Show Summary Details
Overview
Canossa
Quick Reference
A town in Modena, Italy, where in 1077 the Emperor Henry IV (1050–1106), who had been excommunicated during his struggle with the papacy, was forced to recant and do penance before Pope Gregory VII. In 1872 Otto von Bismarck asserted we will not go to Canossa, in his denial of papal authority over German subjects.
