Investiture+controversy

Throughout the development of medieval Western Europe, the Catholic church went through various reforms and periods of renewal to state its power seperately from the governement. During the late 11th and early 12th centuries, one of the many arguments between the church and state dealt with investiture, or the state appointment of bishops. Pope Gregory VII quarreled with Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI on the state appointment of bishops in Germany, and he went so far as to excommunicate the emperor. Henry VI begged for forgiveness from the pope, ending the investiture controversy in the pope's favor. This dispute as well as many others between the church and state show the power, as well as the corruption, of the church in postclassical Europe through serious acts such as excommunication, in which a person is denied their sacraments. Threats of excommunication were commonly used by popes to get rulers to do what they wanted. However, the church was rigid in its wishes to remain clear of state interference as well as its beliefs in the superiority of the church over the government, producing a recurrent underlying idea in quarrels during this time period that eventually contributed to the Great Schism.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/292452/Investiture-Controversy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investiture_controversy

Unit 3 terms Created by Jaclyn Speer 10/22/08