Canossa

[ kuh-nos-uh; Italian kah-naws-sah ]

/ kəˈnɒs ə; Italian kɑˈnɔs sɑ /

noun

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.

Idioms

go to Canossa, to humble oneself.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for canossa

Near Parma is Canossa, the site of an old fortified town, one day of considerable importance, but now decayed beyond hope.
Italian Highways and Byways from a Motor Car|Francis Miltoun
The barons shrank from him, his very men-at-arms fell off from him; he was alone as Henry had been at Canossa.
The Law of Civilization and Decay|Brooks Adams
Such as they are, these balze form an appropriate preface to the gloomy and repellent isolation of Canossa.
Sketches and Studies in Italy and Greece, Second Series|John Addington Symonds
A Rebours, notwithstanding Huysmans's later pilgrimage to Canossa, he never excelled.
Egoists|James Huneker

I find that this story is common in the country round Canossa.
Sketches and Studies in Italy and Greece, Second Series|John Addington Symonds

British Dictionary definitions for canossa

Canossa

/ (kəˈnɒsə, Italian kaˈnossa) /

noun

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012