King takes bishop
King takes bishop The Investiture Controversy was a struggle between the Church and lay rulers in the Middle Ages over the appointment of local bishops. It was resolved in the early 12th century with treaties that effectively gave rulers in parts of Europe the right to veto bishop appointments and keep diocese revenue until a mutually acceptable appointment was made. Political scientists argue that because this change increased the bargaining power of rulers in wealthier dioceses, it incentivized them to spur economic development. But it left the Church ambivalent about development. The researchers say this helps explain why the Church “banned usury and resisted mechanization” while granting “special papal privileges to new, entrepreneurial monastic orders . . . as long as the wealth these orders created flowed directly to the pope, rather than through the local bishops.” Bueno de Mesquita, B. and Bueno de Mesquita, E., “From Investiture to Worms: European Development and t...