feudal sovereign, Henry the Fourth. But though Henry received the messenger graciously, and appeared altogether to approve of the object of his mission, he soon proved himself by his subsequent acts to be quite averse to these proceedings, and by no means anxious to comply with the papal requisition. In truth, he was too deeply involved in simoniacal practices himself, and his bishops and the superior clergy of the empire were too foully tained with the vices of concubinage and adultery, to countenance the execution of any such project as that of the pope. After some delay, he declined to accede to the proposition; and he dimissed the legate shortly after, thus depriving him of every opportunity of effecting his purpose. Exasperated at the ill success of his efforts in Germany, Gregory called another council at Rome (A.D. 1075) the following year; and there he not only set on foot the same project with increased vigour and perseverance, but he also sncceeded in obtaining the consent of the council to a sentence of excommunication against several bishops in Germany and Italy, and against some of the emperor's lay favourites. A further and more important act of this council, however, was the power conferred on the pope himself of pronouncing anathema on any of the clerical profession who should thenceforward receive the investiture "by ring and staff" of any bishopric, abbacy, or other ecclesiastical dignity, from the hands of a layman, as well as on any layman, whatever his quality or condition, conferring any such dignity or granting any such investiture in such manner. This decree was the ori

gin of the quarrel respecting "investiture,"* which caused so much dissension in Europe during succeeding ages. Striking, as it did, at the very foundation of his authority over the clerical state, it is not to be wondered at if Henry, sunk though he was in sensuality, and weakened in intellect by his manifold excesses, was not altogether insensible to its effects. But he was impotent to resist it at the time, and wholly powerless to assert his prerogative, because of the civil strife which then desolated the empire, and divided the hearts of his subjects. When, however, he had succeeded in bringing about a peace, by his defeat of the Saxons, he turned his awakened attention immediately to it. That there was ample ground for some such severe law as that proposed by the pope, could not be denied by him; neither did he seek to gainsay its necessity. On the contrary, "he acknowledged,' says an honest historian of the church,* **that in exposing ecclesiastical benefices to sale he had done amiss, and he promised amendment in that respect; but he remained inflexible against all attempts that were made to persuade him to resign his power of creating bishops and abbots, and the right of investiture, which was intimately connected with this important privilege. Had this emperor,' continues the same author, "been seconded by the German princes, he might have maintained

By "investiture" is meant a formal donation of the episcopal ornaments or symbols-the ring and crozier, or staff-without which ceremony no bishop or abbot was considered regularly installed into any ecclesiastical dignity.

** Mosheim, Eccl. Hist. cent. xi. cap. ii, s. XV.

the refusal with dignity and success; but this was far from being the case: a considerable number of these princes, and, among others, the states of Saxony, were the secret or declared enemies of Henry, and this furnished Gregory with a favourable opportunity of extending his authority and executing his ambitious projects." But a more detailed account of this eventful quarrel is necessary to the better understanding of what follows.

The latter part of the year 1075 was signalised by the death of Hanno the Second, Archbishop of Cologne, previously the emperor's tutor, and subsequently his mediator with the papal see. According to the custom which had prevailed during his sovereignty, Henry, without consulting the canons of the diocess in whom lay the election, and without intimating his intention to the papal legate, who was then at his court prosecuting the claim of the Roman pontiff to the sole power of investiture, proceeded to appoint a successor to the defunct prelate. This most important see he conferred on one of his most worthless favourites; and not content even with that, he added to it the rich and powerful abbacies of Fulda, in Westphalia, and Lorsch, in the Palatinate. To complete his folly, he then invested the newly appointed prelate with ring and staff himself, in the presence of the papal legate. This act had at once the effect of disgusting his subjects, and of exciting the pope against him; and thus he created enemies for himself at home and abroad, and in every quarter, when he most needed friendship and peace. The dispossessed abbots of Fulda

and Lorsch laid their cases before the papal throne, and they were gladly entertained by Gregory, who was anxious for an opportunity of attacking his great rival, Henry; but they were also backed by the complaints, loud and deep, of the dispersed confederates, who now began to stir again in all corners of the kingdom, and acquired by that means a weight which was wellnigh irresistible in the opinion of the wily pope. To the discontented nobles were speedily joined the still unquiet Saxons, and another formidable conspiracy was soon set on foot against the imperial power. The emperor was assailed with the bitterest denunciations— the mildest epithets applied to him by his incensed subjects were, "perjurer," "tyrant," and "sacrilegious plunderer of the church; and the most outrageous interpretation was put upon every one of his actions, even those of the most harmless description. Thus stood matters at the inauspicious commencement of the following year, A.D. 1076.

In the meanwhile, Gregory had determined upon the course to pursue, and in pursuance of that determination he took the boldest and most extraordinary step which had ever till then been attempted by the papal power. This was no other than to issue the citation to Henry to attend in person at Rome, for the purpose of exculpating himself from the charges already alluded to. Up to that period popes had ever been deemed the vassals of the emperor; and they were so in practice as well as in theory. By this bold proceeding, however, the theory was sought to be reversed; and thenceforth the contrary prac

tice established, that the temporal sovereignty was held entirely at the will of the head of the church. The words of the enraged Gregory, on learning that Henry refused to accede to his claims, are characteristic of the inflexible temper of the man, as well as of the persevering violence which characterised his conduct in these proceedings, even to the very hour of his death. "Either," he said to his council, "either shall this Henry lose his crown, or I my life!" circumstances occurred in this bitter contest.

Both

"On the Monday of the second week in Lent, this year of our Lord 1076,"-thus ran Gregory's citation, communicated to the monarch by his legate," you, Henry of Franconia, now King of the Romans, shall appear before us in a special synod to be held in Rome, to hear the charges preferred against you, and to exculpate yourself therefrom. Failing in this, be it known to you by these presents, that the apostolical curse shall be pronounced against you-that you shall be cut off from all communion with the Christian church -that you shall be put out of the pale of humanity that you shall be anathema, maranatha."

It was only natural that Henry should be enraged at this impudent threat, and that he should at once proceed to repel the pretensions of his proud vassal. Accordingly he convened a general council of the church at Worms, on his own authority, and appointed to the presidency thereof Siegfried, Archbishop of Mentz, Gregory's bitterest enemy. This council was well attended; for the German clergy, actuated by a spirit of nationality, and perhaps also excited against the pope by reason of the severe discipline which he sought