The Investiture Controversy

In this episode, we finally reach the climax of simmering tensions between papal and imperial authority over the western church. A reform movement, built on reaction against urban decadence in the Mediterranean, Burgundy, and Lorraine, clashes with the imperial church, built on converting, militarizing, and bringing order to the rough Inner European frontier. Some of the largest personalities in Medieval History become involved, and the consequences will take a couple episodes to unpack.New episodes every Monday!Have a question or comment? Contact me at [email protected]: Zachary Wheeler and Nathaniel Scarborough, "Hej, Sokoły" folk tuneOutro: Antonín Dvořák, Serenade for Strings, Op. 22 (London Symphony Orchestra 1960)Wilson, Peter H. Heart of Europe. Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University, 2020.Cantor, Norman. The Civilization of the Middle Ages. Harper Perennial, 1993.Haverkamp, Alfred. Medieval Germany 1056-1273. Oxford University Press, 1988.