Lay Investiture:
An epic conflict between The Papacy and The Roman Empire in the high middle ages
By: Graeme Earle
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Links: What Is Investiture? Lay Investiture was the ceremonial anointing of bishops by either the pope or the emperor, presenting bishops with a staff and a ring. The staff represented their duty as a shepherd for whatever community they were ruling, and the ring represented their marriage to the church. |
“Since we know that investitures have been made by laymen in many places, contrary to the decrees of the holy fathers, and that very many disturbances injurious to the Christian religion have thereby arisen in the Church, we therefore decree: that no clergyman shall receive investiture of a bishopric, monastery, or church from the hand of the emperor, or the king, or any lay person, man or woman. And if anyone has ventured to receive such investiture, let him know that it is annulled by apostolic authority, and that he is subject to excommunication until he has made due reparation.” The paragraph above, written by Pope Gregory VII in the year of 1075 in his Decree Against Lay Investiture sparked one of the most fierce battles between the Papacy and the Roman Empire ever seen. A pyre of conflict spanning 47 years raging above the ripe tinder piled since The Papal Election Decree of 1059. The Investiture Controversy ending with a compromise at Worms, Germany gave birth to the political power of the Catholic Church for the next 500 years.
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