Documents Relating to the War of the Investitures

Letter of Gregory VII. to Henry IV., December 1075

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Gregory, servant of the servants of God, to King Henry, greeting and
apostolic benediction:-that is, if he be obedient to the apostolic chair as bese
ems a Christian king. Considering and carefully weighing with what strict judgme
nt we shall have to render account for the ministry entrusted to us by St. Peter
, chief of the apostles, it is with hesitation that we have sent unto thee the a
postolic benediction. For thou art said knowingly to exercise fellowship with th
ose excommunicated by a judgment of the apostolic chair, and by sentence of a sy
nod. If this be true, thou dost know thyself that thou may'st receive the favour
neither of the divine nor of the apostolic benediction unless-those who have be
en excommunicated being separated from thee, and compelled to do penance- thou d
o first, with condign repentance and satisfaction' seek absolution and indulgenc
e for the transgression. Therefore we counsel thy Highness that, if thou dost fe
el thyself guilty in this matter, thou do seek the advice of some canonical bish
op with speedy confession. Who, with our permission enjoining on thee a proper p
enance for this fault, shall absolve thee and shall endeavour by letter to intim
ate to us truly, with thy consent, the measure of thy penitence.
For the rest it seems strange enough to us that, although thou dost transmit
to us so many and such devoted letters; and although thy Highness dost show suc
h humility through the words of thy legates-calling thyself the son of holy moth
er church and of ourselves, subject in the faith, one in love, foremost in devot
ion;-although, finally, thou dost commend thyself with all the devotion of sweet
ness and reverence: thou dost, however, at heart and in deeds most stubborn, sho
w thyself contrary to the canonical and apostolic decrees in those things which
the religion of the church enjoins as the chief ones. For, not to mention other
things, in the affair of Milan the actual outcome of the matter shows plainly ho
w thou didst carry out-and with what intent thou didst make them-the promises ma
de to us through thy mother and through our confreres the bishops whom we sent t
o thee. And now, indeed, inflicting wound upon wound, contrary to the establishm
ents of the apostolic chair, thou host given the churches of Fermo and Spoleto-i
f indeed a church could be given or granted by a man-to certain persons not even
known to us. On whom, unless they are previously well known and proven, it is n
ot lawful even regularly to perform the laying on of hands. .
Since thou dost confess thyself a son of the church it would have beseemed t
hy royal dignity to look more respectfully upon the master of the church,-that i
s, St. Peter, the chief of the apostles. To whom, if thou art of the-Lord's shee
p, thou west given over by the Lord's voice and authority to be fed; Christ Hims
elf saying: " Peter, feed my sheep." And again: " To thee are given over the key
s of the kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth shall be b
ound also in Heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth shall be loosed
also in Heaven." Inasmuch as in his seat and apostolic ministration we, however
sinful and unworthy, do act as the representative of his power: surely he himsel
f has received whatever, through writing or in bare words, thou host sent to us.
And at the very time when we are either perusing the letters or listening to th
e voices of those who speak, he himself is discerning, with subtile inspection,
in what spirit the instructions were issued. Wherefore thy Highness should have
seen to it that no discrepancy of good will should have been found towards the a
postolic chair in thy words and messages. And, in those things through which the
Christian faith and the state of the church chiefly progress towards eternal sa
lvation, thou should'st not have denied the reverence due, not to us, but to God
Almighty-disregarding the fact that the Lord saw fit to say to the apostles and
their successors: " Who hears you, hears me; and who scorns you, scorns me." Fo
r we know that he who does not refuse to show faithful obedience to God, does no
t scorn to observe our commands-even as if he had heard them from the lips of th
e apostle himself- and the things which, following the decrees of the holy fathe
rs, we may have said. For if, out of reverence for the chair of Moses, the Lord
ordered the apostles to observe whatever the scribes and Pharisees sitting above
them should say: it is not to be doubted but that the apostolic and evangelic t
eaching, the seat and foundation of which is Christ, should be receded-and obser
ved-by the faithful with all veneration from the lips of those who have been cho
sen for the service of preaching.
In this year, indeed,-a synod being assembled around the apostolic chair, ov
er which the heavenly dispensation willed that we should preside; at which, more
over, some of thy faithful subjects were present: seeing that the good order of
the Christian religion has now for some time been falling away, and that the chi
ef and proper methods of gaining souls had long fallen into abeyance and, the de
vil persuading, been trampled under foot, we, struck by the danger and the clear
ly approaching ruin of the Lord's flock, reverted to the decrees and to the teac
hings of the holy fathers-decreeing nothing new, nothing of our own invention. W
e did decree, however, that, error being abandoned, the first and only rule of e
cclesiastical discipline was again to be followed, and the well-worn way of the
saints to be re-sought. Nor indeed do we know of any other entrance to salvation
and eternal life which lies open to the sheep of Christ and their shepherds, sa
ve the one which, as we have learned in the gospel and in every page of the divi
ne Scriptures, was shown by Him who said: " I am the door, he who entereth throu
gh me shall be saved and shall find pasture," was preached by the apostles and f
ollowed by the holy fathers. This decree, moreover, which some, preferring human
to divine honours, do call an unbearable weight and immense burden-we however,
by a more suitable name, as a necessary truth and light for regaining salvation-
we did judge should be devoutly received and observed not only by thee and by th
ose of thy kingdom, but by ail the princes and peoples of the world who confess
and cherish Christ. Although we much desired, and it would have most beseemed th
ee that, as thou dost surpass others in glory, honour and velour, so thou should
'st be superior in thy devotion to Christ. Nevertheless, lest these things shoul
d seem beyond measure burdensome or wrong to thee, we did send word to thee thro
ugh thy faithful servants that the changing of an evil custom should not alarm t
hee; that thou should'st send to us wise and religious men from thy land, who, i
f they could, by any reasoning, demonstrate or prove in what, saving the honour
of the Eternal King and without danger to our souls, we might moderate the decre
e as passed by the holy fathers, we would yield to their counsels. In which matt
er, indeed, even though thou had'st not been so amicably admonished by us, it wo
uld nevertheless have been but light that, before thou did'st violate apostolic
decrees, thou should'st, by negotiation, make demands from us in cases where we
oppressed thee or stood in the way of thy prerogatives. But of how Much worth th
ou did'st consider either our commands or the observance of justice, is shown by
those things which were afterwards done and brought about by thee.
But since, inasmuch as the still long-suffering patience of God invites thee
to amend thy ways, we have hopes that, thy perception being increased, thy hear
t and mind can be bent to the obedience of the mandates of Clod: we warn thee wi
th paternal love, that, recognizing over thee the dominion of Christ, thou do re
flect how dangerous it is to prefer shine own honour to His; and that thou do no
t impede, by thy present detraction from it, the liberty of the church which He
considered worthy to join to Himself as His spouse in celestial union; but that
thou do begin, with faithful devotion to lend it the aid of thy velour, in order
that it may best increase to the honour of God Almighty and of St. Peter; by wh
om also thy glory may deserve to be increased. All of which, in return for the v
ictory recently conferred upon thee over thy enemies, thou should'st recognize t
o be now most clearly due from thee to them; so that, when they reward thee with
noteworthy prosperity, they may see thee the more devout for the benefits grant
ed. And, in order that the fear of God, in whose hand and power is every kingdom
and empire, may remain fixed in the heart more deeply than our admonition, bear
in mind what happened to Saul after the victory which, by the prophet's order,
he enjoyed; and how he was chidden by God when he boasted of his victory, not ca
rrying out the commands of that same prophet; but what favour followed David for
the merit of humility amid the distinctions of velour.
Finally, as to the things which we have seen and noted in thy letter we keep
silent; nor will we give thee a sure reply until thy legates, Rapoto, Aldepreth
and Udescalc, and those whom we sent with them shall return to us and more full
y reveal thy will to us in those matters which we entrusted to them to treat of
with thee.
Given at Home on the 6th day before the Ides of January, in the 14th indicti
on.
Source:
Henderson, Ernest F.
Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages
London : George
Documents Relating
Belltoand
theSons,
War of1896.
the Investitures
Henry IV.'s Answer to Gregory VII., Jan. 24,1076
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king not through usurpation but through the holy ordination of God, t
o Hildebrand, at present not pope but false monk. Such greeting as this hast tho
u merited through thy disturbances, inasmuch as there is no grade in the church
which thou hast omitted to make a partaker not of honour but of confusion, not o
f benediction but of malediction. For, to mention few and especial cases out of
many, not only hast thou not feared to lay hands upon the rulers of the holy chu
rch, the anointed of the Lord- the archbishops, namely, bishops and priests-but
thou hast trodden them under foot like slaves ignorant of what their master is d
oing. Thou hast won favour from the: common herd by crushing them; thou hast loo
ked upon all of them as knowing nothing? upon thy sole self, moreover, as knowin
g all things. This knowledge, however, thou hast used not for edification but fo
r destruction; so that with reason we believe that St. Gregory, whose name: thou
hast usurped for thyself, was prophesying concerning thee when he said: " The p
ride of him who is in power increases the more, the greater the number of those
subject to him; and he thinks that he himself can do more than all." And we, ind
eed, have endured all this, being eager to guard the honour of the apostolic see
; thou, however, hast understood our humility to be fear, and hast not, accordin
gly, shunned to rise up against the royal power conferred upon us by God, daring
to threaten to divest us of it. As if we had received our kingdom from thee ! A
s if the kingdom and the empire were in shine and not in God's hand! And this al
though our Lord Jesus Christ did call us to the kingdom, did not, however, call
thee to the priesthood. For thou hast ascended by the following steps. By wiles,
namely, which the profession of monk abhors, thou hast achieved money; by money
, favour; by the sword, the throne of peace. And from the throne of peace thou h
ast disturbed peace, inasmuch as thou hast armed subjects against those in autho
rity over them; inasmuch as thou, who wert not called, hast taught that our bish
ops called of God are to be despised; inasmuch an thou hast usurped for laymen t
he ministry over their priests, allowing them to depose or condemn those whom th
ey themselves had received as teachers from the hand of God through the laying o
n of hands of the bishops. On me also who, although unworthy to be among the ano
inted, have nevertheless been anointed to the kingdom, thou hast lain thy hand;
me who-as the tradition of the holy Fathers teaches, declaring that I am not to
be deposed for any crime unless, which God forbid, I should have strayed from th
e faith-am subject to the judgment of God alone. For the wisdom of the holy fath
ers committed even Julian the apostate not to themselves, but to God alone, to b
e judged and to be deposed. For himself the true pope, Peter, also exclaims: "Fe
ar God, honour the king." But thou who dost not fear God, dost dishonour in me h
is appointed one. Wherefore St. Paul, when he has not spared an angel of Heaven
if he shall have preached otherwise, has not excepted thee also who dost teach o
therwise upon earth. For he says: " If any one either I or an angel from Heaven,
should preach a gospel other than that which has been preached to you, he shall
be damned. Thou, therefore, damned by this curse and by the judgment of all our
bishops and by our own, descend and relinquish the apostolic chair which thou h
ast usurped. Let another ascend the throne of St. Peter, who shall not practice
violence under the cloak of religion, but shall teach the sound doctrine of St.
Peter. I Henry, king by the grace of God, do say unto thee, together with all ou
r bishops: Descend, descend to be damned throughout the ages.
Source:
Henderson, Ernest F.
Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages
London : George
Documents Relating
Belltoand
theSons,
War of1896.
the Investitures
Letter of the Bishops to Gregory VII; January 24, 1076
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archbishop of Mains, Udo of Treves, William of Utrecht, Herrman of
Metz, Henry of Laudun, Ricbert of Verdun, Bibo of Touls, Hozemann of Spires, Bu
rkhard of Halberstadt, Werner of Strasburg, Burkhard of Basel, Otto of Constance
, Adalbero of Wurzburg, Rodbert of Bamberg, Otto of Ratisbon, Ellinard of Frisin
g, Odalric of Eichstadt, Frederick of Munster, Filbert of Minden Hezil of Hildes
heim, Benno of Osnabruck, Eppo of Naples, Imadus of Paderborn, Tiedo of Brandenb
urg, Burkhard; of Lausanne, Bruno of Verona: to brother Hildebrand.
Although it was well known to us, when thou didst first invade the helm of t
he church, what an unlawful and nefarious thing thou, contrary to right and just
ice, west presuming with thy well-known arrogance to do: we nevertheless thought
best to veil the so vicious beginnings of thy elevation by a certain excusatory
silence; hoping, namely, that such wicked commencements would be rectified, and
to some degree obliterated by the probity and zeal of the rest of thy reign. Bu
t now, as the lamentable state of the church universal proclaims and bemoans, th
ou dost, with pertinacious continuance, fulfill the promises of thy evil beginni
ngs through the still worse progress of thy actions and decrees. For although ou
r Lord and Saviour impressed upon his faithful followers the special advantages
of peace and charity-in testimony of which too many proofs exist to be comprised
in the extent of a letter -thou, on the contrary, striving after profane novelt
ies' delighting more in a widely known than in a good name, being swelled with u
nheard of pride, host, like a standardbearer of schism, torn with proud cruelty
and cruel pride all the members of the church, which, following the apostle, wer
e enjoying a quiet and tranquil life before thy times. Thou host, with raging ma
dness, scattered through all the churches of Italy, Germany, Gaul and Spain the
flame of discord which, through thy ruinous factions, thou didst start in the Ro
man church. For by taking away from the bishops, as well as thou west able, all
the power which is known to have been divinely conferred upon them through the g
race of the holy Spirit, which chiefly manifests itself in ordinations; and by g
iving over to the fury of the people all the administration of ecclesiastical af
fairs -seeing that now no one is bishop or priest over any one unless he has bou
ght this by most unworthy assent from thy magnificence-thou hast disturbed, with
wretched confusion, all the vigour of the apostolic institution and that most b
eautiful distribution of the members of Christ which the Teacher of the nations
so often commends and inculcates. And thus, through these thy boasted decrees, -
we can not speak of it without tears-the name of Christ has almost perished. Who
, moreover, for the very indignity of the thing, is not astounded that thou shou
ld'st usurp and arrogate to thyself a certain new and unlawful power in order to
destroy rights which are the due of the whole brotherhood ? For thou dost asser
t that no one of us shall have any further power of binding or loosing any one o
f our parishioners whose crime, or even the mere rumour of it, shall reach thee-
save thou alone, or him whom thou dost especially delegate for this purpose. Wha
t man that is learned in the sacred Scriptures does not see the more than madnes
s of this decree ? Since, therefore, we have decided that it is worse than any e
vil longer to tolerate that the church of Clod should be so seriously endangered
-nay, almost ruined-through these and other workings of thy presumptions,-we hav
e agreed, by common consent of all of us, to make known to thee that about which
we have hitherto kept silent: why it is that thou neither now may'st, nor at an
y time could'st preside over the apostolic see. Thou thyself, in the time of the
emperor Henry (III.) of blessed memory, did'st bind thyself by an oath in perso
n, never while that emperor lived, or his son our master the most glorious king
who is now at the head of affairs, thyself to accept the papacy, or, so far as t
hou could'st prevent it, to permit any one else to receive it without the assent
and approbation either of the father during his life, or of the son so long as
he too should live. And there are very many bishops who can to-day bear witness
to this oath, having seen it at that time with their eyes and heard it with thei
r ears. Remember this also, how, when the ambition of securing the papacy tickle
d some of the cardinals, thou thyself, in order to remove rivalry, did'st bind t
hyself by an oath, on the condition and with the understanding that they should
do the same, never to accept the papacy. See how faithfully thou best observed b
oth these oaths ! Moreover, when, in the time of pope Nicholas, a synod was held
 with 125 bishops in session, this was established and decreed: that no one shou
ld ever become pope except by election of the cardinals, with the approbation of
the people and through the consent and authority of the king. And thou thyself
west the author, the sponsor and the signer of this decree. Furthermore thou has
t filled the whole church, as it were with the in odour of a most grave charge c
oncerning the too familiar living together and cohabitation with a strange woman
. By which thing our sense of shame suffers more than our cause, although this g
eneral complaint has resounded every where: that all the decrees of the apostoli
c see have been set in motion by women-in a word, that through this new senate o
f women the whole circle of the church is administered. For no amount of complai
ning suffices concerning the injuries and insults against bishops whom thou most
unworthily dost call sons of harlots and the like. Since, therefore, thy access
ion has been inaugurated by such perjuries; since, through the abuse of thy inno
vations, the church of God is in danger through so severe a storm; and since tho
u has defiled thy life and conversation with such manifold infamy: we renounce t
he obedience which we never promised to thee, nor shall we in future at all obse
rve it. And since, as thou did'st publicly proclaim, not one of us has been to t
hee thus far a bishop, so also shalt thou henceforth be pope for none of us.
Source:
Henderson, Ernest F.
Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages
London : George
Documents Relating
Belltoand
theSons,
War of1896.
the Investitures
First Deposition and Banning of Henry IV By Gregory VII; February 22, 1076
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Peter, chief of the apostles, incline to us, I beg thy holy ears, and
hear me thy servant whom thou hast nourished from infancy, and whom, until this
day, thou hast freed from the hand of the wicked, who have hated and do hate me
for my faithfulness to thee. Thou, and my mistress the mother of God, and thy br
other St. Paul are witnesses for me among all the saints that thy holy Roman chu
rch drew me to its helm against my will; that I had no thought of ascending thy
chair through force, and than I would rather have ended my life as a pilgrim tha
n, by secular means, to have seized thy throne for the salve of earthly glory. A
nd therefore I believe it to be through thy grace and not through my own deeds t
hat it has pleased and does please thee that the Christian people who have been
especially committed to thee, should obey me. And especially to me, as thy repre
sentative and by thy favour, has the power been granted by God of binding and lo
osing in Heaven and on earth. On the strength of this belief therefore, for the
honour and security of thy church, in the name of Almighty God, Father, Son and
Holy Ghost, I withdraw, through thy power and authority, from Henry the king, so
n of Henry the emperor, who has risen against thy church with unheard of insolen
ce, the rule over the whole kingdom of the Germans and over Italy. And I absolve
all Christians from the bonds of the oath which they have made or shall make to
him; and I forbid any one to serve him as king. For it is fitting that he who s
trives to lessen the honour of thy church should himself lose the honour which b
elongs to him. And since he has scorned to obey as a Christian, and has not-retu
rned to God whom he had deserted-holding intercourse with the excommunicated ; p
racticing manifold iniquities; spurning my commands which, as thou dost bear wit
ness, I issued to him for his own salvation; separating himself from thy church
and striving to rend it-I bind him in thy stead with the chain of the anathema.
And, leaning on thee, I so bind him that the people may know and have proof that
thou art Peter, and above thy rock the Son of the living God bath built His chu
rch, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.
Source:
Henderson, Ernest F.
Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages
London : George
Documents Relating
Belltoand
theSons,
War of1896.
the Investitures
Summons of Henry IV to the Council of Worms - Royal Justification (1076)
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king by the grace of God, sends favour, greeting, love-not to all, bu
t to a few.
In very important matters the wisest counsels of the greatest men are needed
-men who shall both outwardly have the ability and inwardly shall not be without
 the will to give their best advice in a matter in which they are interested. Fo
r there is nothing whatever in the carrying out of which either ability without
will or will without ability avails. Both of which thou, most faithful one, dost
possess, as we think, in equal measure; or to speak more truly, although thou w
ho art very great art not lacking in very great ability,-nevertheless, if we kno
w thee rightly and have noted thy fidelity with proper care, thou dost abound wi
th a good will greater even than this very great ability; to our own and to the
country's advantage. For from the faithful services of the past we are led to ho
pe for still more faithful services in the future. We rely moreover on thy love
not to let thy faithfulness disappoint our expectations; for from the loyalty of
none of the princes or bishops of the land do we hope for greater things than f
rom shine, rejoicing, as we have done, not only in the showing of the past but a
lso in what thou hast led us to expect from thee in the future. Let, therefore,
thy timely good will be present now with thy ability; for it is called for not o
nly by our own straits but also by those of all thy fellow-bishops and brothers-
nay, of the whole oppressed church. Thou art not ignorant, indeed, of this oppre
ssion; only see to it that thou do not withdraw thy aid from the oppressed churc
h, but that thou do give thy sympathy to the kingdom and the priesthood. For in
both of these, even as the church has hitherto been exalted, so now, alas, in bo
th it is humiliated and bereaved. Inasmuch as one man has claimed for himself bo
th; nor has he helped the one, seeing that he neither would nor could help eithe
r. But, lest we keep from thee any longer the name of one who is known to thee,
learn of whom we are speaking-Hildebrand, namely, outwardly, indeed, a monk; cal
led pope, but presiding over the apostolic see rather with the violence of an in
vader than with the care of a pastor, and, from the seat of universal peace, sun
dering the chains of peace and unity-as thou thyself dost clearly know. For, to
mention a few cases out of many, he usurped for himself the kingdom and the prie
sthood without God's sanction, despising God's holy ordination which willed esse
ntially that they-namely the kingdom and the priesthood-should remain not in the
hands of one, but, as two, in the hands of two. For the Saviour Himself, during
His Passion, intimated that this was the meaning of the typical sufficiency of
the two swords. For when it was said to Him: " Behold, Lord, here are two swords
"-He answered: "It is enough," signifying by this sufficing duality that a spir
itual and a carnal sword were to be! wielded in the church, and that by them eve
ry thing evil was about to be cut off-by the sacerdotal sword, namely, to the en
d that the king, for God's sake, should be obeyed; but by the royal one to the e
nd that the enemies of Christ without should be expelled, and that the priesthoo
d within should be obeyed. And He taught that every man should be constrained so
to extend his love from one to the other that the kingdom should neither lack t
he honour due to the priesthood, nor the priesthood the honour due to the kingdo
m. In what way the madness of Hildebrand confounded this ordinance of God thou t
hyself dost know, if thou host been ready or willing to know. For in his judgmen
t no one is rightfully priest save him who has bought permission from his own ca
pricious self. Me also whom God called to the kingdom-not, however, having calle
d him to the priesthood-he strove to deprive of my royal power, threatening to t
ake away my kingdom and my soul, neither of which he had granted, because he saw
me wishing to hold my rule from God and not from him- because he himself had no
t constituted me king. Although he had often, as thou dost know, thrown out thes
e and similar things to shame us, he was not as yet satisfied with that but need
s must inflict upon us from day to day new and ingenious kinds of confusion-as h
e recently proved in the case of our envoys. For a page will not suffice to tell
how he treated those same envoys of ours how cruelly he imprisoned them and aff
licted them, when captive, with nakedness, cold, hunger and thirst and blows and
how at length he ordered them to be led like martyrs through the midst of the c
ity, furnishing a spectacle for all; so that one would call him and believe him
as mad as Decius the tyrant, and a burner of saints. Wherefore, beloved, be not
tardy-may all in common not be tardy- to give ear to my request, and to that of
thy fellow bishops, that thou do come to Worms at Pentecost; and that thou there
, with the other princes, do listen to many things a few of which are mentioned
in this letter; and that thou do show what is to be done. Thou art asked to do t
his for love of thy fellow-bishops, warned to for the good of the church, bound
to for the honour of our life and of the whole land.
Source:
Henderson, Ernest F.
Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages
London : George
Documents Relating
Belltoand
theSons,
War of1896.
the Investitures
Gregory VII's Justification of himself to the Germans. 1076 A.D. (April or May)
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Gregory, servant of the servants of God, to all the bishops, dukes, c
ounts and other loyal defenders of the Christian faith in the land of the German
s, greeting and apostolic benediction.
We have heard that certain among you utter complaints and are doubtful, conc
erning the excommunication which we have passed against the king, whether he has
justly been excommunicated and whether our sentence has proceeded from the auth
ority of a censure that is permissible, and with due deliberation. Therefore, as
best we could, our conscience bearing witness, we have taken care to lay before
the eyes and intellects of all how we were led to excommunicate him; not so muc
h in order to throw before the public, with our Glamour as it were, the separate
causes -which, alas, are too well known-as to satisfy the doubts of those who t
hink that we have seized the spiritual sword rashly, and through a sudden impuls
e of our mind, rather than through fear of God and zeal of justice.
Previously, when we were exercising the office of deacon, a dark and very di
sgraceful report of the king's actions having reached us, we, for the sake of th
e imperial dignity and out of reverence for his father and mother-also with the
hope and desire of correcting him-often admonished him, through letters and envo
ys, to desist from his wickedness and, mindful of his most distinguished race an
d dignity, to order his life according to rules of conduct suitable for a king a
nd, if God should grant it, a future emperor.
Moreover, his age and his depravity keeping pace with each other,-after we,
though unworthy, came to be supreme pontiff, the more diligently did we urge him
in every way, by arguing, exhorting, rebuking, to amend his life; knowing that
God Almighty would the more strictly demand his soul at our hands the more we, a
bove all others, had been given permission and authority to rebuke him. ~:e, whi
le often sending to us devoted letters and greetings excusing himself both with
his age, which was pliable and frail, and because evil was often recommended to
him by those who had the court in their hands, promised, indeed, in words, from
day to day, that he would most readily receive our warnings; but in fact, and by
increasing his faults, he entirely trod them under foot.
In the mean while we called to repentance some of his associates by whose co
unsels and machinations he had, with simoniacal heresy, defiled bishoprics and m
any monasteries, introducing, for money, wolves instead of shepherds. For we wis
hed both that, while there was yet time to make amends they should restore to th
e venerable places where they belonged the goods of the church which they, throu
gh so shameful a traffic, had with sacrilegious hand received- and that they the
mselves, through the lamentations of penitence, should render satisfaction to Go
d for the iniquity perpetrated. But when we learned that they had scorned the te
rms appointed for carrying out these things and were obstinately continuing in t
heir accustomed iniquity, we justly separated them, as sacrilegious persons and
ministers and members of the devil, from the communion and body of the whole chu
rch. And we warned the king to expel them, as excommunicate, from his palace and
his counsels and from all intercourse with himself.
But meanwhile the cause of the Saxons gained the upper hand against the king
. And when he saw that the forces and the protectors of the land were ready, for
the most part, to abandon him, he once more directed to us a letter, supplicato
ry and full of all humility. In it he acknowledged his guilt towards God Almight
y, St. Peter and ourselves; praying that, whatever faults he might have committe
d in ecclesiastical matters against the institutions of the canons and the decre
es of the holy fathers, we, with our t: apostolic foresight and authority, shoul
d strive to correct. And in this matter he promised us, in every way, obediences
consent and faithful aid. Afterwards, being admitted to penance by our brothers
and legates Humbert bishop of Praeneste and Gerald bishop of Ostia whom we sent
 to him, he renewed to them and confirmed this promise. swearing by the sacred s
toles which they bore about their necks.
But when, after a time, a battle was fought with the Saxons, these are the t
hanks and the sacrifices which he offered to God in return for the victory which
he gained: he straightway broke the vows that he had made concerning his improv
ement, and, carrying out none of his promises received those who had been excomm
unicated into companionship and intercourse with himself, dragging down the chur
ches into the same confusion as formerly.
At this we, much afflicted-although, after his scorning the kindness of the
Heavenly lying, we had lost almost all hope of correcting him-decided that an at
tempt must still be made to reach his conscience, desiring rather that he should
give ear to the apostolic clemency than experience its severity. Accordingly we
sent to him admonitory letters: he was to remember what he had promised and to
whom; he was not to believe that he could deceive God, -whose wrath, when He com
mences to judge, is so much the more severe the more long suffering His patience
has been; he was not to dishonour God by honouring himself, nor was he to try a
nd extend his own power to the contempt of God and to the shame of the papacy-kn
owing that while God resists the proud He also gives grace to the humble. Moreov
er we sent to him three men of the clergy, his own faithful followers, warning h
im through them in secret that he should do penance for his climes -which are in
deed horrible to speak of, known moreover unto many and divulged in many places;
and, on account of them, the authority of divine and human laws sanctions and o
rders that he should not only be excommunicated until he renders suitable satisf
action, but that he should be deprived of all honour in his kingdom without hope
of regaining it. Finally we warned him that, unless he should cease to hold int
ercourse with those who had been banned, we could judge or decree nothing else o
f him than -that, being cut off from the church, he should share the fate of the
excommunicate, with whom he preferred to have his portion rather than with Chri
st. But if he should be willing to receive our warnings and to correct his life,
we called and do call God to witness how greatly we should rejoice concerning h
is safety and honour, and with what love we would fold him in the lap of the hol
y church as one whoa haying been made prince of a people and holding the reins o
f a most extended kingdom, ought to be a defender of catholic peace and justice.
But his deeds declare how much he thought either of our writings or of the m
essages sent through our legates. For offended at being taken to task or rebuked
by any one, he not only could not be induced to make amends for the deeds perpe
trated, but, carried away by a still greater fury of spirit, did not cease until
he had caused the bishops- nearly all of those in Italy; in German lands as man
y as he could-to shipwreck the faith of Christ, compelling them to deny the obed
ience and honour due to St. Peter and the apostolic see and granted to them by o
ur Lord Jesus Christ. We, therefore, seeing his iniquity advance to a climax, fo
r these causes:-first, namely, that he was unwilling to abstain from intercourse
with those who had been excommunicated for sacrilege and for the sin of simonia
cal heresy; then because, for the criminal acts of his life, he was not willing-
I will not say to undergo-but even to promise penance, that repentance which he
had promised before our legates having been feigned; finally because he has not
flinched at rending the unity of the holy church, which is the body of Christ:-f
or these faults, I say, we have excommunicated him by sentence of a synod to the
end that, since we could not recall him by gentleness, we might either lead him
back to the way of salvation by severity, God helping us, or that, should he no
t even fear the censure of the bann-which God forbid -our soul might not at leng
th succumb to the charge of negligence or fear.
If any one, therefore thinks that this sentence has been unjustly or unreaso
nably imposed-if he be such a one as is able to apply his intellect to the sacre
d canons-let him treat with us in the matter and let him acquiesce after hearing
patiently, not what we, but what the divine authority teaches, what it decrees,
what the unanimous voice of the holy fathers declares. We, indeed, do not think
that there is one of the faithful who, knowing the ecclesiastical statutes, is
so bound by this error as not to say in his heart,, even though he do not dare t
o publicly affirm it, that we have acted rightly. But even if we-which God forbi
d-had bound him with such bann for no sufficiently grave reason or in a too irre
gular manner: even then, as the holy fathers assert, it would not have been righ
t to scorn the sentence, but absolution should have been sought with all humilit
y.
But do ye, beloved, who have not been willing because of the royal indignati
on or of any danger to desert the justice of God, paying little heed to those wh
o at the last shall be announced as cursers and liars, stand boldly and be comfo
rted in the Lord; knowing that ye defend the part of Him who, as an unconquerabl
e lying and glorious Victor, is about to judge the quick and the dead, rendering
unto each man according to his works. Concerning His manifold retribution ye al
so can be assured if ye shall to the end have remained faithful and unshaken in
His truth. Wherefore we also incessantly pray to God for ye that He may cause ye
to be strengthened in His name through the Holy Spirit, and that He may so turn
the heart of the king to repentance that he also at some time may know that we
and ye more truly love him than those who now pander to and favour his iniquitie
s. But if by Cod's inspiration he be willing to come to his senses, no matter wh
at he shall attempt against us, he shall always, notwithstanding, find us ready
to receive him into the holy communion as ye, beloved, have counselled us to do.
Source:
Henderson, Ernest F.
Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages
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Documents Relating
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Convention of Oppenheim; October 1076
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(a.) Document
Promise
Document
of the King to offer Obedience to the Pope.
Being admonished to do so by the counsel of our faithful ones, I promise to
observe in all things the obedience due to the apostolic see and to thee, pope G
regory, and will take care devoutly to correct and to render satisfaction for an
ything whereby a derogation to the honour of that same see, or to shine, has ari
sen through us. Since, moreover, certain very grave charges are brought against
us concerning attempts which I am supposed to have made against that same see an
d against thy reverence: these, at a suitable time, I will either refute by the
help of innocence and by the favour of God, or, failing this, I will at length w
illingly undergo a suitable penance for them. It behaves thy holiness also, more
over, not to veil those things which spread abroad concerning thee, cause scanda
l to the church -but rather, by removing this scruple too from the public consci
ence, to establish through thy wisdom the universal tranquillity of the church a
s well as of the kingdom.
(b.) Edict cancelling the Sentence against Gregory VII., October, 1076.
Henry, king by the grace of God, sends to the archbishops, bishops, margrave
s, counts and dignitaries of every rank the honourable distinction of his goodwi
ll. Inasmuch as we have been brought to recognize, through the representations o
f our faithful ones, that we have been wanting in clemency, in some regards, tow
ards the apostolic see and its venerable bishop, pope Gregory: it has pleased us
, in accordance with healthful counsel, to change our former sentence and to obs
erve, after the manner of our predecessors and progenitors, due obedience in all
things to the holy see and to him who is known to preside over it, our master G
regory the pope. And if we have presumed to act too severely against him we will
atone for it by rendering fitting satisfaction. We will, moreover, that ye also
, warned by our Highness's example, do not hesitate to render solemn satisfactio
n to St. Peter and to his vicar; and that those of you who understand them selve
s to be bound by his bann do strive to be solemnly absolved by him-by our master
, namely, Gregory the pope.
Source:
Henderson, Ernest F.
Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages
London : George
Documents Relating
Belltoand
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War of1896.
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Gregory VII's letter to the German Princes concerning the Penance of Henry IV at
Canossa; January 28, 1077
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Bishop
Document
Document
Gregory, servant of the servants of God, to all the archbishops, bish
ops, dukes, counts and other princes of the realm of the Germans who defend the
Christian faith, greeting and apostolic benediction.
Inasmuch as for love of justice ye assumed common cause and danger with us i
n the struggle of Christian warfare, we have taken care to indicate to you, belo
ved, with sincere affection, how the king, humbled to penance, obtained the pard
on of absolution and how the whole affair has progressed since his entry into It
aly up to the present time.
As had been agreed with the legates who had been sent to us on your part, we
came into Lombardy about twenty days before the date on which one of the comman
ders was to come over the pass to meet us, awaiting his advent that we might cro
ss over to the other side. But when the term fixed upon had already passed, and
we were told that at this time on account of many difficulties-as we can readily
believe-an escort could not be sent to meet us, we were involved in no little c
are as to what would be best for us to do, having no other means of crossing to
you.
Meanwhile, however, we learned for certain that the king was approaching. He
also, before entering Italy, sent on to us suppliant legates, offering in all t
hings to render satisfaction to God, to St. Peter and to us. And he renewed his
promise that, besides amending his life, he would observe all obedience if only
he might merit to obtain from us the favour of absolution and the apostolic bene
diction. When, after long deferring this and holding frequent consultations, we
had, through all the envoys who passed, severely taken him to task for his exces
ses: he came at length of his own accord, with a few followers, showing nothing
of hostility or boldness, to the town of Canossa where we were tarrying. And the
re, having laid aside all the belongings of royalty, wretchedly, with bare feet
and clad in wool, he continued for three days to stand before the gate of the ca
stle. Nor did he desist from imploring with many tears the aid and consolation o
f the apostolic mercy until he had moved all of those who were present there, an
d whom the report of it reached, to such pity and depth of compassion that, inte
rceding for him with many prayers and tears, all wondered indeed at the unaccust
omed hardness of our heart, while some actually cried out that we were exercisin
g, not the gravity of apostolic severity, but the cruelty, as it were, of a tyra
nnical ferocity.
Finally, conquered by the persistency of his compunction and by the constant
supplications of all those who were present, we loosed the chain of the anathem
a and at length received him into the favour of communion and into the lap of th
e holy mother church, those being accepted as sponsors for him whose names are w
ritten below. And of this transaction we also received a confirmation at the han
ds of the abbot of Cluny, of our daughters Matilda and the countess Adelaide, an
d of such princes, episcopal and lay, as seemed to us useful for this purpose.
Having thus accomplished these matters, we desire . at the first opportunity
to cross over to your parts in order that, by God's aid, we may more fully arra
nge all things for the peace of the church and the concord of the kingdom, as ha
s long been our wish. For we desire, beloved that ye should know beyond a doubt
that the whole question at issue is as yet so little cleared up-as ye can learn
from the sponsors mentioned-that both our coming and the unanimity of your couns
els are extremely necessary. Wherefore strive ye all to continue in the faith in
which ye have begun and in the love of justice; and know that we are not otherw
ise bound to the king save that, by word alone as is our custom, we have said th
at he might have hopes from us in those matters in which, without danger to his
soul or to our own, we might be able to help him to his salvation and honour eit
her through justice or through mercy.
Oath of Henry King of the Germans.
I, king Henry, on account of the murmuring and enmity which the archbishops
and bishops, dukes, counts and other princes of the realm of the Germans, and ot
hers who follow them in the same matter of dissension, bring to bear against me,
will, within the term which our master pope Gregory has constituted, either do
justice according to his judgment or conclude peace according to his counsels-un
less an absolute impediment should stand in his way or in mine. And on the remov
al of this I shall be ready to continue in the same course. Likewise, if that sa
me lord pope Gregory shall wish to go beyond the mountains or to any other part
of the world, he himself, as well as those who shall be in his escort or followi
ng or who are sent by him or come to him from any parts of the world whatever sh
all be secure, while going, remaining or returning, on my part and on the part o
f those whom I can constrain from every injury to life or limb, or from capture.
Nor shall he by my consent have any other hindrance which is contrary to his di
gnity; and if any such be placed in his way I will aid him according to my abili
ty. So help me God and this holy gospel.
Given at Canossa on the 5th day before the Blends of February (Jan. 28), in
the 15th indiction, in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ 1077-there being presen
t the bishops Humbert of Praeneste and Gerald of Ostia; the Roman cardinals Pete
r of the title of St. Chrisogonus and Cono of the title of St. Anastasius; the R
oman deacons Gregory and Bernard, and the sub-deacon Humbert. Likewise, on the p
art of the king, there were present the archbishop of Bremen, the bishops of Ver
celli and Osnabruck, the abbot of Cluny and many noble men.
Source:
Henderson, Ernest F.
Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages
London : George
Documents Relating
Belltoand
theSons,
War of1896.
the Investitures
Decree of Nov. 19th, 1078, Forbidding Lay Investiture
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Inasmuch
Document
Document
as we have learned that, contrary to the establishments of the holy
fathers, the investiture with churches is, in many places, performed by lay per
sons; and that from this cause many disturbances arise in the church by which th
e Christian religion is trodden under foot: we decree that no one of the clergy
shall receive the investiture with a bishopric or abbey or church from the hand
of an emperor or king or of any lay person, male or female. But if he shall pres
ume to do so he shall clearly know that such investiture is bereft of apostolic
authority, and that he himself shall lie under excommunication until fitting sat
isfaction shall have been rendered.
Source:
Henderson, Ernest F.
Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages
London : George
Documents Relating
Belltoand
theSons,
War of1896.
the Investitures
Decree of March 7th, 1080, Forbidding Lay Investiture
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Following
Document
Document
the statutes of the holy fathers, as, in the former councils which
by the mercy of God we have held' we decreed concerning the ordering of ecclesi
astical dignities, so also now we decree and confirm: that, if any one hencefort
h shall receive a bishopric or abbey from the hand of any lay person, he shall b
y no means be considered as among the number of the bishops or abbots; nor shall
any hearing be granted him as bishop or abbot. Moreover we further deny to him
the favour of St. Peter and the entry of the church, until, coming to his senses
, he shall desert the place that he has taken by the crime of ambition as well a
s by that of disobedience-which is the sin of idolatry; In like manner also we d
ecree concerning the inferior ecclesiastical dignities.
Likewise if any emperor, king, duke, margrave, count, or any one at all of t
he secular powers or persons, shall presume to perform the investiture with bish
oprics or with any ecclesiastical dignity,-he shall know that he is bound by the
bonds of the same condemnation. And, moreover, unless he come to his senses and
relinquish to the church her own prerogative, he shall feel, in this present li
fe, the divine displeasure as well with regard to his body as to his other belon
gings: in order that, at the coming of the Lord, his soul may be saved.
Source:
Henderson, Ernest F.
Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages
London : George
Documents Relating
Belltoand
theSons,
War of1896.
the Investitures
The Dictate of the Pope
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That
Document
Document
the Roman church was founded by God alone
That the Roman pontiff alone can with right be called universal.
That he alone can depose or reinstate bishops.
That, in a council, his legate, even if a lower grade, is above all bishops,
and can pass sentence of deposition Against them.
 That the pope may depose the absent.
That, among other things, we ought not to remain in The same house with thos
e excommunicated by him.
That for him alone is it lawful, according to the needs of the time, to make
new laws, to assemble together new congregations, to make an abbey of a canonry
; and, on the other hand, to divide a rich bishopric and unite the poor ones.
That he alone may use the imperial insignia.
That of the pope alone all princes shall kiss the feet.
That his name alone shall be spoken in the churches.
That this is the only name in the world.
That it may be permitted to him to depose emperors.
That he may be permitted to transfer bishops if need be.
That he has power to ordain a clerk of any church he nay wish.
That he who is ordained by him many preside over another church, but may not
hold a subordinate position; and that such a one may not receive a higher grade
from any bishop.
That no synod shall be called a general one without his order.
That no chapter and no book shall be considered canonical without his author
ity.
That a sentence passed by him may be retracted by so one; and that he himsel
f, alone of all, may retract it.
That he himself may be judged by no one.
That no one shall dare to condemn one who appeals to the apostolic chair.
That to the latter should be referred the more important cases of every chur
ch.
That the Roman church has never erred; nor will it err to all eternity, the
Scripture bearing witness.
That the Roman pontiff, if he have been canonically ordained, is undoubtedly
made a saint by the merits of St. Peter; St. Ennodius; bishop of Pavia, bearing
witness, and many holy fathers agreeing with him. As is contained in the decree
s of St. Symmachus the pope.
That, by his command and consent, it slay be lawful for subordinates to brin
g accusations.
That he may depose and reinstate bishops without assembling a synod.
That he who is not at peace with the Roman church shall not be considered ca
tholic.
That he may absolve subjects from their fealty to wicked men.
Source:
Henderson, Ernest F.
Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages
London : George
Documents Relating
Belltoand
theSons,
War of1896.
the Investitures
Second Banning and Dethronement of Henry IV Through Gregory VII; March 7th, 1080
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St.
Document
Peter,
Document
chief of the apostles, and thou St. Paul, teacher of the nations,
deign, I beg, to incline your ears to me and mercifully to hear me. Do ye who a
re the disciples and lovers of truth aid me to tell the truth to ye without any
of the falsehood which we altogether detest: to the end that my brothers may bet
ter acquiesce with me and may know and learn that, alter God and his mother the
ever-virgin Mary, it is in ye I trust when I resist the wicked and unholy but le
nd aid to your faithful followers. For ye know that I did not willingly take hol
y orders. And unwillingly I went with my master Gregory beyond the mountains; bu
t more unwillingly I returned with my master pope Leo to your especial church, i
n which I served ye as always. Then, greatly against my will, with much grieving
and groaning and wailing I was placed upon your throne, although thoroughly unw
orthy. I say these things thus because I did not choose ye but ye chose me and d
id place upon me the very heavy burden of your church. And because ye did order
me to go up into a high mountain and call out and proclaim to the people of God
their crimes and to the sons of the earth their sins, the members of the devil h
ave commenced to rise up against me and have presumed, even unto blood, to lay t
heir hands upon me. For the kings of the earth stood by, and the secular and ecc
lesiastical princes; the men of the palace, also, and the common herd came toget
her against the Lord and against ye His anointed, saying: " Let us break their c
hains and cast off their yoke from us." And they have in many ways, attempted to
rise up against me in order to utterly confound me with death or with exile.
Among them, especially, Henry whom they call king, son of Henry the emperor,
did raise his heel against your church and strive, by casting me down, to subju
gate it, having made a conspiracy with many ultramontane bishops. But your autho
rity resisted and your power destroyed their pride. He, confounded and humbled,
came to me in Lombardy and sought absolution from the bane. I seeing him humilia
ted, having received many promises from him concerning the bettering of his way
of living, restored to him the communion. But only that; I did not reinstate him
in his kingdom from which I had deposed him in a Roman synod, nor did I order t
hat the fealty from which, in that synod, I had absolved all those who had sworn
it to him or were about to swear it, should be observed towards him. lend my re
ason for not doing so was that I might do justice in the matter or arrange peace
-as Henry himself, by fan oath before two bishops, had promised me should be don
e-between him and the ultramontane bishops or princes who, being commanded to do
so by your church, had resisted him. But the said ultramontane bishops and prin
ces, hearing that he had not kept his promise to me, and, as it were, despairing
of him, elected for themselves without my advice-ye are my witnesses-duke Rudol
f as king. This king Rudolf hastily sent an envoy to intimate to me that he had
been compelled to accept the helm of state but that he was ready to obey me in e
very way. And to make this the more credible he has continued from that time to
send me words to the same effect, adding also that he was ready to confirm what
he had promised by giving his own son land the son of his faithful follower duke
Bertald as hostages. Meanwhile Henry commenced to implore my aid against the sa
id Rudolf. I answered that I would willingly grant it if I could hear the argume
nts on both sides so as to know whom justice most favoured. But he, thinking to
conquer by his own strength, scorned my reply. But when he found that he could n
ot do as he had hoped he sent to Rome two of his partisans, the bishops, namely,
of Verdun and of Osnabruck, who asked me in a synod to do justice to him. This
also the envoys of Rudolf pressed me to do. At length, by God's inspiration as I
believe, I decreed in that synod that an assembly should take place beyond the
mountains, where either peace should be established or it should be made known w
hich side justice the most favoured. For I-as ye, my fathers and masters, can te
stify-have taken care up to this time to aid no party save the one on whose side
justice should be found to be. And, thinking that the weaker side would wish th
e assembly not to take place, whereas justice would hold its own, I excommunicat
ed and bound with the anathema the person of any-one -whether king, duke, bishop
or ordinary man-who should by any means contrive to prevent the assembly from t
aking place. But the said Henry with his partisans, not fearing the danger from
disobedience, which is the crime of idolatry, incurred the excommunication by im
peding the assembly. And he bound himself with the chain of the anathema, causin
g a great multitude of Christians to be given over to death and of churches to b
e ruined, and rendering desolate almost the whole realm of the Germans. Wherefor
e, trusting in the judgment and mercy of God and of his most holy mother the eve
r-virgin Mary, armed with your authority, I lay under excommunication and bind w
ith the chains of the anathema the oft-mentioned Henry-the socalled king-and all
his followers. And again, on the part of God Almighty and of yourselves, I deny
to him the kingdom of the Germans and of Italy and I take away from him all roy
al power and dignity. And I forbid any Christian to obey him as king, and absolv
e from their oath all who have sworn or shall swear to him as ruler of the land.
May this same Henry, moreover,-as well as his partisans, -be powerless in any w
arlike encounter and obtain no victory during his life. Whereas I grant and conc
ede in your name that Rudolf, whom, as a mark of fidelity to ye, the Germans hav
e chosen to be their king, may rule and defend the land of the Germans. To all o
f those who faithfully adhere to him I, trusting in your support, grant absoluti
on of all their sins and your benediction in this life and the life to come. For
as Henry, on account of his pride, disobedience and falseness, is justly cast d
own from his royal dignity, so to Rudolf, for his humility, obedience and truthf
ulness, the power and dignity of kingship are granted.
 Proceed now, I beg, O fathers and most holy princes, in such way that all th
e world may learn and know that, if ye can bind and loose in Heaven, so ye can o
n earth take away empires, kingdoms, principalities, duchies, margravates, count
ies and all possessions of men, and grant them to any man ye please according to
his merits. For often have ye taken away patriarchates, primateships, archbisho
prics and bishoprics from the wicked and unworthy and given them to devout men.
And if ye judge spiritual offices what are we to believe of your power in secula
r ones ? And if ye shall judge angels, who rule over all proud princes, how will
it be with those subject to they? Let kings and all secular princes now learn h
ow great ye are and what your power is; and let them dread to disregard the comm
and of your church. And, in the case of the said Henry, exercise such swift judg
ment that all may know him to fall not by chance but by your power. Let him be c
onfounded;- would it were to repentance, that his soul may be safe at the day of
the Lord!
Given at Rome, on the Nones of March, in the third indiction.
Source:
Henderson, Ernest F.
Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages
London : George
Documents Relating
Belltoand
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War of1896.
the Investitures
Decision of the Synod of Brixen; June 25, 1080
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InDocument
theDocument
year of our Lord's incarnation 1080, when, in the presence of the mos
t serene king Henry IV. and by his order, in the 26th year of his reign, on Frid
ay the 7th day before the Calends of July and in the 3rd indiction, there was as
sembled at Brixen in Noricum a convention of thirty bishops and an army of noble
s not only from Italy but also from Germany: there was heard from the mouth of a
ll one voice, as it were, terribly complaining over the truculent madness of a c
ertain false monk called pope Gregory VII., and asking why the invincible king a
llowed the same to rage so long unhindered when Paul, the vase of election, test
ifies that a prince does not wield the sword without cause; and when Peter, the
chief of the apostles, proclaims that not only is the king pre-eminent but that
it is his place to send out commanders to punish, indeed, the evil, but to rewar
d the good. In answer to these representations, therefore, it seemed just to the
most illustrious king and to his princes that the judgment of the bishops and t
he sentence of the divine wrath against this same Hildebrand should precede the
material sword; so that him the royal power might afterwards, with more right, d
eclare an object of pursuit whom the bishops of the churches should first have d
eposed from his proud eminence. What one of the faithful, indeed who knows him w
ould fear to hurl against him the javelin of damnation ? For from his earliest y
ears he has striven through vain glory to commend himself in the world as more t
han man -no merits calling for it-and to prefer his own divinations and those of
others to the divine orderings; to be a monk in dress and not by profession; to
consider himself beyond ecclesiastical discipline, subject to no master; to ass
ist, more than laymen, at obscene theatrical amusements; for the sake of sordid
gain publicly to watch the tables of the money-changers in the path of the passe
rs by. Having accumulated money, then, by such pursuits, he invaded the abbey of
St. Paul's, supplanting the abbot. Then, inducing by deception a certain man na
med Mancius to sell him the office, he seized the archdeaconship; and, against t
he will of pope Nicholas, in the midst of a popular tumult he had himself raised
to the office of administrator. Moreover, by the outrageous death, through pois
on, of four Roman pontiffs at the hand of a certain intimate of his-John Brachin
tus-he is convicted of being a murderer; as the minister of death himself, altho
ugh repenting late, did testify with dire clamourings when in the very grasp of
death-all others having kept silence. Finally this oftmentioned pest-bearer, on
the very night when the body of pope Alexander was being honoured with the funer
al ceremony in the church of St. Salvatore, guarded the gates and bridges, tower
s and triumphal arches of the city of Rome with bands of armed men, occupied the
Lateran palace with an armed force that he had brought together with hostile in
tent, frightened the clergy-lest they, none of whom wished to elect him, should
dare to resist-by threatening death through the drawn swords of his satellites,
and carried by assault the long-besieged chair before the body of the dead man h
ad obtained burial. But when some persons tried to call to his mind that decree
of pope Nicholas promulgated by those 125 bishops under pain of anathema, Hildeb
rand himself approving,-the tenor of which was that if any one, without the cons
ent of the Roman sovereign, should presume to become pope he should be considere
d no pope but an apostate: he denied all knowledge of a king and asserted his ow
n right to declare void a decree of his predecessors. What more is there to say
? Not only Rome, indeed, but the whole Roman world bears witness that he was not
chosen by God but that he forced his way most impudently by violence, fraud and
bribery. For his fruits betray their root and his works manifest his intent, in
asmuch as he subverts the order of the church; has perturbed the rule of a Chris
tian empire; tries to kill the body and soul of a catholic and pacific king; def
ends as king a perjurer and traitor; has sown discord among the united, strife a
mong the peaceful, scandals among brothers, divorce among husbands and wives; an
d has shattered whatever of rest he found being enjoyed by those leading a holy
life. Therefore we, congregated together, as has been said, by God's authority,
trusting in the legates and letters of the 19 bishops who were assembled at Main
z on the holy day of last Pentecost, do decree against this same most brazen Hil
debrand, -who preaches sacrilege and arson, who defends perjury and homicide, wh
o questions the catholic and apostolic faith concerning the body and blood of ou
r Lord, who is an ancient disciple of the heretic Berengar, a manifest believer
in dreams and divinations, a necromancer, dealing in the spirit of prophecy and
therefore a wanderer from the true faith-that, he shall be canonically deposed a
nd expelled and, unless on hearing this he descend from that seat, forever damne
d. (Here follow the signatures of the bishops, etc., first the cardinal,Hugo Can
didus, then the king, etc.)
Source:
Henderson, Ernest F.
Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages
London : George
Documents Relating
Belltoand
theSons,
War of1896.
the Investitures
Letter of Gregory VII to Bishop Hermann of Metz; March 15, 1081
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Gregory, servant of the servants of God, to his beloved brother in Ch
rist, Hermann bishop of Metz, greeting and apostolic benediction. It is doubtles
s owing to a dispensation of God that, as we learn, thou art ready to bear labou
rs and dangers in defence of the truth. For such is His ineffable grace and wond
erful mercy that He never allows His chosen ones completely to go astray- never
permits them utterly to fall or to be cast down. For, after they have been affli
cted by a time of persecution-a useful term of probation as it were,-He makes th
em, even if they have passed through some trepidation, stronger than before. Sin
ce, moreover, manly courage impels one strong man to act more bravely than anoth
er and to press forward more boldly-even as among cowards fear induces one to fl
ee more disgracefully than another,-we wish, beloved, with the voice of exhortat
ion, to impress this upon thee: thou should'st the more delight to stand in the
army of the Christian faith among the first, the more thou art convinced that th
ey are the most worthy and the nearest to God the victors. Thy demand, indeed, t
o be aided, as it were, by our writings and fortified against the madness of tho
se who babble forth with unhallowed mouth that the authority of the holy and apo
stolic see had no right to excommunicate Henry-a man who despises the Christian
law; a destroyer, namely, of the churches and of the empire; a favourer of heret
ics and a partaker with them-or to absolve any one from the oath of fealty to hi
m, does not seem to us to be altogether necessary when so many and such absolute
ly certain proofs are to be found in the pages of Holy Scripture. Nor do we beli
eve, indeed, that those who, heaping up for themselves damnation, impudently det
ract from the truth and run counter to it have joined these charges to the audac
ity of their defence so much from ignorance as from a certain madness of wretche
d desperation. And no wonder. For it is the custom of the wicked to strive after
protection from their iniquity and to defend those like to themselves; consider
ing it of no importance that they incur perdition for lying.
For, to cite a few passages from among many, who does not know the words of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who says in the gospel: " Thou art Peter and u
pon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail ag
ainst it; and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven; and whats
oever thou shalt bind upon earth shall be bound also in Heaven, and whatsoever t
hou shalt loose upon earth shall be loosed also in Heaven " ? Are kings excepted
here, or do they not belong to the sheep which the Son of God committed to St.
Peter' Who, I ask, in this universal concession of the power of binding and loos
ing, can think that he is withdrawn from the authority of St. Peter, unless, per
haps, that unfortunate man who is unwilling to bear the yoke of the Lord and sub
jects himself to the burden of the devil, refusing to be among the number of Chr
ist's sheep P It will help him little to his wretched liberty, indeed, that he s
hake from his proud neck the divinely granted power of Peter. For the more any o
ne, through pride, refuses to bear it, the more heavily shall it press upon him
unto damnation at the judgment.
The holy fathers, indeed, as well in general councils as otherwise in their
writings and doings, have called the holy Roman church the universal mother, acc
epting and serving with great veneration this institution founded by the divine
will, this pledge of a dispensation to the church, this privilege handed over in
the beginning and confirmed to St. Peter the chief of the apostles. And even as
they accepted its proofs in confirmation of their faith and of the doctrines of
holy religion, so also they received its judgments-consenting in this, and agre
eing as it were with one spirit and one voice: that all greater matters and exce
ptional cases, and judgments over all churches, ought to be referred to it as to
a mother and a head; that from it there was no appeal; that no one should or co
uld retract or refute its decisions. Wherefore the blessed pope Gelasius, armed
with the divine authority, when writing to the emperor Anastasius how and what h
e should think concerning the primacy of the holy and apostolic see, instructed
him as follows: "although," he said, "before all priests in common who duly exer
cise divine functions it is right that the necks of the faithful should be bowed
, by how much more should the bishop of the Roman see be obeyed, whom both the s
upreme deity has willed to predominate over all priests and the subsequent piety
of the whole church in common has honoured ? From which thy prudence clearly se
es that, with him whom the voice of Christ placed over all, and whom a venerable
church lies always professed and devoutly holds as its primate, no one can, by
any human device whatever, gain an equal privilege and be equally acknowledged."
Likewise pope Julius, when writing to the oriental bishops concerning the power
of that same holy and apostolic see, said: " It would have become ye, brethren,
to choose your words and not to speak ironically against the holy Roman and apo
stolic church, since our Lord Jesus Christ, addressing it as was fitting, said:
'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hel
l shall not prevail against it; and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdo
m of Heaven.' For it has the power, granted to it by a special privilege, of ope
ning and closing for whom it will the gates of the kingdom of Heaven." Is it not
lawful, then, for him to whom the power of opening and closing Heaven is grante
d to exercise judgment upon earth ? God forbid that it should not be! Remember w
hat the most blessed apostle Paul says: " Know ye not that we shall judge angels
? How much more the things of earth! " The blessed pope Gregory also decreed th
at those kings should fall from their dignity who should dare to violate the sta
tutes of the apostolic see, writing to a certain abbot, Senator, as follows: "Bu
t if any king, priest, judge or secular person, disregarding this the page of ou
r decree, shall attempt to act counter to it he shall lose the dignity of his po
wer and honour and shall know that he, in the sight of God, is guilty of committ
ing a crime. And unless he restore the things which have been wrongfully removed
by him, or unless he atone by fitting penance for his unlawful acts, he shall b
e kept away from the most sacred body and blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Ch
rist and shall undergo a stern vengeance at the eternal judgment."
But if the blessed Gregory, the most gentle of teachers decreed that kings w
ho should violate his decrees in the matter of a single hospice should not only
be deposed but also excommunicated and, at the last judgment, condemned: who, sa
ve one like to them, will blame us for having deposed and excommunicated Henry,
who is not alone a scorner of the apostolic judgments but also, as far as in him
lies, a treader under foot of holy mother church herself and a most shameless r
obber and atrocious destroyer of the whole realm and of the churches. As we have
learned, through St. Peter's teaching, from a letter concerning the ordination
of Clement in which it says: " If any one shall be a friend to those with whom h
e (Clement) does not speak, he also is one of those who wish to exterminate the
church of God; and while, with his body, he seems to be with us, he is with- hea
rt and soul against us. And such an enemy is far more dangerous than those who a
re without and who are open enemies. For he, under the guise of friendship, does
hostile acts, and rends and lays waste the church." Mark well, beloved, if this
pope so severely judges the friend or companion of those with whom, on account
of their actions he is angry, with what condemnation he will visit the man himse
lf with whose actions he is displeased.
But to return to the matter in hand. Is not a dignity like this, founded by
laymen-even by those who do not know God,-subject to that dignity which the prov
idence of God Almighty has, in His own honour, founded and given to the world ?
For His Son, even as He is undoubtingly believed to be God and man, so is He con
sidered the highest priest, the head of all priests, sitting on the right hand o
f the Father and always interceding for us. And He despised a secular kingdom, w
hich makes the sons of this world swell with pride, and came of His own will to
the priesthood of the cross. Who does not know that kings and leaders are sprung
from those who-ignorant of God-by pride, plunder, perfidy, murders-in a word by
almost every crime, the devil, who is the prince of this world, urging them on
as it were-have striven with blind
Cupidity and intolerable presumption to dominate over their equals; namely,
over men ? To whom, indeed, can we better compare them, when they seek to make t
he priests of God bend to their footprints, than to him who is head over all the
sons of pride and who, tempting the Highest Pontiff Himself, the Head of priest
s, the Son of the Most High, and promising to Him all the kingdoms of the world,
said: "All these I will give unto Thee if Thou wilt fall down and worship me? "
who can doubt but that the priests of Christ are to be considered the fathers a
nd masters of kings and princes and of all the faithful? Is it not considered mi
serable madness for a Son to attempt to subject to himself his father, a pupil h
is master; and for one to bring into his power and bind with iniquitous bonds hi
m by whom he believes that he himself can be bound and loosed not only on earth
but also in Heaven ? This the emperor Constantine the Great, lord of all the kin
gs and princes of nearly the whole world, evidently understood-as the blessed Gr
egory reminds us in a letter to the emperor Mauritius-when, sitting last after a
ll the bishops in the holy council of Nicaea, he presumed to give no sentence of
judgment over them, but, even calling them gods, decreed that they should not b
e subject to his judgment but that he should be dependent upon their will. Also
the aforementioned pope Gelasius, persuading the said emperor Anastasius not to
take offense tat the truth which had been made clear to his senses added this re
mark: `' For, indeed, O august emperor, there are two things by which this world
is chiefly ruled-the sacred authority of the pontiffs and the royal power; wher
eby the burden of the priests is by so much the heavier according as they, at th
e divine judgment of men, are about to render account for the kings themselves."
And a little further on he says: " Thou dost know, therefore, that in these mat
ters thou art dependent on their judgment and that thou art not to wish to reduc
e them to do thy will."
Very many of the pontiffs, accordingly, armed with such decrees and with suc
h authorities, have excommunicated-some of them kings; some, emperors. For, if a
ny special example of the persons of such princes is needed,-the blessed pope In
nocent excommunicated. the emperor Arcadius for consenting that St. John Chrysos
tom should be expelled from his see. Likewise another Roman pontiff - Zacchary,
namely-deposed a king of the Franks, not so much for his iniquities as for the r
eason that he was not fitted to exercise so great power. And he substituted Pipi
n, father of the emperor Charles the Great, in his place-loosing all the Franks
from the oath of fealty which they had sworn him. As, indeed, the holy church fr
equently does by its authority when it absolves servitors from the fetters of an
oath sworn to such bishops as, by apostolic sentence, are deposed from their po
ntifical rank. And the blessed Ambrose-who, although a saint, was not, indeed, b
ishop over the whole church-excommunicated and excluded from the church the empe
ror Theodosius the Great for a fault which, by other priests, was not regarded a
s very grave. He shows, too, in his writings that, not by so much is gold more p
recious than lead, as the priestly dignity is more lofty than the royal power; s
peaking thus towards the beginning of his pastoral letter: `'The honour and subl
imity of bishops, brethren, is beyond all comparison. If one should compare them
to resplendent kings and diademed princes it would be far less worthy than if o
ne compared the base metal lead to gleaming gold. For, indeed, one can see how t
he necks of kings and princes are bowed before the knees of priests; and how, ha
ving kissed their right hands, they believe themselves to be fortified by their
prayers." And, after a little: " Ye should know brethren, that we have thus ment
ioned all these things in order to show that nothing in this life can be found m
ore lofty than priests or more sublime than bishops."
Thou, brother, should'st also remember that more power is granted to an exor
cist, when he is made a spiritual emperor for the casting out of demons, than ca
n be granted to any layman in the matter of secular dominion. Over all kings and
princes of the earth who do not live religiously and do not, in their actions,
fear God as they should, demons-alas, alas-hold sway, confounding them with a wr
etched servitude. For such men desire to rule, not, induced by divine love, to t
he honour of God and for the saving of souls-like the priests of the church; but
they strive to have dominion over others in order to show forth their intolerab
le pride and to fulfil the lusts of their heart Concerning whom the blessed Augu
stine says in the first book on the Christian teaching: "For, indeed, whoever st
rives to gain dominion even over those who are by nature his equals-that is, ove
r men: his pride is altogether intolerable." Exorcists, then, have, as we have s
aid, dominion from God over demons: how much more, therefore, over those who are
subject to demons and members of demons ? If, moreover, exorcists also preemine
nt over these, how much the more so are priests !
Furthermore every Christian king, when he comes to die, seeks as a miserable
suppliant the aid of a priest to the end that he may evade hell's prison, that
he may pass from the shadows to the light, that, at the last judgment, he may ap
pear absolved from the bonds of his sins. But what man-a layman even, not to spe
ak of priests-has ever implored the aid of an earthly king for the salvation of
his soul when his last hour was near ? And what king or emperor is able, by reas
on of the office imposed upon him to snatch any Christian from the power of the
devil through holy baptism, to number him among the sons of God 'and to fortify
him with the divine unction ? And who of them -which is the greatest thing in th
e Christian religion-can with his own lips make the body and blood of our Lord "
Or who of them possesses the power of binding and loosing in Heaven and on eart
h ? From which things it is clearly seen how greatly priests excel in power and
dignity. Or who of them can ordain any one as clerk in the holy church -much les
s depose him for any fault ? For in the matter of ecclesiastical grades a greate
r power is needed to depose than to ordain. For bishops may ordain other bishops
, but by no means depose them without the authority of the apostolic see. Who, t
herefore, that is even moderately intelligent can doubt that priests are to be p
referred to kings ? But if kings are to be judged by priests for their sins, by
whom should they be judged with more right than by the Roman pontiff ? Finally,
any good Christians whatever have much more right to be considered kings than ha
ve bad princes. For the former, seeking the glory of God, strenuously rule thems
elves; but the tatter, enemies unto themselves, seeking the things which are the
ir own and not the things which are God's, are tyrannical oppressors of others.
The former are the body of the true king, Christ; the latter, of the devil. The
former restrain themselves to the end that they may eternally reign with the sup
reme emperor; but the sway of the latter brings about this-that they shall peris
h in eternal damnation with the prince of darkness who is king over all the sons
of pride.
Nor, indeed, is it much to be wondered at that wicked bishops are of one min
d with a bad king whom-having wrongfully obtained honours from him-they love and
fear. For they, simoniacally ordaining whom they please, sell God even for a pa
ltry price. And as the good are indivisibly united with their head, so also the
bad are pertinaciously banded together-chiefly against the good-with him who is
the head of evil. But against them we ought surely not so much to hold discourse
as to weep for them with tears and lamentations: to the end that God Almighty m
ay snatch them from the nooses of Satan in which they are held captive and, afte
r their great danger, bring them at length at some time to a knowledge of the tr
uth.
We refer to kings and emperors who, too much swollen by worldly glory, rule
not for God but for themselves. But, since it belongs to our office to distribut
e exhortation to each person according to the rank or dignity which he adorns, w
e take care, God impelling us, to provide weapons of humility just for emperors
and kings and other princes, that they may be able to subdue the risings of the
sea and the waves of pride. For we know that mundane glory and worldly cares usu
ally do induce to pride, especially those who are in authority. They, in consequ
ence, neglecting humility and seeking their own glory, always desire to dominate
over their brothers. Wherefore to kings and emperors especially it is of advant
age, when their mind tends to exalt itself and to delight in its own particular
glory, to find out a means of humbling themselves and to be brought to realize t
hat what they have been rejoicing in is the thing most to be feared. Let them, t
herefore, diligently consider how dangerous and how much to be feared the royal
or imperial dignity is. For in it the fewest are saved; and those who, through t
he mercy of God, do come to salvation are not glorified in the holy church and i
n the judgment of the Holy Spirit to the same extent as many poor people. For, f
rom the beginning of the world until these our own times, in the whole of authen
tic history we do not find seven emperors or kings whose lives were as distingui
shed for religion and as beautified by significant portents as those of an innum
erable multitude who despised the world-although we believe many of thereto have
found mercy in the presence of God Almighty. leer what emperor or king was ever
honoured by miracles as Me St. Martin, St Antony and St Benedict-not to mention
the apostles and martyrs ? And what emperor or king raised the dead, cleansed l
epers' or healed the blind ? See how the holy church praises and venerates the e
mperor Constantine of blessed memory, Theodosius and Honorius, Charles and Louis
as lovers of justice, promoters of the Christian religion, defenders of the chu
rches: it does not, however, declare them to have been resplendent with so great
a glory of miracles. Moreover, for how many kings or emperors has the holy chur
ch ordered chapels or altars to be dedicated to their names, or masses to be cel
ebrated in their honour ? Let kings and other princes fear lest the more they re
joice at being placed over other men in this life, the more they will be subject
ed to eternal fires. For of them it is written: " The powerful shall powerfully
suffer torments." And they are about to render account to God for as many men as
they have had subjects under their dominion. But if it be no little task for an
y private religious man to guard his own soul: how much labour will there be for
those who are rulers over many thousands of souls ? Moreover, if the judgment o
f the holy church severely punishes a sinner for the slaying of one man, what wi
ll become of those who, for the sake of worldly glory, hand over many thousands
to death? And such persons, although after having slain many they often say with
their lips " I have sinned," nevertheless rejoice in their hearts at having ext
ended their fame as it were. And they are unwilling not to have done what they h
ave done, nor do they grieve at having driven their brothers into Tartarus. And,
so long as they do not repent with their whole heart and are unwilling to let g
o what has been acquired or retained through shedding of blood, their penitence
before God will remain without the worthy fruit of penitence. Surely, therefore,
they ought greatly to fear. And it should frequently be recalled to their memor
y that, as we have said, in the different kingdoms of the earth, from the beginn
ing of the world, very few of the innumerable multitude of kings are found to ha
ve been holy: whereas in one see alone-the Roman one, namely-almost a hundred of
the successive pontiffs since the time of St. Peter the apostle are counted amo
ng the most holy. Why, then, is this-except that the kings and princes of the ea
rth, enticed by vain glory, prefer, as has been said, the things that are their
own to the things that are spiritual; but the pontiffs of the church, despising
vain glory, prefer to carnal things the things that are of God ? The former read
ily punish those who sin against themselves and are indifferent to those who sin
against God; the latter quickly pardon those who sin against themselves and do
not lightly spare those who sin against God. The former, too much bent on earthl
y deeds, think slightingly of spiritual ones; the latter, sedulously meditating
on heavenly things, despise the things which are of earth.
Therefore all Christians who desire to reign with Christ should be warned no
t to strive to rule through ambition of worldly power, but rather to keep in vie
w what the blessed Gregory, most holy pope, tells them to in his pastoral book w
hen he says: " Among these things, therefore, what is to be-striven for and what
to be feared except that he who surpasses in virtue shall be urged and shall co
me to rule, and that he who is without virtues shall not be urged and shall not
come 't " But if those who fear God come, when urged, with great fear to the apo
stolic chair, in which those who are duly ordained are made better by the merits
of the apostle St. Peter,-with how much fear and trembling is the throne of the
kingdom to be approached, where even the good and humble-as is shown in the cas
e of Saul and David-become worse ? For what we have said of the apostolic chair-
we know it, too by experience-is thus contained in the decrees of the blessed po
pe Symmachus: "He-St. Peter, namely-has sent down to posterity a perennial gift
of merits together with a heritage of innocence." And a little further on: "For
who can doubt that he is holy who is raised by the apex of so great a dignity ?
And, if the goods acquired by merit are lacking, those which are furnished by hi
s predecessor suffice. For either he (St. Peter) exalts distinguished men to thi
s summit, or he illumines those who are exalted."
Therefore let those whom holy church, opts own will and after proper counsel
, not for transitory Wry but for .the salvation of many, calls to have rule or d
ominion, humbly obey. And let them always beware in that point as to which St. G
regory, in that same pastoral book bears witness: " Indeed, when a man disdains
to be like to men, he is made like to an apostate angel. Thus Saul, after having
possessed the merit of humility, came to be swelled with pride when at the summ
it of power. Through humility, indeed, he was advanced; through pride, reproved-
God being witness who said: ' When thou wast small in shine own eyes, did I not
make thee head over the tribes of Israel ? "' And a little further on: " Moreove
r, strange to say, when he was small in his own eyes he was great in the eyes of
God; but when he seemed great in his own eyes he was small in the eyes of God."
Let them also carefully retain what God says in the gospel: " I do not seek my
glory"; and, "He who wishes to be the first among you shall be the servant of al
l." Let them always. prefer the honour of God to their own; let them cherish and
guard justice by observing the rights of every man; let them not walk in the co
unsel of the ungodly but, with an assenting heart, always consort with good men.
Let -them not seek to subject to themselves or to subjugate the holy church as
a handmaid; but chiefly let them strive, by recognizing the teachers and fathers
, to honour in due form her eyes-namely the priests of God. For if we are ordere
d to honour our carnal fathers and mothers-how much more our spiritual ones! And
if he who has cursed his carnal father or mother is to be punished with death-w
hat does he merit who curses his spiritual father or mother ? Let them not, enti
ced by carnal love, strive to place one of their own sons over tie flock for whi
ch Christ poured forth His blood, if they can find some one who is better and mo
re useful than he: lest, loving their son more than God, they inflict the greate
st detriment on the holy church For he who neglects to provide to the best of hi
s ability for such a want-and, as it were, necessity-of holy mother church is op
enly convicted of not loving God and his neighbour as a Christian should.
For if this virtue-namely, love-has been neglected, no matter what good any
one does he shall be without every fruit of salvation. And so by humbly doing th
ese things and by observing the love of God and of their neighbour as they ought
, they may hope for the mercy of Him who said: " Learn of Me, for I am meek and
lowly of heart." If they shall have humbly imitated Him they shall pass from thi
s servile and transitory kingdom to a true kingdom of liberty and eternity.
Source:
Henderson, Ernest F.
Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages
Documents
London : George
Relating
Belltoand
theSons,
War of1896.
the Investitures
Negotiations between Paschal II and Henry V; 1111
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(a.) Document
Paschal's
Document
Privilege of the first Convention, Feb. 12th, 1111.
Bishop Paschal, servant of the servants of God. To his beloved son Henry and
his successors, forever. It is both decreed against by the institutions of the
divine law, and interdicted by the sacred canons, that priests should busy thems
elves with secular cases, or should go to the public court except to rescue the
condemned, or for the sake of others who suffer injury. Wherefore also the apost
le Paul says: " If ye have secular judgments constitute as judges those who are
of low degree in the church." Moreover in portions of your kingdom bishops and a
bbots are so occupied by secular cares that they are compelled assiduously to fr
equent the court, and to perform military service Which things, indeed, are scar
cely if at all carried on with out plunder, sacrilege, arson. For ministers of t
he altar are made ministers of the king's court; inasmuch as they receive cities
, duchies, margravates, monies and other things which belong to the service of t
he king. Whence also the custom has grown up-intolerably for the church -that el
ected bishops should by no means receive consecration unless they had first been
invested through the hand of the king. From which cause both the wickedness of
simoniacal heresy and, at times, so great an ambition has prevailed that the epi
scopal sees were invaded without any previous election. At times, even, they hav
e been invested while the bishops were alive. Aroused by these and very many oth
er evils which had happened for the most part through investitures, our predeces
sors the pontiffs Gregory VII. and Urban II. of blessed memory, frequently calli
ng together episcopal councils did condemn those investitures of the lay hand, a
nd did decree that those who should have obtained churches through them should b
e deposed, and the donors also be deprived of communion-according to that chapte
r of the apostolic canons which runs thus: " If any bishop, employing the powers
of the world, do through them obtain a church: he shall be deposed and isolated
, as well as all who communicate with him." Following in the traces of which (ca
nons), we also, in an episcopal council, have confirmed their sentence. And so,
most beloved son, king Henry,-now through our office, by the grace of God, emper
or of the Romans,-we decree that those royal appurtenances are to be given back
to thee and to thy kingdom which manifestly belonged to that kingdom in the time
of Charles, fouls, and of thy other predecessors. We forbid, and under sentence
of anathema prohibit, that any bishop or abbot, present or future, invade these
same royal appurtenances. In which are included the cities, duchies, margravate
s, counties, monies, toll, market, advowsons of the kingdom, rights of the judge
s of the hundred courts, and the courts which manifestly belonged to the king to
gether with what pertained to them, the military posts and camps of the kingdom.
Nor shall they henceforth, unless by favour of the king, concern themselves wit
h those royal appurtenances. But neither shall it be allowed our successors, who
shall follow us in the apostolic chair, to disturb thee or thy kingdom in this
matter. Furthermore, we decree that the churches, with the offerings and heredit
ary possessions which manifestly did not belong to the kingdom, shall remain fre
e; as, on the day of thy coronation, in the sight of the whole church, thou dids
t promise that they should be. For it is fitting that the bishops, freed from se
cular cares, should take care of their people, and not any longer be absent from
their churches. For, according to the apostle Paul, let them watch, being about
to render account, as it were, for the souls of these (their people).
(b.) Paschal's Privilege of the second Convention, April 12th, 1111.
Bishop Paschal, servant of the servants of God, to his most beloved son in C
hrist, Henry, glorious king of the Germans, and, through the grace of Almighty G
od, august emperor of the Romans, greeting and apostolic benediction. The divine
disposition has appointed that your kingdom should be singularly united with th
e holy Roman church. Your predecessors by reason of uprightness and greater virt
ue have obtained the crown of the city of Rome and the empire. To which dignity,
viz.: that of the crown and the empire, the divine majesty has, most beloved so
n Henry, through the ministry of our priestship, brought thy person also. That p
rerogative, therefore, of dignity which our predecessors did grant to thy predec
essors the catholic emperors, and did confirm by their charters, we also do conc
ede to thee, beloved, and do confirm by the page of this present privilege: that
, namely, thou may'st confer the investiture of staff and ring, freely, except t
hrough simony and with violence to the elected, on the bishops and abbots of thy
kingdom. But after the investiture they shall receive the canonical consecratio
n from the bishop to whom they belong. If any one, moreover, without thy consent
, shall have been elected by the clergy and people, he shall be consecrated by n
o one unless he be invested by thee. Bishops and archbishops, indeed, shall have
the right of canonically consecrating bishops or abbots invested by thee. For y
our predecessors have enriched the churches of their kingdom with such benefits
from their royal appurtenances, that the kingdom itself should seek its chief sa
fety in protecting the bishops and abbots; and popular dissensions, which often
happen at elections should be restrained by the royal majesty. Wherefore the att
ention of thy prudence and power ought the more carefully to be applied to this
end: that the greatness of the Roman, and the safety of the other churches, shou
ld be preserved through still greater benefits-God granting them. Therefore if a
ny person, secular or ecclesiastical, knowing this page of our concession, shall
with bold daring strive to act against it: he shall, unless he come to his sens
es, be entwined in the chain of the anathema and shall suffer the risk of losing
his honour and dignity. The divme mercy, moreover, shall guard those observing
it, and shall permit thy person and power happily to reign to His honour and glo
ry. Amen.
Source:
Henderson, Ernest F.
Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages
London : George
Documents Relating
Belltoand
theSons,
War of1896.
the Investitures
Concordat of Worms; September 23, 1122
Previous
(a.)
Contents
Privilege
Document
of Pope Calixtus II.
I, bishop Calixtus, servant of the servants of God, do grant to thee beloved
son, Henry-by the grace of God august emperor of the Romans-that the elections
of the bishops and abbots of the German kingdom, who belong to the kingdom, shal
l take place in thy presence, without simony and without any violence; so that i
f any discord shall arise between the parties concerned, thou, by the counsel or
judgment of the metropolitan and the co-provincials, may'st give consent and ai
d to the party which has the more right. The one elected, moreover, without any
exaction may receive the regalia from thee through the lance, and shall do unto
thee for these what he rightfully should. But he who is consecrated in the other
parts of thy empire (i.e. Burgundy and Italy) shall, within six months, and wit
hout any exaction, receive the regalia from thee through the lance, and shall do
unto thee for these what he rightfully should. Excepting all things which are k
nown to belong to the Roman church. Concerning matters, however, in which thou d
ost make complaint to me, and dost demand aid,-I, according to the duty of my of
fice. will furnish aid to thee. I give unto thee true peace, and to all who are
or have been on thy side in the time of this discord.
(b.) Edict of the Emperor Henry IV.
In the name of the holy and indivisible Trinity, I, Henry, by the grace of G
od august emperor of the Romans, for the love of God and of the holy Roman churc
h and of our master pope Calixtus, and for the healing of my soul, do remit to G
od, and to the holy apostles of God, Peter and Paul, and to the holy catholic ch
urch, all investiture through ring and staff; and do grant that in all the churc
hes that are in my kingdom or empire there may be canonical election and free co
nsecration. All the possessions and regalia of St. Peter which, from the beginni
ng of this discord unto this day, whether in the time of my father or also in mi
ne, have been abstracted, and which I hold: I restore to that same holy Roman ch
urch. As to those things, moreover, which I do not hold, I will faithfully aid i
n their restoration. As to the possessions also of all other churches and prince
s, and of all others lay and clerical persons which have been lost in that war:
according to the counsel of the princes, or according to justice, I will restore
the things that I hold; and of those things which I do not hold I will faithful
ly aid in the restoration. And I grant true peace to our master pope Calixtus, a
nd to the holy Roman church, and to all those who are or have been on its side.
And in matters where the holy Roman church shall demand aid I will grant it; and
in matters concerning which it shall make complaint to me I will duly grant to
it justice. All these things have been done by the consent and counsel of the pr
inces. Whose names are here adjoined: Adalbert archbishop of Mainz; F. archbisho
p of Cologne; H. bishop of Ratisbon; O. bishop of Bamberg; B. bishop of Spires;
H. of Augsburg; G. of Utrecht; Ou. Of Constance; E. abbot of Fulda; Henry, duke;
Frederick, duke; S. duke; Pertolf, duke; Margrave Teipold; Margrave Engelbert;
Godfrey, count Palatine; Otto, count Palatine; Berengar, count. I, Frederick, ar
chbishop of Cologne and archchancellor, have given my recognizances.
Source:
Henderson, Ernest F.
Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages
London : George Bell and Sons, 1896.