Holy Roman Empire
Walk to Canossa
Canossa Castle, Italy
The Pope, in turn, excommunicated the king, declared him deposed, and dissolved the oaths of loyalty made to Henry IV. The king found himself with almost no political support and was forced to make the famous Walk to Canossa in 1077, by which he achieved a lifting of the excommunication at the price of humiliation. Meanwhile, the German princes had elected another king, Rudolf of Swabia.