREGORY VII AND EMPEROR HENRY IV, Mutual Recriminations: The Investiture Controversy Begins (1076)

The investiture controversy centered on who had the right to appoint the officials of the Roman Catholic Church. In addition to being servants of the church, bishops and abbots were often great landowners. Because the clergy were the most extensive literate class, many royal or imperial officials were drawn from their ranks, and secular rulers sought to appoint men who were loyal to them. Those who were trying to reform the church from within, like Pope Gregory VII, argued that reform would be impossible if church officials owed their positions to secular rulers. Henry VI responded to the following admonition from Gregory with two letters: a brief reply to Gregory himself and the inflammatory version featured below, the latter of which he circulated throughout Germany in hopes of gaining the support of the people.

This selection has been omitted intentionally in this electronic edition.

From Maureen C. Miller, Power and the Holy in the Age of the Investiture Conflict: A Brief History with Documents (Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005), pp. 84–90.