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How did the Investiture Controversy change the balance of power between popes and emperors?

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Map of Europe about 800 CE showing the extent of the Frankish kingdom under Charlemagne in light purple, covering much of present-day France, Germany, northern Italy, and neighboring regions. Areas inhabited by Slavic peoples who were tributary to Charlemagne are shaded in a darker purple to the east of the Frankish kingdom, including groups such as the Bohemians, Moravians, and Croats. Major cities, rivers, and neighboring kingdoms are labeled for context.
Holy Roman Empire

The Investiture Controversy fundamentally shifted the balance of power by challenging the emperorā€™s sacred status and his traditional authority over the church. Before the conflict, rulers routinely appointed bishops and abbots, using them as reliable instruments of government.12

Under Pope Gregory VII, the papacy asserted that only the pope held the authority to use imperial insignia and that he possessed the power to depose emperors. This transformed the relationship from one of traditional harmony into a struggle for supremacy between the sacerdotium (church) and the regnum (monarchy). The papacy argued that the emperor was not responsible directly to God but was instead subject to papal approval, effectively claiming superiority over the imperial office.12

The conflict concluded with the Concordat of Worms in 1122, which forced a compromise. While the emperor retained influence over the election of prelates and their temporal possessions (regalia), he surrendered the right to invest them with spiritual symbols. Ultimately, this weakened the monarchy, as the influence of secular and ecclesiastical princes grew to dominate the empire's future development.132