Well attestedNamed from the place
go to Canossa
verb · first attested 19th century
A castle in Emilia where an emperor waited in the snow for three days.
To submit humiliatingly to an opponent one has previously defied.
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- 19th century
- Part of speech
- verb
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Canossa
- In English
go to Canossa
In 1077 the emperor Henry IV stood outside the castle of Canossa to beg absolution from Pope Gregory VII, an image that lodged permanently in European political language. The English phrase mostly follows Bismarck, who announced in 1872 that Germany would not go to Canossa.
Italy
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