 Imperial control of church affairs was in the long run incompatible with the reformist idea of "liberty of the Church" which claimed that ecclesiastic institutions could only be subject to the authority of the Holy See.The conflict between the two ideas reached its pinnacle during Henry IV's reign, developing into the confrontation known as the Investiture Controversy.Germany, Italy and Burgundy were composed of semi-independent provinces, each administered by a prelate or a lay aristocrat.