The Investiture Controversy, also referred to as the Investiture Contest or Investiture Dispute, was a conflict lasting from 1076 to 1122 between the papacy of the Catholic Church and the Salian Dynasty of German monarchs who ruled the Holy Roman Empire. The papal-imperial conflict was focused on the appointment of bishops, priests, and monastic officials through the practice of lay investiture, in which these church officials were selected for their positions and installed through the exchange of the vestments and physical symbols of the respective offices by secular rulers rather than by the pope. The dispute was largely an ideological one between the coalitions of Pope Gregory VII (r. 1073-1085) and Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1084-1105) and the King of the Germans (r. 1056-1105), although the conflict persisted beyond their deaths and had political ramifications for centuries to come.
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Timeline
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Dec 1046Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor deposes three rival popes at the Synod of Sutri and selects Bishop Suidger of Bamberg for papal installation as Pope Clement II.
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22 Apr 1073 - 25 May 1085Papacy of Gregory VII.
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1076 - 1122The Investiture Controversy between the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy over the practice of lay investiture.
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Jan 1076Synod of Worms; Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor and his supporters renounce Pope Gregory VII and call for his abdication, initiating the Investiture Controversy.
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Feb 1076First excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Gregory VII.
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Jan 1077Walk to Canossa; Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor seeks the absolution of Pope Gregory VII at Canossa, during the Investiture Controversy.
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Mar 1080Second excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Gregory VII.
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1122The Concordat of Worms defines the secular and religious aspects of lay investiture, concluding the dispute of Investiture Controversy.
