Word: canossa
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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When the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV decided to seek the pardon of Pope Gregory VII in 1077, he stood barefoot for three days in the snow outside the papal quarters in Canossa, Italy. Gorbachev's concordat with the church was no less significant in its way. But there was a crucial difference: as is so often the case with Gorbachev, he achieved his reconciliation without humiliation. As he had done before, the Soviet leader let the ongoing crisis of the Communist system serve as an opportunity to push his nation toward a broader vision of the future. "We need...
...Cluniac Popes who rebuilt the entire church. They reached their apogee of power when Gregory VII marched northward in 1077 to depose the disobedient German King Henry IV by sheer willpower. His march was halted only when the humbled King knelt for three days in the snow at Canossa to plead for the Pope's forgiveness...