Clash on Investiture: King Henry IV

From the beginning of the Christian church, there have been multiple clashes over what powers go to the state and what powers go to the church. One of the most prominent disputes was in the late eleventh century over which side would be able to appoint bishops and other churchmen, otherwise know as investiture. The church and Pope Gregory VII believed they had the right to solely pick churchmen because they believed the church and pope were all-powerful. Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, however wanted this power to protect the state. When Henry IV became emperor he was young which gave Pope Gregory the opportunity to take advantage of Henry and change the church. As Henry grew up knowing this, he became weary of Gregory’s intention and always payed attention to Gregory’s actions. Regarding investiture, the state had the most compelling argument because they had valid evidence while the church opposed values on which they stood and eventually abandoned their claim.

The state had the best initial argument because they wanted to separate the church and state while maintaining a say in who became the bishops and the church wanted to have complete control of the state as well as the church. As much as the state would have liked to completely separate from the church, they realized the state still needed to be able to advocate their pick for new bishops. Around the time of the investiture controversy most bishops had a large influence in the civil government. Although the state wanted to completely separate from the church, the bishops would remain an influential part of civil government regardless of whether the church and state were separate because they were the nobles of the Roman Empire. The state argued, Saint Ambrose “di...

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...s argument seemed secondary to the states argument, but it ultimately proved lesser when the church deserted facts resorting to banishment. The state used valid evidence to support their side of the argument as well as strategizing well enough to figure out exactly what would be most beneficial. Although the state wanted to be completely separate from the church, the state realized the most expedient plan would be to be almost completely separate from the church. On the other hand, the church was too reclusive and greedy to give the state any power, let alone share power with the church. The church finally overcame its greediness and agreed to share some power concerning investiture. Additionally proving the states argument to be more compelling, the state got their way in the end by being able to submit the names out of which the pope would choose the bishops.