Going to Canossa

In Italy "Andare a Canossa" ("Going to Canossa") is used to describe a humiliating and total capitulation to your worst enemy. It dates back to an XI century episode when Emperor Henry IV humiliated himself doing penance in front of the Castle of Canossa to obtain the cancelation of his excommunication from Pope Gregory VII. Being forgiven by the Pope was the only hope for Enrico IV to keep his throne. You can read the whole story on Wikipedia.

It is interesting to note that appearance wins over substance all the time in news. This episode is remembered as a spectacular win by the Pope so much that it became a proverb in Italy. But when you look at it from an historical viewpoint, the winner was the Emperor. Gregory VII was obliged to remove his excommunication and he was not happy at all about it. In fact, that episode reversed the tide. Since that moment the power of the Emperor started to raise again and that of the Pope to decline. Very few years later Henry IV had a strong grasp on his throne again and he invaded Rome. Pope Gregorio VII had to call Robert the Guiscard from France to be saved and he died as his "guest" in Salerno, after that Robert's troops sacked Rome in 1084.