Comparing The Conflicts Between Henry IV And Pope Gregory VII

1428 Words6 Pages

During the Middle Ages, the church and state leaders had many conflicts but more specifically the Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich (Henry) IV and the Pope Gregory VII during the eleventh century. Popes during those times were the head of the Catholic Church and basically had the entire power over Europe and churches. The investiture controversy became known as the lay investiture controversy as one of the most important conflicts between the secular and religious powers in medieval Europe. This all started by one simple question, of who would have the control over the bishops and who had the most control of the state. However, Holy Roman emperors, had to struggle to keep/maintain their power in what is now Germany, facing many princes and dukes …show more content…

Henry IV and Gregory VII have a strong disagreement about power and authority. In the 11th century Pope Gregory VII excommunicated the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV. Their disagreement was about whom the right to appoint church officials. Henry was only twenty-five. He was passionate and ill-balanced, and little calculated to cope with a Pope of overweening pride and terrible severity. He was in no mood to yield up any of his authority, and he deposed the Pope. But Gregory was no German Pope, ready to bow to the commands of a German king. As Popes worked to increase their power, they often came into conflict with kings. For example, kings thought that they should be able to select bishops in their countries. But, Popes argued that only they could choose religious officials. The verse between the kings and popes was practically the fight over choosing bishops and abbots for the countries (local church …show more content…

Gregory died a year later when he was under protection. And Henry lived many more years but suffered a sad fate; when one of his sons removed him and imprisoned him but though he escaped, he died soon afterward. So as the world moved on, a new pope, Urban II inherited Gregory’s passion for papal authority. Urban II launched the First Crusade (1095-99) a war to recapture the Holy Land in Palestine from the Muslims that controlled it. So the pope build up the powers and the papacy became the center of political authority in Western

More about Comparing The Conflicts Between Henry IV And Pope Gregory VII