What is lay investiture definition?

Lay investiture definition refers to the practice of laypersons being granted the power to appoint or invest clerics with their offices and ecclesiastical authority. It was a medieval practice in which kings, emperors, and secular rulers played a significant role in the appointment of bishops and other high-ranking Church officials. This practice was a significant source of conflict between the papacy and the secular rulers of Europe in the Middle Ages. The dispute over the practice led to a struggle for power between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire in the 11th and 12th centuries, culminating in the Concordat of Worms in 1122, which granted the Church autonomy in its internal affairs. The practice of lay investiture was ultimately banned by the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215.