Pope Gregory VII excommunicated King Henry IV of Germany . Not wishing to bear the social results of the papal ban, Henry crossed Mont Cenis in the middle of winter to make peace. Gregory was at the castle of Canossa, high in the mountains in north-central Italy and let Henry, clad in the thin robe of a penitent (as seen here), stand in the courtyard in 1077 for three days. At length, Gregory granted Henry absolution but only on humiliating terms of submission.

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Keywords: 1000s, 1077, 11th, ad, ages, canossa, castle, cenis, century, eleventh, german, germany, gregory, henry, history, iv, king, medieval, middle, mont, penitent, pope, royal, vii