Decree of March 7th, 1080, Forbidding Lay Investiture
Pope Gregory VII · 1080AUTHOR — Pope Gregory VII
Documents Relating to the War of the Investitures
Decree of March 7th, 1080, Forbidding Lay Investiture
Following the statutes of the holy fathers, as, in the former councils which by the mercy of God we have held' we decreed concerning the ordering of ecclesiastical dignities, so also now we decree and confirm: that, if any one henceforth shall receive a bishopric or abbey from the hand of any lay person, he shall by no means be considered as among the number of the bishops or abbots; nor shall any hearing be granted him as bishop or abbot. Moreover we further deny to him the favour of St. Peter and the entry of the church, until, coming to his senses, he shall desert the place that he has taken by the crime of ambition as well as by that of disobedience-which is the sin of idolatry; In like manner also we decree concerning the inferior ecclesiastical dignities.
Likewise if any emperor, king, duke, margrave, count, or any one at all of the secular powers or persons, shall presume to perform the investiture with bishoprics or with any ecclesiastical dignity,-he shall know that he is bound by the bonds of the same condemnation. And, moreover, unless he come to his senses and relinquish to the church her own prerogative, he shall feel, in this present life, the divine displeasure as well with regard to his body as to his other belongings: in order that, at the coming of the Lord, his soul may be saved.
Source:<br>Henderson, Ernest F.<br>Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages<br>London : George Bell and Sons, 1896.