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Why did Henry IV appoint bishops in Milan and other Italian cities?

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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.

Henry IV’s appointment of bishops in Milan and other Italian cities was driven by the need to maintain imperial authority and control over his realm. Historically, secular rulers depended on the support of ecclesiastics, who served as reliable instruments of government and provided essential material and military assistance, known as servitium regis (service to the king).12

In the case of Milan, the situation was intensified by a local power struggle between a reformist group known as the Patarines, who sought to purge the church of corruption, and traditional elements supported by the emperor. When the Patarines elected an archbishop recognized by the pope, Henry countered by appointing his own candidate to ensure the city remained under imperial influence.23

Henry’s insistence on these appointments was a defense of the traditional prerogative of lay investiture, which he viewed as his right as a divinely appointed ruler. This practice, however, directly clashed with the Gregorian Reform movement, which sought to secure the independence of the church from secular control, ultimately sparking the Investiture Controversy.2314