In the winter of 1076-1077, Henry and his mother-in-law, Countess Adelaide of Susa, began their penitential procession to Canossa to obtain the revocation of their excommunication by Pope Gregory VII. They were accompanied by their brother-in-law Amadeus II of Savoy and the Marquis Azzorre d’Este. For three days and three nights, from January 25 to 27, 1077, Henry was forced to humiliate himself, having to wait in front of the entrance gate of the castle of the Marchioness Matilda of Canossa to be admitted before the pope. The wait took place while a blizzard raged, and Henry lay kneeling, completely barefoot, dressed only in a habit, his head smeared with ashes, in front of the closed gate. Only thanks to the intercession of his godfather, Hugh, Abbot of Cluny, and the Marchioness Matilda, was he able to be received by the Pope on January 28th. On that occasion, the emperor, to obtain the lifting of his excommunication, was forced to wait for three days and three nights, kneeling with his head covered in ashes, before the castle’s entrance gate. The confrontation was resolved with a compromise: Gregory lifted Henry’s excommunication, but not the declaration of his forfeiture from the throne.
