Volta
Religion23 September 1122

Concordat of Worms

Also called: Pactum Calixtinum, Concordat of Worms (1122)

In 1122 Holy Roman Emperor Henry V and Pope Callixtus II made an agreement at Worms that brought the Investiture Controversy over the appointment of clergy to a close.

Charter of the Concordat of Worms, by which Henry V and Pope Callixtus II ended the Investiture Controversy
Charter of the Concordat of Worms, by which Henry V and Pope Callixtus II ended the Investiture Controversy

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Even after Canossa (1077), the struggle between emperor and pope over who should appoint the clergy went on for nearly fifty years. On 23 September 1122 Henry V and the legates of Pope Callixtus II concluded an agreement at Worms. The emperor gave up investiture with the ring and staff, the symbols of spiritual office, and allowed bishops to be elected under canon law; in return, in Germany he could attend elections and grant bishops their worldly lands and rights with the sceptre.

The Church’s right to appoint its clergy was thus confirmed and papal authority rose, laying the ground for the peak of papal power under Innocent III in the 13th century. In the same year (1122) King Injong came to the throne in Goryeo, and his in-law Yi Ja-gyeom dominated the court before rising in rebellion in 1126.

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States at the time
Holy Roman Empire · signatory
Papal States · signatory
Places
Worms

Before and after

Earlier
1077 Walk to Canossa
Later
1147 Second Crusade

Themes that include this event

  • Late Medieval Europe and the Renaissance1077 – 1517

    From Canossa to the eve of the Reformation — papal power at its height and in decline, towns and parliaments, royal power growing through the Hundred Years’ War and the Black Death, and the Renaissance and printing