Road to Canossa
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The Road to Canossa or Humiliation of Canossa (
According to contemporary sources, he was forced to supplicate on his knees, waiting for three days and nights before the castle gate while a blizzard raged, "one of the most dramatic moments of the Middle Ages". The episode has spurred much debate among medieval chroniclers as well as modern historians, who dispute whether the walk was a humiliating defeat for the emperor or a "brilliant masterstroke".[2]
Historical background
The Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor had disputed the relative precedence of ecclesiastical and secular power since the spread of the Gregorian Reforms in the 11th century. When Gregory VII, acclaimed Pope by the people of Rome in 1073, attempted to enact reforms to the investiture process by his Dictatus papae decree, he was met by resistance from Henry IV. The king insisted that he reserve the traditionally established right of previous emperors to "invest" bishops, abbots and other clergymen, despite the papal decree.[citation needed]
The conflict became increasingly severe, after Henry had been able to suppress the
In response, Gregory
Journey
Gregory had also declared the
On the suggestion of his advisers, he arranged to meet with the Pope, who had set out along the path across the
At the castle
When Henry reached Matilda's castle, the Pope ordered that he be refused entry. Waiting at the gates, Henry took on the behavior of penance. He wore a hair-shirt, the traditional clothing of monks at the time, and allegedly walked barefoot. Many of his entourage, including the queen Bertha of Savoy and the prince Conrad, also supposedly removed their shoes. According to Lambert of Hersfeld and first-hand accounts of the scene (letters written by both Gregory and Henry in the following years), the king waited by the gate for three full days. Throughout this time, he allegedly wore only his penitent hair-shirt and fasted.[8]
Finally, on 28 January, the castle gates were opened for Henry and he was allowed to enter. Contemporary accounts report that he knelt before Pope Gregory and begged his forgiveness. Gregory absolved Henry and invited him back into the Church. That evening, Gregory, Henry, and Matilda of Tuscany shared communion in the chapel of Sant'Apollonio inside the castle, signaling the official end of Henry's excommunication.[9]
Whether Henry actually did formal
Historical impact
The immediate effects of the Canossa meeting were limited. Although Henry was restored to the Church, any expectations that the Pope would restore support of Henry's right to the throne were soon dashed;
In 1728, when Gregory was
Later in history, the event took on a more secular meaning: the rejection of its example came to stand for Germany's refusal to be subjected to any outside power (although still especially, but not exclusively, the
Modern usage
In modern usage, "going to Canossa" refers to an act of penance or submission. To "go to Canossa" is an expression that describes doing penance, often with the connotation that it is unwilling or coerced. For example, Adolf Hitler used the expression to describe his meetings with Bavarian Minister President Heinrich Held after being released from Landsberg Prison in 1924, in his bid to have the ban on the Nazi Party lifted.[14] In 1938 Sir Robert Vansittart called Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's meeting with Hitler at Berchtesgaden "like Henry IV going to Canossa all over again."[15]
It is used often in
References
- ISBN 978-383342323-9.
- ^ "The Walk to Canossa: The Tale of an Emperor and a Pope". Medievalists Net. 4 August 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
- ^ "Pontifex Maximus – Days of Glory and Papal Power | Religious Studies Center". rsc.byu.edu. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
- ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Conflict of Investitures". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
- ^ "Canossa: a medieval clash between church and state". HistoryExtra.
- .
- ^ Creber, ‘Women at Canossa' ‘Women at Canossa. The Role of Elite Women in the Reconciliation between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV of Germany (January 1077),’ Storicamente 13 (2017), article no. 13, pp. 1–44.
- ^ Account of Canossa From An Account of Canossa
- ^ This series of events is compiled by Zimmerman (see below) as the most likely, through comparison of original sources on the subject, including letters written by both Henry and Gregory to the German bishops and princes. For a discussion of this, and for other proposed time lines, see Zimmermann's chapter 5
- ^ Gregory had exacted an impossible promise that Henry would not assume imperial powers until permitted to do so by the Pope; a pro-papal chronicler referred to Henry's "pretended reconciliation" (I. S. Robinson, "Pope Gregory VII, the Princes and the Pactum 1077–1080", The English Historical Review 94 No. 373 (October 1979):721–756) p. 725.
- ^ Robinson 1979:721f.
- ^ "Gregory VII"[permanent dead link] in HistoryChannel.Com: Encyclopedia by John W. O'Malley, retrieved 11 July 2006.
- ^ For more discussion on cultural references to the Walk to Canossa, see Zimmermann, chapters 1 and 4
- ^ Kershaw, Ian. Hitler: 1889–1936: Hubris New York: Norton, 1998.
- OCLC 646810103.
Further reading
- Eduard Hlawitschka "Zwischen Tribur und Canossa" Historisches Jahrbuch 94 (1974:25–45).
- ISBN 978-0-307-27870-8.
- Hellmut Kämpf, Canossa als Wende. Ausgewählte Aufsätze zur neueren Forschung. Darmstadt, 1963.
- Karl F. Morrison "Canossa: a revision", Traditio 18 (1962:121–158.)
- Tilman Struve , Mathilde von Tuszien-Canossa und Heinrich IV."
- Harald Zimmermann (historian) , Der Canossagang von 1077. Wirkungen und Wirklichkeit. Mainz, 1975.
External links
- Media related to Walk to Canossa at Wikimedia Commons