The Synod of Worms was an ecclesiastical synod and imperial diet (Hoftag) convened by the German king and emperor-elect Henry IV on 24 January 1076, at Worms. It was intended to agree a condemnation of Pope Gregory VII, and Henry's success in achieving this outcome marked the beginning of the Investiture Controversy.
In 1067 Archbishop Guido of Milan, facing the rising forces of the pataria reformers in the city, gave up his see. He recommended the subdeacon Gotofredo da Castiglione his successor, who, however, was excommunicated by Pope Alexander II. While Henry IV appointed Gotofredo in 1070, the patarines elected Atto archbishop. Three years later Pope Alexander II died and was succeeded by Hildebrand of Soana, who named himself Pope Gregory VII. An ardent proponent of the papal supremacy over Henry's emperorship, he promoted the Gregorian Reform as expressed in the Dictatus papae of March 1075, including the principle that the papal title is unique in the world and that it may even be permitted to him to depose emperors.
Nevertheless, when the pataria leader Erlembald died in April 1075, all signals pointed to reconciliation. Not until Henry IV again interfered in the Milan struggles and appointed Tebald da Castiglione archbishop, as well as bishops of Spoleto and Fermo, both on papal territory, the conflict escalated. In December 1075, Pope Gregory sent a harsh letter to Henry, threatening him with excommunication.
The assembly declared the Pope deposed and the bishops abandoned all obedience to him. Henry had a letter drawn up to Gregory, calling him 'Hildebrand the false monk' and demanding his resignation (descende, descende!). The demand was conveyed to Rome by the cleric Roland of Parma. Three weeks later, the Pope declared Henry deposed and excommunicated him. He released all his subjects from their oath of allegiance, which soon became a serious threat for Henry's authority. In October, the German princes gathered at Trebur and ultimately asked the king to reconcile with the Pope. In January 1077 Henry had to take the Road to Canossa, to salvage his kingship.
Pope Alexander II, born Anselm of Baggio, was the head of the Roman Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1061 to his death in 1073. Born in Milan, Anselm was deeply involved in the Pataria reform movement. Elected according to the terms of his predecessor's bull, In nomine Domini, Anselm's was the first election by the cardinals without the participation of the people and minor clergy of Rome.
Pope Gregory VII, born Hildebrand of Sovana, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
The Investiture Controversy, also called Investiture Contest, was a conflict between the church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops (investiture) and abbots of monasteries and the pope himself. A series of popes in the 11th and 12th centuries undercut the power of the Holy Roman Emperor and other European monarchies, and the controversy led to nearly 50 years of civil war in Germany.
The Humiliation of Canossa, sometimes called the Walk to Canossa or the Road to Canossa, was the ritual submission of the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV to Pope Gregory VII at Canossa Castle in 1077 during the Investiture controversy. It involved the Emperor journeying to Canossa, where the Pope had been staying as the guest of Margravine Matilda of Tuscany, to seek absolution and the revocation of his excommunication.
Guibert or Wibert of Ravenna was an Italian prelate, archbishop of Ravenna, who was elected pope in 1080 in opposition to Pope Gregory VII and took the name Clement III. Gregory was the leader of the movement in the church which opposed the traditional claim of European monarchs to control ecclesiastical appointments, and this was opposed by supporters of monarchical rights led by the Holy Roman Emperor. This led to the conflict known as the Investiture Controversy. Gregory was felt by many to have gone too far when he excommunicated the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV and supported a rival claimant as emperor, and in 1080 the pro-imperial Synod of Brixen pronounced that Gregory was deposed and replaced as pope by Guibert.
Victor IV was an antipope for a short time, from March to 29 May 1138.
Dictatus papae is a compilation of 27 statements of authority claimed by the pope that was included in Pope Gregory VII's register under the year 1075.
Bonizo of Sutri or Bonitho was a Bishop of Sutri and then of Piacenza in Central Italy, in the last quarter of the 11th century. He was an adherent of Gregory VII and an advocate of the reforming principles of that pope. He wrote three works of polemical history, detailing the struggles between civil and religious authorities. He was driven out of both of his dioceses, once by the emperor and once by opponents of Gregorian-style reform.
Saint Erlembald was the political and military leader of the movement known as the pataria in Milan, a movement to reform the clergy and the church in the Ambrosian diocese.
The pataria was an eleventh-century movement focused on the city of Milan in northern Italy, which aimed to reform the clergy and ecclesiastic government within the city and its ecclesiastical province, in support of Papal sanctions against simony and clerical marriage. Those involved in the movement were called patarini, patarines or patarenes, a word chosen by their opponents, the etymology of which is unclear. The movement, associated with urban unrest in the city of Milan, is generally considered to have begun in 1057 and ended in 1075.
Guido da Velate was the Archbishop of Milan from 1045 until his death, though he had simoniacally abdicated in 1067. He had been chosen as successor to Aribert by the people in opposition to the choice of the noblesse and confirmed as archbishop by the Emperor Henry III.
Gebhard III was Bishop of Constance and defender of papal rights against imperial encroachments during the Investiture Controversy.
Benno II was Bishop of Osnabrück from 1068 until his death. He served as a close advisor and architect of Emperor Henry IV. In 1080 he founded the Benedictine abbey of Iburg Castle.
Gotofredo da Castiglione was an Italian anti-bishop from 1070 to 1075, appointed by Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor to the office of Bishop of Milan. This began the Investiture Controversy, whereby Pope St. Gregory VII excommunicated Gotofredo over the issue of lay investiture.
The history of the papacy from 1046 to 1216 was marked by conflict between popes and the Holy Roman Emperor, most prominently the Investiture Controversy, a dispute over who— pope or emperor— could appoint bishops within the Empire. Henry IV's Walk to Canossa in 1077 to meet Pope Gregory VII (1073–85), although not dispositive within the context of the larger dispute, has become legendary. Although the emperor renounced any right to lay investiture in the Concordat of Worms (1122), the issue would flare up again.
Henry IV was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the son of Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor—the second monarch of the Salian dynasty—and Agnes of Poitou. After his father's death on 5 October 1056, Henry was placed under his mother's guardianship. She made grants to German aristocrats to secure their support. Unlike her late husband, she could not control the election of the popes, thus the idea of the "liberty of the Church" strengthened during her rule. Taking advantage of her weakness, Archbishop Anno II of Cologne kidnapped Henry in April 1062. He administered Germany until Henry came of age in 1065.
Tedald was archbishop of Milan from 1075 to 1085.
The Synod of Brixen was a church council held on 15 June 1080 in the episcopal city of Brixen. It was convoked by King Henry IV of Germany at the height of the Investiture Controversy to pass judgement on Pope Gregory VII. The synod issued a decree condemning the pope, demanding his abdication and authorizing his deposition if he refused. The synod also elected his successor, Wibert of Ravenna.
Rüdiger Huzmann was a German religious leader who served as the Roman Catholic Bishop of Speyer from 1075 to his death. He was born into an old Speyer family with Salian connections and before c. 1065 became a canon at Speyer Cathedral and head of the Speyer cathedral school.
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