Synod of Worms

September 26th & 28th

The Investiture Controversy game opens with a synod (gathering of bishops) and diet (irregular meeting with secular leaders) convened by King Henry IV in Worms.

1076 (24 Jan.)

In the aftermath of continuing conflicts between pope and king about nominating and investing bishops in their positions (including Milan), in late 1075, Gregory wrote a letter to Henry IV, demanding that the king show obedience to him, the papal office, and acknowledge papal rights over bishops. Henry IV had just put down a rebellion, and received the letter when he was newly flush with victory. Knowing that his father had installed a few popes himself and unwilling to tolerate further resistance to his rule, Henry convened his nobles and key members of the Church in German lands on the 24th of January (1076) to respond to the letter and consider its claims to supremacy over bishops (i.e. the episcopate).

Your starting point for preparing for the debate should be reading the following letter which brings simmering tensions to a boil:

  • check out the maps to understand the geography of the conflict

  • See Letter of Gregory to Henry complaining of the king's mistreatment of the church (December 1075), trans. E.Emerton, The Correspondence of Pope Gregory VII (New York, 1932), pp.87-89.

  • Other examples of Gregory's correspondence can be read in Emerton's work (1932) which has many letters relevent to understand the characters involved in the Investiture Controversy and to the ideas underpinning the doctinal conflict between pope and king. Another translation of other letters from Gregory (1972) is also posted on Perusall.

Gameplay Context:

The Patarene movement in Milan has succeded.

Prelude to Session 1. Synod of Worms:

In June of 1075, Henry was able to win an important battle with his army over his rebellious lords, and on October 25 of that same year the Saxon rebels solemnly submitted. In view of this success, Henry found new opportunity to deal finally with another thorn in his side, Gregory VII. The continued success of the Patarines meant that the powerful archbishopric of Milan remains in the hands of the Roman camp, with Erlembald's candidate Atto finally ascending to the cathedra and being invested by Gregory himself. Still fuming six weeks later, Henry received a letter from Pope Gregory in which he peremptorily demanded obedience from him.

The written papal ultimatum reached Henry on 1 January 1076 in Goslar. A triumphant king, made confident of his strength to overcome enemies, read a letter filled with admonitions and demands of humble submission to the pope’s will. Since Henry also knew that many of his bishops shared his indignation at Gregory’s hierarchical pretensions and that they too had been confronted with demands from Rome, the king was all the more willing brusquely to repudiate Gregory’s letter. He summoned a “general assembly of all the princes of his kingdom” to meet in Worms.

Gregory did not attend, but sent, in our scenario, his papal legate (or representative) Radbod, to speak on his behalf. The Synod of Worms was held in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Worms, presided over by Henry IV and Siegfried of Mainz. It is a vast cross-shaped basilica with two semicircular choirs, built on an east-west orientation. In 1018, the cathedral had been consecrated in the presence of the Emperor, but the western part of the building collapsed only two years later and had to be rebuilt. This was taken to be ill omened. The cathedral was magnificently furnished in the 1030s and 1040s – this is no whitewashed blank canvas, but a church painted in bright colours, depicting vibrant biblical scenes, and columns sparkling with golden capitals. Amidst this splendour, you all sit in the cloister, with Siegfried of Mainz in the basilica’s cathedra and Henry sitting on a portable throne brought into the space. After the morning service was celebrated together, everyone ate a simple fare together starting to feel out everyone’s positions on the topics you are sure will be debated. You are now gathered to hear Henry open the official proceedings and make his intentions clear. …

Debates:

September 26th Debate: Our starting point is Henry IV (and his court's) reaction to Gregory's Letter demanding submission to papal oversight of bishops. The debate will be about Papal supremacy over the episcopate.

  • While game sheets try to ensure that there are a set number of formal speeches presented each debate, factions should make sure that they have enough people to speak on the debate topic. Even if you do not have a formal speech scheduled, all students are expected to contribute to the debate and have something cogent (and pertinent) to say.

  • I would recommend that members of each factions work together to create shared "policy statements" on the major debate topics (a shared google doc perhaps?).

  • Factions will have 5 minutes to meet at the beginning of class to discuss any last minute strategy.

  • For Monday, students should use Gregory's letter to Henry as the key talking point. What was Gregory demanding? How should people respond? This book generally has many primary sources that will be of use to you.

  • Maureen Miller's article briefly (for an academic) summarizes the classic interpretations that have dominated 20th-century understanding of the Investiture Controversy and sets out the major problem raised in more recent research.

  • Otherwise, the readings for debates are open. Students can read at will what they find most relevant; use #tags to find key passages amd add them to annotations to help others find key information.

    • I might suggest that students read a bit about Henry III (Henry IV's father) who at the Council of Sutri (1046) deposed three vying popes (each of whom saw themselves as legitimate). While this was unprecidented at the time it did establish an idea that kings had oversight over the Church. This would give evidence for the negative side of the debate (#royalBishops)

September 28th Debate: Papal Freedom from Precedent

Perhaps useful for this topic are some dictionary entries:

And a very useful overview to the papacy and in particular to the topic of the relationship between the papacy and law is provided in a great overview of the papacy (starting before and going after our time period):

Mary Stroll's work on 11th century papal elections (and anti-popes) which explores how laws around papal elections were drastically reformed in the mid-eleventh century by Henry III and church reformers.

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