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 AGREEMENT OF WORMS 143

new ruler won the hearts of the Romans by according them good gov- ernment. The desire for peace which he had proclaimed from the beginning and the absolute honesty of his statesmanship indicated that in his dealings with the Imperial authority he would be candid though able to resist aggression.

The agreement which was reached at Worms, the Imperial city, on that memorable day of September 1122, was not a real peace, but it was at any rate an armistice. The meaning of the two documents exchanged was contained in their opening sentences. The Emperor promised: "I, Henry, Roman Emperor by the grace of God, confer on the Holy Catholic Church all investiture through ring and staff, and grant in all churches of my kingdom and empire, ecclesiastical elections and free ordinations. And I give back those possessions and sovereign rights of St. Peter which from the beginning of this struggle until now have been usurped under the governments of my father or myself." For his part the Pope promised: "I, Calixtus, Bishop, Servant of the Servants of God, grant to you, my dear son Henry, Roman Emperor by the grace of God, a promise that the elec- tions of bishops and abbots in the German Kingdom, in so far as these are directly subordinate to that Kingdom, shall take place in your presence without simony or any kind of violence. If there should ensue a dispute between the parties then, upon taking counsel with and receiving the decisions of the archbishops and bishops of the province, you are to endorse and aid the one who has the better right on his side. The elected one, however, shall receive his sovereign rights from you through the sceptre and shall render to you the duties which lawfully ensue from those rights (i. e. the oath to administer a benefice) ." The separation of the symbolic acts and the reference of them to two instances implied that every bishop was the possessor of a two-fold right, and the exerciser of both a spiritual and temporal function. That upon which the Church had been compelled to insist was now secured for her. She conferred the ring and the staff, which were the insignia of mystical marriage with her and the pastoral office.

During the following year, the first General Council of the Lateran confirmed these parchments. The Papacy could proclaim urbi et orbi that it had obtained its freedom and independence from the temporal power; and for its part the Empire could rejoice that it also had gained

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