Britannica Sources used in this answer

What symbols did rulers give bishops during the ceremony of lay investiture?

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Gregory VII excommunicating Henry IV — St. Gregory VII Pope Gregory VII, after his expulsion from Rome, laying a ban of excommunication on the clergy “together with the raging king” (Henry IV of Germany), drawing from the 12th-century chronicle of Otto of Freising; in the library of the University of Jena, Germany.

During the ceremony of lay investiture, secular rulers—such as kings and emperors—formally installed bishops and abbots by presenting them with a crosier (staff) and a ring.12

These two items served as the primary symbols of the episcopal office. By bestowing these objects, the ruler signified that they were granting the prelate both the spiritual authority of the office (spiritualia) and the associated rights and properties (regalia), often accompanying the act with the phrase "receive the church".12

This practice became a central point of contention during the Investiture Controversy, as the papacy, particularly under Pope Gregory VII, argued that laypeople had no authority to confer spiritual symbols or appoint church officials. The conflict was eventually resolved by the Concordat of Worms in 1122, which mandated that the church would grant the ring and staff, while the king would use a scepter to invest the bishop with the temporalities of their office.321