September 23, 1122

Concordat of Worms

The Concordat of Worms

Henry surrendered the ring and staff but kept the sceptre — and with it a continuing role in bishops' temporal power.

Two documents, not one treaty

At Worms on 23 September 1122, Emperor Henry V and representatives of Pope Calixtus II concluded a settlement expressed through reciprocal imperial and papal instruments: the Heinricianum and the Calixtinum.

The accepted date rests on testimony rather than on the documents. The surviving imperial instrument is itself undated, and the Monumenta Germaniae Historica notes that the exact day ultimately depends on Ekkehard of Aura's chronicle and dependent manuscript testimony.

Lamberto of Ostia led the papal delegation that negotiated with Henry and the imperial princes.

What Henry gave up

Henry renounced investiture with ring and staff, and granted canonical election and free consecration throughout the churches of his kingdom and empire.

He promised to restore possessions of Saint Peter that he held, to assist in recovering those he did not hold, to address other property lost during the conflict according to justice, and to grant peace to Calixtus and his supporters.

The original Heinricianum survives; the papal Calixtinum is known through later copies, and its original documentary form is debated.

What he kept

Calixtus permitted German episcopal and abbatial elections to occur in the emperor's presence, without simony or violence. In a disputed election, Henry could assist the better-supported party on clerical advice.

The elected prelate received the temporal regalia from the emperor through a sceptre. In Italy and Burgundy this was to occur within six months after consecration.

The concession concerning imperial presence applied specifically to elections in the German kingdom, not uniformly across the empire.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 7 sources not yet audited Traditional date

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet and rewritten from that sheet. This article has not yet had an independent model audit. How the pipeline works →

Traditional date. This date is the conventional one, not one fixed by a contemporary record.

What the sources leave uncertain

The accepted date is 23 September 1122, but the surviving imperial instrument itself is undated. Monumenta Germaniae Historica notes that the exact day ultimately depends on Ekkehard of Aura’s chronicle and dependent manuscript testimony.
The original Heinricianum survives, while the papal Calixtinum is known through later copies; its original documentary form is debated.
The settlement ended this phase of the Investiture Controversy, not every later conflict between emperors and popes.