Canossa

American  

[kuh-nos-uh, kah-naws-sah] / kəˈnɒs ə, kɑˈnɔs sɑ /

noun

1. a ruined castle in N Italy: scene of the penance of Emperor Henry IV of the Holy Roman Empire before Pope Gregory VII in 1077.

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idioms

1. go to Canossa, to humble oneself.

Canossa British  

/ kaˈnossa, kəˈnɒsə /

noun

1. a ruined castle in N Italy, in Emilia near Reggio nell'Emilia: scene of the penance done by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV before Pope Gregory VII

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Canossa

Hence the pilgrimage to the diner in Iowa is a form of penance, like the road to Canossa in medieval times.

From Salon ● May 20, 2023

Drawing from endless documents about King Henry’s visit to Canossa, ChatGPT might well make the same mistake.

From New York Times ● Jan. 20, 2023

Remembering the 6,000,000 Jews exterminated by Hitler, the Jerusalem Post commented: "There is no Canossa where Germans can perform penance except that reared by their own conscience."

From Time Magazine Archive

For Arafat, such a trip will be not quite a journey to Canossa, but very close to it.

From Time Magazine Archive

At this period Bismarck made his famous declaration, "To Canossa we do not go!"

From A History of Germany From the Earliest Times to the Present Day by Bayard Taylor