IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchAller à Canossa
Meaning: To humble oneself completely before someone; to submit and beg forgiveness.
Literally: To go to Canossa
Example: “Après sa défaite, le chef rebelle a dû aller à Canossa.” — After his defeat, the rebel leader had to humble himself and beg forgiveness.
English equivalent: To go to Canossa
Equivalents in other languages
English: go to Canossa
Origin: In January 1077 the excommunicated Emperor Henry IV crossed the Alps to the castle of Canossa and waited three days in the snow before Pope Gregory VII would receive him and lift the sentence. Bismarck revived the phrase in 1872 during the Kulturkampf, declaring that Germany would not go to Canossa.
More French idioms
- Un bouc émissaire A scapegoat — someone blamed for the failings of others.
- Un boute-en-train The life and soul of the party.
- Ruer dans les brancards To rebel against constraint or authority.
- À bride abattue At full tilt, at breakneck speed.
- Vouloir faire passer un chameau par le chas d'une aiguille To attempt something manifestly impossible.
- Acheter chat en poche To buy something sight unseen, and be cheated.
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