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{{short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 1198 to 1216}}
{{distinguish|Antipope Innocent III}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=JanuaryNovember 2023}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = pope
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Pope Innocent was one of the most powerful and influential of the medieval popes. He exerted a wide influence over the Christian states of Europe, claiming supremacy over all of Europe's kings. He was central in supporting the [[Catholic Church]]'s reforms of ecclesiastical affairs through his [[decretal]]s and the [[Fourth Lateran Council]]. This resulted in a considerable refinement of Western [[canon law]]. He is furthermore notable for using [[interdict]] and other censures to compel princes to obey his decisions, although these measures were not uniformly successful.
 
Innocent greatly extended the scope of the [[Crusades]], directing crusades against [[Muslim Iberia]] and the [[Holy Land]] as well as the [[Albigensian Crusade]] against the [[Cathar]]s in southern France. He organized the [[Fourth Crusade]] of 1202–1204, which ended in the [[sack of Constantinople]]. Although the attack on Constantinople went against his explicit orders, and the Crusaders were subsequently excommunicated, Innocent reluctantly accepted this result, seeing it as the [[will of God]] to reunite the [[Latin Church|Latin]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]es. In the event, the [[sack of Constantinople]] and the subsequent period of ''[[Frankokratia]]'' heightened the hostility between the Latin and Greek churches; the Byzantine Empire was restored [[Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty|in 1261]], albeit in a much weaker state.{{sfn|Moore|2003|pp=102–134}}
 
==Biography==
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===Feudal power over Europe===
 
Innocent III played further roles in the politics of Norway,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dokpro.uio.no/perl/middelalder/diplom_vise_tekst.prl?b=5743&s=10&str=|title=Diplomatarium Norvegicum|website=www.dokpro.uio.no}}</ref> France, Sweden, Bulgaria, Spain and England.<ref name="autogenerated1994"/> At the request of England's King John, Pope Innocent III declared the [[Magna Carta]] annulled, which resulted in a rebellion by the English barons who rejected the disenfranchisement.<ref>{{cite web|title=Magna Carta: people and society|url=http://www.bl.uk/magna-carta/articles/magna-carta-people-and-society|website=British Library|access-date=23 January 2017}}</ref>
 
===Crusades and suppression of heresy===
[[File:Albigensian Crusade 01.jpg|thumb|left|Innocent launched the [[Albigensian Crusade]] against the Cathars.]]▼
 
Pope Innocent III was also a zealous protector of the Catholic faith and a strenuous opponent of heresy. His chief activity was turned against the [[Albigenses]] whose expansion he viewed as a mortal threat to Catholicism.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}} 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 of Osma|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 [[Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse|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 Augustus of France|Philip II]] to raise an army for the suppression of the Albigenses. Under the leadership of [[Simon_de_Montfort,_5th_Earl_of_Leicester|Simon of Montfort]] a cruel campaign ensued against the Albigenses which, despite the protest of Innocent, soon turned into a war of conquest.<ref name="catholic.encyclopedia.ott.michael.1910"/> During the siege of [[Béziers]], the [[Arnaud Amalric|leader]] of the crusader assault famously declared upon being asked how to distinguish [[Cathars]] from [[Catholics]] at the besieged town "[[Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius]]",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gahom.ehess.fr/relex/dialogusmiraculorum1/CdH-Dialog.mir.-Vol1/CdH-Dialog.mir.-Volume1-308.html |title=Dialogus Miraculorum |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220034410/http://gahom.ehess.fr/relex/dialogusmiraculorum1/CdH-Dialog.mir.-Vol1/CdH-Dialog.mir.-Volume1-308.html |archivedate=20 February 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Berlioz|first=Jacques|title="Tuez-les tous, Dieu reconnaîtra les siens" – La croisade contre les Albigeois vue par Césaire de Heisterbach|year=1994|publisher=Éditions Loubatières|location=Portet-sur-Garonne}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Cheney>{{cite book|last=Cheney|first=Christopher R.|author-link = C. R. Cheney|title=Innocent III and England|year=1976|publisher=Anton Hiersemann|location=Stuttgart}}</ref> 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. [[Peter II of Aragon|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 (1229)|Treaty of Paris of 1229]], in which the integration of the [[Occitania|Occitan]] territory in the French crown was agreed upon.▼
 
====Fourth Crusade====
Pope Innocent III spent a 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|Post miserabile]]'' in 1198.<ref>{{cite book|last=Packard|first=Sidney Raymond|title=Europe and the Church under Innocent III|url=https://archive.org/details/europechurchunde0000pack_p12|url-access=registration|year=1927|publisher=H. Holt|location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Innocent III|first=Pope|title=On the Misery of the Human Condition. De Miseria Humane Conditionis, trans. Donald Roy Howard|year=1969|publisher=Bobbs-Merrill|location=Indianapolis}}</ref> 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 own aspirations.<ref name="Cheney"/>
 
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The Fourth Crusade was an expensive endeavor. Innocent III chose to raise 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 in collecting this tax, including corrupt tax collectors and disregard in England. He also sent envoys to [[John, King of England|King John]] of England and [[Philip II of France|King Philip]] of France, who pledged to contribute to the campaign,{{Citation needed|date=May 2018}} and John also declared his support for the clerical tax in his kingdom. The crusaders too 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.<ref name=Cheney /><ref>{{cite book|last=Migne|first=Jacques Paul|title=Patrologia Latina. Vol. 214–217|year=1849–1855|publisher=S.I.|location=Paris}}</ref>
 
At the onset of the crusade, the intended destination was Egypt, as the Christians and Muslims were under a truce at the time.<ref name=Clayton /> An agreement was made between the French Crusaders and the Venetians. The Venetians would supply vessels and supplies for the crusaders and in return the crusaders would pay 85,000 marks (£200,000).<ref>{{cite book|last=Villhardouin|first=Geoffrey De|title=Memoirs or Chronicle of the Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople, trans. Frank T. Marzials|year=1908|publisher=J.M. Dent|location=London}}</ref> Innocent gave his approval of this agreement under two conditions: a representative of the pope must accompany the crusade, and the attack on any other Christians was strictly forbidden. The French failed to raise sufficient funds for 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 VenetiansVenetian [[Enrico Dandolo]], to subsidize the debt. This diversion was adopted without the consent of Innocent III, who threatened excommunication to any who took part in the attack. A majority of the French ignored the threat and attacked Zadar, and were excommunicated by Innocent III, but soon were forgiven so as to continue the crusade. A second diversion then occurred when the crusaders decided to conquer Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, at the behest of the exiled Byzantine prince [[Alexios IV]]. This diversion was taken without any knowledge by Innocent III, and he did not learn of it until after the city had been plundered.<ref>{{cite book|last=Elliott-Binns|first=Leonard|title=Innocent III|year=1931|publisher=Archon|location=Hamden, Conn}}</ref>
 
Innocent III was heavily opposed to the attack on Constantinople and sent many letters warning the crusaders to not sack the city. Innocent IIIHe excommunicated the crusaders who attacked Byzantine cities, but was unable to physically halt or overturn their actions. One of the pope's goals had been to persuade [[Alexios III Angelos|Alexios III]], uncle of the exiled prince Alexios IV, to participate in the crusade. The attack on Constantinople led to the start of the [[Latin Empire]]'s rule of Constantinople, which lasted for the next sixty years.<ref>{{cite book|last=Roscher|first=Helmut|title=Papst Innocenz III. Und Die Kreuzzuge|year=1969|publisher=Vandenhoeck U. Ruprecht|location=Gottingen}}</ref>▼
 
====Albigensian Crusade====
▲[[File:Albigensian Crusade 01.jpg|thumb|280px|left|Innocent III launched the [[Albigensian Crusade]] against the Cathars.]]
 
▲Pope Innocent III was also a zealous protector of the Catholic faith and a strenuous opponent of heresy. His chief activity was turned against the [[Albigenses]] whose expansion he viewed as a mortal threat to Catholicism.<ref>{{CitationCite web needed|title=Catholic Encyclopedia : Pope Innocent III |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08013a.htm |access-date=October2024-02-02 2022|website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref> 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 of Osma|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 [[Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse|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 Augustus of France|Philip II]] to raise an army for the suppression of the Albigenses. Under the leadership of [[Simon_de_Montfort,_5th_Earl_of_Leicester|Simon of Montfort]] a cruel campaign ensued against the Albigenses which, despite the protest of Innocent, soon turned into a war of conquest.<ref name="catholic.encyclopedia.ott.michael.1910"/> During the siege of [[Béziers]], the [[Arnaud Amalric|leader]] of the crusader assault famously declared upon being asked how to distinguish [[Cathars]] from [[Catholics]] at the besieged town "[[Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius]]",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gahom.ehess.fr/relex/dialogusmiraculorum1/CdH-Dialog.mir.-Vol1/CdH-Dialog.mir.-Volume1-308.html |title=Dialogus Miraculorum |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220034410/http://gahom.ehess.fr/relex/dialogusmiraculorum1/CdH-Dialog.mir.-Vol1/CdH-Dialog.mir.-Volume1-308.html |archivedate=20 February 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Berlioz|first=Jacques|title="Tuez-les tous, Dieu reconnaîtra les siens" – La croisade contre les Albigeois vue par Césaire de Heisterbach|year=1994|publisher=Éditions Loubatières|location=Portet-sur-Garonne}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Cheney>{{cite book|last=Cheney|first=Christopher R.|author-link = C. R. Cheney|title=Innocent III and England|year=1976|publisher=Anton Hiersemann|location=Stuttgart}}</ref> 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. [[Peter II of Aragon|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 (1229)|Treaty of Paris of 1229]], in which the integration of the [[Occitania|Occitan]] territory in the French crown was agreed upon.
 
▲Innocent III was heavily opposed to the attack on Constantinople and sent many letters warning the crusaders to not sack the city. Innocent III excommunicated the crusaders who attacked Byzantine cities, but was unable to physically halt or overturn their actions. The attack on Constantinople led to the start of the [[Latin Empire]]'s rule of Constantinople, which lasted for the next sixty years.<ref>{{cite book|last=Roscher|first=Helmut|title=Papst Innocenz III. Und Die Kreuzzuge|year=1969|publisher=Vandenhoeck U. Ruprecht|location=Gottingen}}</ref>
 
===Francis of Assisi===
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===Fourth Council of the Lateran===
[[File:Giuseppe lucchetti, tomba di innocenzo III, 1861.jpg|thumb|left|Tomb of Pope Innocent III at Saint Peter’sJohn Lateran basilica]]
On 15 November 1215, Pope Innocent III convened the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran|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 [[Trial by ordeal|judicial ordeal]], effectively banning its use.<ref name=Pennington>{{Cite web |url=http://faculty.cua.edu/pennington/Fourth%20Lateran%20Council/PenningtonLateranIV.pdf |title=Pennington, Kenneth. "The Fourth Lateran Council, its Legislation, and the Development of Legal Procedure", CUA |access-date=17 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308012241/http://faculty.cua.edu/pennington/Fourth%20Lateran%20Council/PenningtonLateranIV.pdf |archive-date=8 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
 
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Innocent III, however, died suddenly at [[Perugia]]<ref name="catholic.encyclopedia.ott.michael.1910"/> on 16 July 1216.{{sfn|Moore|2003|p=288}} He was buried in the [[cathedral of Perugia]], where his body remained until [[Pope Leo XIII]] had it transferred to the [[Lateran]] in December 1891.<ref name="catholic.encyclopedia.ott.michael.1910"/>
 
Innocent is one of two popes (the other being [[Pope Gregory IX|Gregory IX]]) among the 23 historical figures depicted in marble relief portraits above the gallery doors of the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] in honor of their influence on the development of American law.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aoc.gov/art/relief-portrait-plaques-lawgivers/innocent-iii |title=Innocent III |publisher=Architect of the Capitol |access-date=14 April 2020}}</ref> Polish–American sculptor [[Joseph Kiselewski]] created the likeness of Innocent in the House in 1951.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sculpture |url=https://www.kiselewskisculpture.com/ |access-date=2023-04-19 April 2023 |website=Joseph Kiselewski |language=en}}</ref>
 
==Works==
His Latin works include ''[[De Miseria Condicionis Humane|De miseria humanae conditionis]]'', a tract on [[asceticism]] that Innocent III wrote before becoming pope, and ''De sacro altaris mysterio'', a description and [[exegesis]] of the [[Catholic liturgy|liturgy]].<ref name="Moore 1981" /> According to ''Gesta Innocentii III'', the works of Innocent were evidence that he surpasses his contemporaries in philosophy and theology.
 
* ''De missarum mysteriis'', 1195
* "On Heresy: Letter to the Archbishop of Auch, 1198"
* ''De quadripartita specie nuptiarum''
* "On Usury: Letter to the French bishops, 1198"
* "''On Church Independence/TithesHeresy: Letter to athe Archbishop of bishopAuch'', 1198"
* "''On the crusade and Trade with SaracensUsury: Letter to the VenetiansFrench bishops'', 1198"
* ''On Church Independence/Tithes: Letter to a bishop'', 1198
* "[[Sicut Judaeis|On Jews: Decree of 1199]]"<ref name="MS">[http://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/innIII-policies.asp Medieval Sourcebook: Innocent III: Letters on Papal Polices]. Fordham.edu</ref>▼
* ''On the crusade and Trade with Saracens: Letter to the Venetians'', 1198
▲* "''[[Sicut Judaeis|On Jews: Decree of 1199]]"''<ref name="MS">[http://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/innIII-policies.asp Medieval Sourcebook: Innocent III: Letters on Papal Polices]. Fordham.edu</ref>
 
==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History|Italy}}▼
* [[List of popes]]
* [[Cardinals created by Innocent III]]
{{clear}}
 
== References ==
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{{Popes}}
{{History of the Catholic Church}}
▲{{Portal bar|Biography|Christianity|History|Italy}}
{{Authority control}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Innocent 03}}
[[Category:Pope Innocent III|* ]]
[[Category:1161 births|Innocent]]
[[Category:1216 deaths|Innocent]]
[[Category:12th-century apocalypticists|Innocent]]
[[Category:12th-century Latin writers in Latin|Innocent]]
[[Category:12th-century popes|Innocent]]
[[Category:12th-century Italian cardinals|Conti, Lotario]]
[[Category:13th-century apocalypticists]]
[[Category:13th-century popes|Innocent]]
[[Category:Conti di Segni|Lotario]]
[[Category:Cardinal-nephews|Conti, Lotario]]
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[[Category:Christians of the Fourth Crusade|Innocent]]
[[Category:Christians of the Livonian Crusade|Innocent]]
[[Category:Italian popes|Innocent]]
[[Category:People from the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital]]
[[Category:People of the Albigensian Crusade|Innocent]]
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