What is the definition of lay investiture
Olivia Hensley
Updated on February 25, 2026
What does lay investiture mean?
Lay investiture was the term used for investiture of clerics by the king or emperor, a layman. The right of a temporal prince to give spiritual power was claimed only by the extremists of the imperial party, but there was wide debate over canonical election, royal assent, and papal assent.What is an example of lay investiture?
Lay-investiture sentence exampleThe emperor renounced investiture by ring and staff, and permitted canonical elections; the pope on his part recognized the king’s right to perform lay investiture and to assist at elections. … In time the Church came to perceive how closely lay investiture was bound up with simony.