What was the significance of the conflict between pope Gregory and emperor Henry?

Answer 1

The Investiture Controversy, to which you are referring, was important in establishing the relationship between Church and State. In those days, the Church prevailed to some extent, and Emperor Henry IV, who had been one of the most powerful men in Europe, spent the rest of his life trying to deal with people who were suddenly willing to give him problems.

The dominance of the Church over the state was largely an illusion, however. What it meant was that a pope could successfully threaten a king, but the problem was that the popes were without any military power and this made them vulnerable. If the popes threatened more than one monarch at a time, that vulnerability could be fatal.

Ultimately, any superiority the Church had over nations was lost with the Reformation, and the issue became entirely moot in the 19th century.
It is called the Investiture Controversy.
Gregory the 4th excommunicated the Holly Roman Emperor, Henry the 4th.
The conflict between Emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII was the early part of the Investiture Controversy. That controversy was continued by later kings, emperors, and popes.
Henry lV violated the pope's orders.
The main issue was the appointment of bishops, who in the Middle Ages were important political figures.

MoreThe dispute between Emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII was called the Investiture Controversy.

During the Middle Ages, the Church owned extensive property. Also, the bishops were regarded for some legal purposes as lords, and some bishops had extraordinary political powers. For example, three bishops were among the seven men who elected emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. The result was that the political authorities saw great importance in having bishops who were politically aligned with their interests.

There had always been a principle that the Church chose its own bishops, and the purchase of ecclesiastical authority was a sin called "simony." Nevertheless, secular authorities encroached more and more on the authority of the Church, and insisted on choosing their own bishops.

When Gregory VII became pope, he decided to put an end to civil authority over the Church. He decreed that only the Church had the right to install, transfer, or remove a bishop. Meanwhile, Emperor Henry IV continued to install his own men as bishops. When Henry installed his own chaplain as Bishop of Milan, after the Church had already chosen its own bishop, the pope excommunicated Henry. Henry went to the pope, and stood in a hair shirt, barefoot, in the snow, to show his apology was sincere, an act known as the Walk to Canossa. The pope lifted the excommunication.

The German nobles, however, saw Henry's excommunication as a opportunity to replace Henry, and raised their own man, Rudolph von Reinfeld, to the throne to replace him. Henry reacted by capturing and killing Rudolph and appointing his own pope, Clement III, to replace Gregory. Needless to say, Gregory excommunicated Henry again.

Henry got Norman allies, who controlled southern Italy, to attack Rome and sack the city. When this happened, the citizens of Rome were so angry with Gregory that he had to leave the city with the Normans for protection. He died soon after that.

The Investiture Controversy continued for a long time after Gregory died. Subsequent popes continued to stir up rebellion in Germany until Henry renounced his antipopes, and eventually his own son, who became Emperor Henry V, rose in rebellion in support of the pope.

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