Christian Cyclopedia

Investiture is the conferring of symbols of office. The rite of investiture applied to abbots and bps. provoked a controversy in the Middle Ages bet. the papacy and various secular rulers. Before the fall of the Roman Empire, imperial influence prevailed. No important office was filled without direct sanction of the emp., often not without nomination by him. When papal power increased, traditions respecting emps. were often set aside. The struggle was esp. severe in Germany. The matter was formally adjusted in a compromise, the Concordat of Worms. See also Concordat, 2; Eigenkirche; Lay Investiture; Popes, 7; Simony; Western Christianity 500–1500, 5.