Canossa
A hilltop castle in the Apennines south-west of Reggio Emilia, now a ruin. Here in January 1077 Henry IV stood as a penitent before Gregory VII and was absolved from excommunication.
Canossa is a rock in the northern Apennines, in the hills south-west of Reggio Emilia, on which the ruins of a castle stand. Gregory VII dated the oath of Henry IV (emperor) there on 28 January 1077 and wrote that the king had stood three days before its gate (Gregory VII, Register 4.12). Lampert of Hersfeld calls it a very strong fortress to which the pope withdrew on the advice of Matilda of Tuscany, and gives it three rings of wall (Lampert of Hersfeld, Annals 1077 (pp. 288, 292)).
What happened here
- 1075 to 1077, firm dateThe Investiture Controversy and Canossa
Pope Gregory VII and King Henry IV of Germany break over the appointment of bishops. Deposed and excommunicated in 1076, Henry comes as a barefoot penitent to the castle of Canossa in January 1077 and is absolved. The conflict goes on.
Primary sources
Register of Gregory VII
- Gregory VII, Register 4.12avalon.law.yale.edu