ConflictEurope
The Investiture Controversy
Pope against emperor over who appoints bishops
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Behind the symbolism lay a question of principle with long reach: is there an authority outside the king's? That the church won a measure of independence created in western Europe two competing centres of power where other civilisations had one. Several historians see this as one reason ideas of limited government took root there.
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The pope and the German emperor quarrelled over who should appoint bishops. The emperor eventually had to stand barefoot in the snow outside the castle at Canossa to beg forgiveness. The dispute permanently weakened imperial power.
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Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org