Advertisement

Advertisement

lay investiture

[ ley in-ves-ti-cher, -choor ]

noun

  1. (in medieval Europe) bestowal of a church office by a member of the secular nobility rather than by church officials:

    Pope Gregory VII prohibited lay investiture of bishops and, in 1076, excommunicated the Holy Roman Emperor for his resistance.



Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of lay investiture1

First recorded in 1610–20
Discover More

Example Sentences

Gregory held a second council and utterly forbade lay investiture.

In time the Church came to perceive how closely lay investiture was bound up with simony.

In forbidding lay investiture Gregory attempted nothing less than a revolution.

Now, the papal rule in the matter was plain; all homage and lay investiture were strictly prohibited.

Therefore the papal ax must be laid at the very root of the evil, namely, lay investiture and the secular control of the clergy.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


lay intolay it on the line