Early life Lotario de' Conti was born in
Gavignano, near
Anagni, southeast of
Rome. was from the family of the
counts of Segni, who eventually produced nine cardinals and four popes, including
Gregory IX,
Alexander IV, and
Innocent XIII. Lotario's mother, Clarissa Scotti (Romani de Scotti), was according to some scholars related to
Pope Clement III. Lotario received his early education in
Rome, probably at the
Camaldolese Benedictine abbey of
Sant'Andrea al Celio under Peter Ismael. He studied theology in
Paris under the theologians
Peter of Poitiers,
Melior of Pisa, and
Peter of Corbeil, and (possibly) jurisprudence in
Bologna, according to the
Gesta (between 1187 and 1189). As pope, Lotario was to play a major role in the shaping of canon law through conciliar canons and decretal letters. The work was very popular for centuries, surviving in more than 700
manuscripts. Although he never returned to the complementary work he intended to write,
On the Dignity of Human Nature,
Bartolomeo Facio (1400–1457) took up the task writing
De excellentia ac praestantia hominis.
Election to the papacy , Rome
Celestine III died on 8 January 1198. Before his death he had urged the
College of Cardinals to elect
Giovanni di San Paolo as his successor, but Lotario de' Conti was elected pope in the ruins of the ancient
Septizodium, near the
Circus Maximus in Rome after only two ballots on the very day on which Celestine III died. He was only thirty-seven years old at the time.
Reassertion of papal power of Innocent III As pope, Innocent III began with a very wide sense of his responsibility and his authority. During Innocent III's reign, the papacy was at the height of its powers. He was considered the most powerful person in Europe at the time. In 1198, Innocent wrote to the prefect Acerbius and the nobles of Tuscany expressing his support of the medieval political
Sun and Moon allegory. His papacy asserted the absolute spiritual authority of his office, while still respecting the temporal authority of kings. There was scarcely a country in Europe over which Innocent III did not in some way or other assert the supremacy which he claimed for the papacy. He
excommunicated King
Alfonso IX of León for marrying a near relative,
Berengaria of Castile, contrary to the laws of the Church, and effected their separation in 1204. He received Aragon in vassalage from
Peter II and crowned him king at Rome in 1204. The Muslim recapture of
Jerusalem in 1187 was to him a divine judgment on the moral lapses of Christian princes. He was also determined to protect what he called "the liberty of the Church" from inroads by
secular princes. This determination meant, among other things, that princes should not be involved in the selection of
bishops. It was particularly focused on the
Patrimony of Saint Peter, the section of central Italy claimed by the popes and later called the
Papal States. The patrimonium was routinely threatened by the
Holy Roman Empire of the
House of Hohenstaufen, which claimed it.
Emperor Henry VI expected his infant son
Frederick to bring Germany, Italy, and Sicily under a single ruler, which would leave the Papal States exceedingly vulnerable. In 1201, the pope openly espoused the side of Otto IV, whose family had always been opposed to the house of Hohenstaufen. The confusion in the Empire allowed Innocent to drive out the imperial feudal lords installed by Emperor Henry VI from
Ancona,
Spoleto and
Perugia. On 3 July 1201, the
papal legate,
Cardinal-Bishop Guido of
Palestrina, announced in
Köln Cathedral that Otto IV had been approved by the pope as Roman king and threatened with
excommunication all those who refused to acknowledge him. At the same time, Innocent encouraged the cities in
Tuscany to form a league called the
League of San Genesio against German imperial interests in Italy, and they placed themselves under Innocent's protection. The conflict was decided by the
Battle of Bouvines on 27 July 1214, which pitted Otto and
John, King of England and the
Angevin Empire against
Philip II of
Capetian France. The French defeated Otto, and he lost all influence. He died on 19 May 1218, leaving Frederick II as undisputed emperor. King John was forced to acknowledge the Pope as his feudal lord and accept
Stephen Langton as
Archbishop of Canterbury. In his turn, Frederick II would later become a bitter opponent of the papacy once his empire was secure. The victory of the Capetians in this battle permitted the
Invasion of Normandy by Philip II of France and ended the Angevin Empire.
Federal power over Europe Innocent III played further roles in the politics of Norway, France, Sweden, Bulgaria, Spain and England. ===Crusades and suppression of
heresy===
Fourth Crusade Pope Innocent III spent the majority of his tenure as Pope (1198–1216) preparing for a great crusade on the
Holy Land. His first attempt was the
Fourth Crusade (1202–1204), which he decreed by the papal bull
Post miserabile in 1198. Unlike past popes, Innocent III displayed interest in leading the crusade himself, rather than simply instigating it and allowing secular leaders to organize the expedition according to their aspirations. The Fourth Crusade was an expensive endeavor. Innocent III raised funds with a new approach: requiring all clergy to donate one-fortieth of their income. This marked the first time a pope ever imposed a direct tax on the clergy. He faced many difficulties collecting this tax, including corrupt tax collectors and disregard in England. He also sent envoys to
King John of England and
King Philip of France, who pledged to contribute to the campaign, and John also declared his support for the clerical tax in his kingdom. The Crusaders also contributed funds: Innocent declared that those who took the
crusader's vow but could no longer fulfill it could be released by a contribution of funds. The pope put Archbishop
Hubert Walter in charge of collecting these dues. At the onset of the crusade, the intended destination was Egypt, as the Christians and Muslims were under a truce at the time. Innocent approved under two conditions: a representative of the pope must accompany the crusade, and the attack on other Christians was strictly forbidden. The French failed to raise sufficient funds for the payment of the Venetians. As a result, the Crusaders diverted the crusade to the Christian
Dalmatian city of
Zadar in 1202 at the will of the Venetian
Enrico Dandolo to subsidize the debt. This diversion was adopted without the consent of Innocent III, who threatened excommunication to any who took part. Most French ignored the threat and therefore were excommunicated by Innocent III, but soon were forgiven. A second diversion occurred when the crusaders engaged in the
sack of Constantinople, capital of the
Byzantine Empire, at the behest of the exiled prince Alexios. This diversion was taken without any knowledge by Innocent III and he did not learn of it until after the city had been plundered and Alexios was crowned as
Alexios IV Angelos. Innocent III was heavily opposed to an attack on Constantinople and sent many letters warning the crusaders. He excommunicated the crusaders who attacked Byzantine cities, but could not stop them. One of the pope's goals had been to persuade
Alexios III Angelos, uncle of the exiled prince, to participate in the crusade. Subsequently, Alexios IV was overthrown and
Baldwin I was crowned king of the new
Latin Empire, which lasted for the next sixty years.
Livonian Crusade The 1199 letter of Innocent III provided that Christians who had vowed to go on
pilgrimage to the
Holy Land would receive an
indulgence (or
commutation) of
penance for
sins if they chose to participate in the
Livonian Crusade instead, and that they would receive the right to papal protection if they did. Participants would be wearing the
insignia of the cross, which came with specific legal obligations; unlike crusaders in the Holy Land, it meant that the wearer had to serve in the papally proclaimed crusade in Livonia for at least one year. In 1204, he sanctioned the establishment of the military order
Livonian Brothers of the Sword. On 2 February 1207, in the territories conquered, an ecclesiastical state called
Terra Mariana was established as a principality of the
Holy Roman Empire, and proclaimed by Pope Innocent III in 1215 as a subject of the
Holy See.
Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars. Pope Innocent III was also a zealous protector of the Catholic faith and a strenuous opponent of
heretics. His chief activity was turned against the
Albigenses whose expansion he viewed as a mortal threat to Catholicism. They were especially numerous in a few cities of Northern and Southern France. During the first year of his pontificate, Innocent sent the two
Cistercian monks Rainer and Guido to the Albigenses in France to preach to them the true doctrines of the Catholic faith and dispute with them on controverted topics of religion. The two Cistercian missionaries were soon followed by
Diego, Bishop of Osma, then by
Saint Dominic and the two papal legates,
Peter of Castelnau and Raoul. When, however, these missionaries were ridiculed and despised by the Albigenses, and the papal legate Castelnau was assassinated in 1208, Innocent resorted to force. He ordered the bishops of Southern France to put under interdict the participants in the murder and all the towns that gave shelter to them. He was especially incensed against
Count Raymond of Toulouse who had previously been excommunicated by the murdered legate and whom the pope suspected as the instigator of the murder. The count protested his innocence and submitted to the pope but the pope placed no further trust in him. He called upon the King of France,
Philip II to raise an army for the suppression of the Albigenses. Under the leadership of
Simon de Montfort a cruel campaign ensued against the Albigenses which, despite the protest of Innocent, soon turned into a war of conquest. which translates as: "Slay them all, God will recognize his own." This statement is often cited as "Kill them all and let God sort them out." The
Albigensian Crusade led to the deaths of approximately 20,000 men, women and children, Cathar and Catholic alike, decimating the number of practising Cathars and diminishing the region's distinct culture. The conflict took on a political flavor, directed not only against the heretics, but also the nobility of
Toulouse and vassals of the
Crown of Aragon, and finally brought the region firmly under the control of the king of France.
King Peter II of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, was directly involved in the conflict, and was killed in the course of the
Battle of Muret in 1213. The conflict largely ended with the
Treaty of Paris of 1229, in which the integration of the
Occitan territory in the French crown was agreed upon.
Francis of Assisi In 1209,
Francis of Assisi led his first eleven followers to Rome to seek permission from Pope Innocent III to found a new religious order which was ultimately granted. Upon entry to Rome, the brothers encountered Bishop
Guido of Assisi, who had in his company
Giovanni di San Paolo, the
Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina. The cardinal, who was the confessor of Pope Innocent III, was immediately sympathetic to Francis and agreed to represent Francis to the pope. Reluctantly, Pope Innocent agreed to meet with Francis and the brothers the next day. After several days, the pope agreed to admit the group informally, adding that when God increased the group in grace and number, they could return for an official admittance. The group was
tonsured. This was important in part because it recognized Church authority and protected his followers from possible accusations of heresy, as had happened to the
Waldensians decades earlier. Though Pope Innocent initially had his doubts, following a dream in which he saw Francis holding up the
Basilica of St. John Lateran (the
cathedral of Rome, thus the 'home church' of all Christendom), he decided to endorse Francis's order. This occurred, according to tradition, on 16 April 1210, and constituted the official founding of the
Franciscan Order. The group, then the "Lesser Brothers" (
Order of Friars Minor also known as the
Franciscan Order), preached on the streets and had no possessions. They were centered in Porziuncola and preached first in Umbria, before expanding throughout Italy.
Other religious orders The lesser religious orders which Pope Innocent III approved are the
Hospitallers of the Holy Ghost on 23 April 1198, the
Trinitarians on 17 December 1198, and the
Humiliati, in June 1201.
Fourth Council of the Lateran On 15 November 1215, Pope Innocent III convened the
Fourth Lateran Council which was considered to be the most important Church council of the
Middle Ages. By its conclusion, it issued seventy reformatory decrees. Among other things, it encouraged creating schools and holding clergy to a higher standard than the laity. Canon 18 forbade clergymen to participate in the practice of the
judicial ordeal, effectively banning its use. In order to define fundamental doctrines, the council reviewed the nature of the
Holy Eucharist, the ordered annual confession of sins, and prescribed detailed procedures for the election of bishops. The council also mandated a strict lifestyle for clergy. Canon 68 states: Jews and Muslims shall wear a special dress to enable them to be distinguished from Christians so that no Christian shall come to marry them ignorant of who they are. Canon 69 forbade "that Jews be given preferment in public office since this offers them the pretext to vent their wrath against the Christians." It assumes that Jews blaspheme Christ, and therefore, as it would be "too absurd for a blasphemer of Christ to exercise power over Christians", Jews should not be appointed to public offices.
Death and legacy The Council had set the beginning of the Fifth Crusade for 1217, under the direct leadership of the Church. After the Council, in the spring of 1216, Innocent moved to northern Italy in an attempt to reconcile the maritime cities of
Pisa and
Genoa by removing the excommunication cast over Pisa by his predecessor Celestine III and concluding a pact with Genoa. Innocent III, however, died suddenly at
Perugia Polish–American sculptor
Joseph Kiselewski created the likeness of Innocent in the House in 1951. ==Works==