Investiture Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Investiture (from the Latin Investitura and the German Gewere) involves the formal installation of an individual (incumbent) into an office, organization, or rank. The term is generally used in reference to one’s installation into a formal office, such as that of the aristocracy, church, or state. Investiture is preceded by a formal ceremony. For example, British investiture is a unique ceremony: an individual who has been awarded an honor is presented with the official medal from the queen or the prince of Wales. Presidential inauguration is another example of the investment of a head of state. Under the feudal system, the term referred to the ceremony between a suzerain (feudal lord) and a vassal. Having received the homage of the vassal and oath of fealty, the suzerain would invest him with either land (fief) or office by presentation of some symbol according to custom. During the eleventh century, the term designated both the act and the ceremony for abbots and bishops by which princes granted certain property (benefice), political rights, and titles. The investiture controversy of the eleventh and twelfth centuries was an ecclesiastical dispute regarding whether a suzerain or pope should grant the symbols of his authority to an ecclesiastical vassal. The sword and scepter were emblematic of feudal authority, whereas the ring and staff were symbols of spiritual authority. Pope Gregory VII (Hildebrand) sought to abolish lay investiture wherein a suzerain, who was normally a layman, invested ecclesiastical leaders with a clerical office.

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