CCWV.LIFE Support This Site

The Concordat of Worms

1122 · Worms (Worms, Germany)

In September 1122 Pope Calixtus II and Emperor Henry V settle the Investiture Contest at Worms. The emperor renounces investiture with ring and staff and grants free episcopal elections; the pope concedes the emperor a voice in elections in Germany and investiture with the temporal regalia. The settlement distinguishes spiritual from temporal authority in the Latin church's public law.

Tagged: Catholic

The Event

Date
1122 (exact)
Era
The Medieval Papacy; Standard periodization of Catholic history
Location
Worms; today Worms, Germany
Traditions
Catholicism
Streams
Catholic
Key figures
Calixtus II, Henry V
Key texts
Concordat of Worms (the Calixtinum)

Connections

Illustration for Gregory VII issues the Dictatus Papae History Event Gregory VII issues the Dictatus Papae 1075 settles the contest the Dictatus framed

Primary Sources

  • The Concordat of Worms: the Calixtinum and the Henricianum, 1122.

Secondary Sources

  • Chadwick, Owen. A History of the Popes, 1830-1914. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998.
  • Duffy, Eamon. Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.
  • Hastings, Adrian, ed. A World History of Christianity. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999.
  • MacCulloch, Diarmaid. A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years. London: Penguin, 2009.
  • O'Malley, John W. Trent: What Happened at the Council. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2013.

Provenance: HIST-1328; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-30.

Related on This Site

The facade and dome of St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City under a clear sky. Library Catholic Culture An online library, dictionary, and document search representing more than 2,000 years of Catholic scholarship and teaching. Anton Raphael Mengs' ceiling fresco 'The Triumph of History over Time' in the Vatican Apostolic Library in Rome. Library Clerus.org / BIBLIACLERUS The electronic library of the Congregation for the Clergy: the Bible in many languages with commentaries, and the documents of the Church. Fra Angelico's fresco of St Thomas Aquinas holding the Summa Theologiae, in the San Marco convent in Florence. Library Corpus Thomisticum The complete works of St. Thomas Aquinas, with manuscripts, bibliography, and research tools for Thomistic study. Philippe de Champaigne's portrait of St Augustine of Hippo writing in his study. Library FORMED A Catholic streaming platform with video studies, movies, audio programs, and ebooks, offered by subscription through parishes and directly. Title page of the Douay-Rheims New Testament, first printed at Rheims in 1582. Library Verbum A Catholic digital library with interactive study tools and packaged collections of Scripture, the Fathers, and Catholic scholarship. Masaccio, The Holy Trinity Prayer or Creed Glory Be (Gloria Patri) A short doxology praising the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, used across Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant worship. Fra Angelico, The Annunciation Prayer or Creed Hail Mary A prayer to the Virgin Mary built from the angel's greeting in Luke 1, asking for her intercession. The dome and baldacchino of St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City World View The Catholic World View Catholic Christianity confesses one triune God and receives his revelation through Scripture and Tradition, guarded by the Church Christ founded and its apostolic teaching office.