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Road to Canossa
The Humiliation of Canossa, (Italian: L'umiliazione di
Canossa), sometimes called the Walk to Canossa (German:
Gang nach Canossa/Kanossa)[1] or the Road to Canossa,
was the ritual submission of the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry
IV to Pope Gregory VII at Canossa Castle in 1077 during the
Investiture controversy. It involved the Emperor journeying to
Canossa, where the Pope had been staying as the guest of
Margravine Matilda of Tuscany, to seek absolution and the
revocation of his excommunication.

According to contemporary sources, he was forced to

supplicate himself on his knees waiting for three days and
three nights before the entrance gate of the castle, while a
blizzard raged. Indeed, the episode has been described as "one
of the most dramatic moments of the Middle Ages". It has also
spurred much debate among medieval chroniclers as well as
modern historians, who argue about whether the walk was a
"brilliant masterstroke" or an embarrassing humiliation.[2]

Henry at Canossa, history painting

Contents by Eduard Schwoiser (1862)

Historical background
Journey
At the castle
Historical impact
Modern usage
References
Literature

Historical background
The Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor had disputed over the precedence of ecclesiastical or
secular power since the spread of the Gregorian Reforms in the 11th century. When Gregory VII,
acclaimed Pope by the people of Rome in 1073, attempted to enact reforms to the investiture
process by his Dictatus papae decree, he was met by resistance from Henry IV. The king insisted
that he reserve the traditionally established right of previous emperors to "invest" bishops, abbots
and other clergymen, despite the papal decree.

The conflict became increasingly severe, after Henry had been able to suppress the Saxon
Rebellion in the Battle of Langensalza in June 1075. In September he installed a new Bishop of
Milan, which annoyed Gregory, who openly required obedience. Shortly afterwards the Pope was
attacked while leading the 1075 Christmas celebrations and taken to jail by a mob. The next day his
followers mobbed the prison and brought him back to the church, where he picked up mass where

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he had left off.[3] On 24 January 1076, Henry assembled several German bishops in a synod at
Worms, where the ecclesiastical dignitaries abandoned all commitments to the Pope. The king
finally demanded Gregory's abdication, referring to the rules of papal election according to the In
nomine Domini bull of 1059.

In response, Gregory excommunicated and deposed Henry in the Lenten synod of 1076 at Rome.
He stated furthermore that, one year from that day, the loss of kingship would become
irrevocable.[4]

Journey
Gregory had also declared the oaths of allegiance sworn by the
Princes null and void,[5] which turned out to be more
dangerous to Henry's rule, as the development met the
interests of several territorial rulers in the Empire. When in
October the Patriarch of Aquileia and the papal legate met
with German princes at Trebur, they swore an oath not to
recognize Henry unless the ban was lifted within a year.
Fearing further rebellion among the German aristocracy,
Henry felt he had to get rid of his excommunication. He was
still popular among the common people, but the princes were
threatening to elect a new king. He had to secure his position
in the church before the rapidly approaching deadline given by
the pope.

On the suggestion of his advisers, he arranged to meet with the Henry asks Matilda and Abbot Hugh
Pope, who had set out along the path across the Alps towards of Cluny to intervene in the dispute,
Augsburg. Henry commenced his trip in Speyer and, travelling Vita Mathildis (c. 1115)
southward up the Rhine, he found his position precarious. As
the Swabian nobles refused to open the way to the Alpine
passes, the king had to move through Burgundy and cross the Alps at steep Mont Cenis.[6]
According to the chronicles by Lambert of Hersfeld, Henry, his wife Bertha of Savoy, and their
young son Conrad risked their lives by crossing the Alpine crest in harsh mid-winter conditions.
After a long journey, they reached Gregory's accommodation in Canossa on 25 January 1077.

At the castle
Henry IV and his entourage at the
gate, 19th century depiction
When Henry reached Matilda's castle, the Pope ordered that
he be refused entry. Waiting at the gates, Henry took on the
behavior of penance. He wore a hair-shirt, the traditional
clothing of monks at the time, and allegedly walked barefoot.
Many of his entourage, including the queen Bertha of Savoy
and the prince Conrad, also supposedly removed their shoes.
According to Lambert of Hersfeld and first-hand accounts of
the scene (letters written by both Gregory and Henry in the
following years), the king waited by the gate for three full days.
Throughout this time, he allegedly wore only his penitent hair-
shirt and fasted.[7]

Finally, on 28 January, the castle gates were opened for Henry and he was allowed to enter.
Contemporary accounts report that he knelt before Pope Gregory and begged his forgiveness.
Gregory absolved Henry and invited him back into the Church. That evening, Gregory, Henry, and

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Matilda of Tuscany shared communion in the chapel of Sant'Apollonio inside the castle, signaling
the official end of Henry's excommunication.[8]

Whether Henry actually did formal repentance has not been conclusively established. In any case,
he regained his freedom to act and quickly returned to Germany, while Gregory remained with
Matilda at the castle and in other locations in Tuscany for several months.

Historical impact
The immediate effects of the Canossa meeting were
limited. Although Henry was restored to the Church, any
expectations that the Pope would restore support of
Henry's right to the throne were soon dashed;[9] in March,
a small group of powerful Saxon and South German
territorial magnates, including the archbishops of
Salzburg, Mainz and Magdeburg and several bishops, met
at Forchheim and, on the assumption that Henry had
irretrievably lost the imperial dignity, repudiated the
Salian dynasty's claim to pass the imperial crown by
heredity and, in the words of Bruno of Merseburg, present A 1583 image of Henry at Canossa, by
in his bishop's entourage, declared that "the son of a king, English Protestant John Foxe. The print
even if he should be preeminently worthy, should become depicts Henry as a dignified ruler,
king by a spontaneous election". The Pope confirmed the contrasted with Gregory's contemptuous
agreement.[10] His deposition still in effect, Henry was supporters and Gregory himself,
forced into civil war with Duke Rudolph of Swabia. identified as Antichrist, who is depicted in
Gregory levied a second excommunication against Henry, the wiles of Matilda.
who ultimately won the civil war, invaded Rome, and
forced Gregory to flee, replacing him with Antipope
Clement III.[11]

The meaning in the greater history of Germany and Europe, however, was much more significant.
During the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, Henry was exalted as a defender of the
rights of both Catholics and opponents of the Pope. Many German Lutherans considered him the
"first Protestant" and looked to his example for guidance in their struggle against what they saw as
a tyrannical and unjust institution. Still in 1728, when Gregory was canonized by Pope Benedict
XIII, the papal decree caused offence among European monarchs and its publication was banned
by Emperor Charles VI.

Later in history, the event took on a more secular meaning: the rejection of its example came to
stand for Germany's refusal to be subjected to any outside power (although still especially, but not
exclusively, the Catholic Church). The incident first was perpetuated by the Austrian politician and
poet Anton Alexander von Auersperg (Anastasius Grün) in an 1868 speech before the House of
Lords on the implementation of civil marriage. After German unification, Chancellor Otto von
Bismarck, when his Pulpit Paragraph and the Jesuits Law sparked the so-called "Kulturkampf"
with Pope Pius IX, assured his countrymen in a Reichstag speech that "We will not go to Canossa–
neither in body nor in spirit!" This meant that Germany would stand for itself and not abide any
outside interference in its politics, religion or culture.[12]

On the other side, Canossa is remembered in Italy by Benedetto Croce as the first concrete victory
since the fall of the Western Roman Empire, as (in the view of the 19th-century historian) the Pope
represented the Italian people against the domination of the Germans. Croce considered Canossa
as the initial retreat from Italy of the Holy Roman Empire, starting the Italian Renaissance in
which the Germans lost control of Northern Italy by the 15th century.

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Modern usage
In modern usage, "going to Canossa" refers to an act of
penance or submission. To "go to Canossa" is an expression
that describes doing penance, often with the connotation that
it is unwilling or coerced. For example, Adolf Hitler used the
expression to describe his meetings with Bavarian Minister
President Heinrich Held after being released from Landsberg
Prison, in his bid to have the ban on the Nazi Party lifted.[13]

It is used often in German (Gang nach Canossa), Dutch (naar

Canossa gaan), Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish
(Canossavandring or Kanossagång), Finnish (ryömiä
Kanossaan), French (aller à Canossa), Hungarian
(kanosszajárás), Italian (andare a Canossa), Slovenian (pot v Plaque with Bismarck's quote
Canosso) and Hebrew (‫ הליכה לקנוסה‬- halikha le'kanossa). erected in 1877 at Harzburg Castle

References
1. Sohns, Peter (2005). Die Jagd nach den Zeugnissen (https://books.google.com/books?id=qDN
t-sF28rkC&q=%22Gang+nach+Kanossa%22&pg=PA17) (in German). BoD – Books on
Demand. p. 17. ISBN 9783833423239.
2. "The Walk to Canossa: The Tale of an Emperor and a Pope" (http://www.medievalists.net/2017
/08/walk-canossa-tale-emperor-pope/). Medievalists.net. 4 August 2017. Retrieved 28 January
2018.
3. "Pontifex Maximus—Days of Glory and Papal Power | Religious Studies Center" (https://rsc.by
u.edu/peter-popes/pontifex-maximus-days-glory-papal-power). rsc.byu.edu. Retrieved
2020-12-25.
4. Conflict of Investitures (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08084c.htm) From New Advent
5. Holland, Tom. "Canossa: a Medieval clash between Church and State", History Magazine.
November 21, 2014 (http://www.historyextra.com/feature/medieval/canossa-medieval-clash-bet
ween-church-and-state)
6. Orton, C. W. Previté (1910). "A Point in the Itinerary of Henry IV, 1076–1077" (https://zenodo.or
g/record/2441409). English Historical Review. 25 (99): 520–522. doi:10.1093/ehr
/XXV.XCIX.520 (https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fehr%2FXXV.XCIX.520).; *[https://storicamente.org
/creber-women-canossa Creber, ‘Women at Canossa'.
7. Account of Canossa (http://lygdamus.com/resources/New%20PDFS/Investiture2.pdf) From An
Account of Canossa
8. This series of events is compiled by Zimmerman (see below) as the most likely, through
comparison of original sources on the subject, including letters written by both Henry and
Gregory to the German bishops and princes. For a discussion of this, and for other proposed
time lines, see Zimmermann's chapter 5
9. Gregory had exacted an impossible promise that Henry would not assume imperial powers
until permitted to do so by the Pope; a pro-papal chronicler referred to Henry's "pretended
reconciliation" (I. S. Robinson, "Pope Gregory VII, the Princes and the Pactum 1077–1080",
The English Historical Review 94 No. 373 (October 1979):721–756) p. 725.
10. Robinson 1979:721f.
11. "Gregory VII" (http://www.historychannel.com/thcsearch/thc_resourcedetail.do?encyc_id=2109
46) in HistoryChannel.Com: Encyclopedia by John W. O'Malley, retrieved 11 July 2006.
12. For more discussion on cultural references to the Walk to Canossa, see Zimmermann,
chapters 1 and 4

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13. Kershaw, Ian. Hitler: 1889–1936: Hubris New York: Norton, 1998.

Literature
A. Creber, ‘Women at Canossa. The Role of Elite Women in the Reconciliation between Pope
Gregory VII and Henry IV of Germany (January 1077),’ (https://storicamente.org/creber-women
-canossa) Storicamente 13 (2017), article no. 13, pp. 1-44.
Hlawitschka, E. "Zwischen Tribur und Canossa" Historisches Jahrbuch 94 (1974:25–45).
Holland, Tom, (2010). "The Forge of Christendom: The End of Days and the Epic Rise of the
West". Anchor Books. ISBN 978-0-307-27870-8.
Kämpf, Hellmut, Canossa als Wende. Ausgewählte Aufsätze zur neueren Forschung.
Darmstadt, 1963.
Morrison, K.F. "Canossa: a revision", Traditio 18 (1962:121–58.)
Struve, Tilman, Mathilde von Tuszien-Canossa und Heinrich IV."
Zimmermann, Harald, Der Canossagang von 1077. Wirkungen und Wirklichkeit. Mainz, 1975.

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