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Innocent III (from http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Innocent_III)
Pope Innocent III, mosaic tile
Pope Innocent III (c. 1161 C.E. – June 16, 1216 C.E.), born Lotario de' Conti di Segni, was
Pope from January 8, 1198 until his death. As Pope, Innocent III represents the height of the
medieval papacy. His papacy asserted the absolute spiritual authority of his office, while still
respecting the temporal authority of Kings.
Lotario de' Conti di Segni was the son of Count Trasimund of Segni, a nephew of Pope Clement
III (1187C.E.–1191 C.E.). His father was a member of a famous house that produced nine Popes,
including Pope Gregory IX (1227 C.E.–1241 C.E.), Pope Alexander IV (1254 C.E.–1261 C.E.) and
Pope Innocent XIII (1721C.E.–1724 C.E.). His mother, Claricia, belonged to the noble Roman
family of Scotti.
Lotario was educated in Rome, Paris (under Peter of Corbeil), and Bologna (under Huguccio); he
was considered an intellectual and one of the greatest canon lawyers of his time.
His Papacy
On the day the late Celestine III was buried, Lotario was elected Pope and took the name of
Innocent III. He was just thirty-seven years of age, and although a deacon, not yet a priest. He
was reluctant to accept the Papacy, which itself marks him out from many of the ambitious men
who have occupied the same position. Throughout his career as Pope, Innocent III sought to
reassert and extend the plenitudo potestatis (the secular power) of the “Holy See”.
Innocent III had forced Philip II of France (1180 C.E.–1223 C.E.) to be reconciled with his wife,
Ingeborg of Denmark, and Philip II Augustus became, thereby, Innocent III's ally in the struggle
over Otto IV. The Emperor allied himself with England (he was nephew ofKing John
"Lackland") to fight Philip II Augustus, but he was defeated in the Battle of Bouvines in what is
now Belgium, on July 27, 1214C.E. Thereafter Otto IV lost all influence and died on May 19,
1218, leaving Frederick II the undisputed Emperor. Innocent III played further roles in the
politics of France, Sweden, Bulgaria, Spain and especially England. In England, there was
controversy over the appointment of Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury, which was
opposed by King John. The King was forced to acknowledge the Pope as his feudal lord and
accept Langton. In fact, John surrendered England to the Pope, asking for it to be returned as a
papal fief.
Innocent III was considered a strenuous opponent of heresy, and had campaigns to force the
heretics to convert, or be executed. Under his authority, massacres were committed throughout
the Papal States, first against the Manichean heretics and under the leadership of Simon de
Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, against the Albigenses (Cathars), the Albigensian Crusade
(1209–29 C.E.). This was a prelude to the legitimization of the Inquisition in 1233 C.E., wherein
heresy was said to be punished for the spiritual good of the individual as well as for the
preservation of the Church. The Pope supported two new holy orders: the Franciscans and the
Dominicans. Both their rules advocated a return to a simpler, more pious life that many saw as
closer to that of Jesus and his disciples.
Innocent III had also decreed the Fourth Crusade in 1198 C.E., which was intended to recapture
the Holy Land. The Pope directed his call towards the knights and nobles of Europe rather than
to the Kings; he wished that neither Richard I of England (1189 C.E.–99 C.E.) nor Philip II of
France, who were still engaged in war, not to mention his German enemies, should participate in
the crusade. Innocent III's call was generally ignored until 1200, when a crusade was finally
organized in Champagne. The Venetians then re-directed it into the sacking of Zara in 1202 and
of Constantinople in 1204 C.E. Innocent III was horrified by the attack on the Byzantines. Prior
to the launching of the Crusade he had insisted that no Christian cities be attacked. He sharply
denounced Boniface of Montferrat, commander of the so-called "Fourth Crusade" (1202 C.E. –
1204 C.E.) for his actions in seizing Constantinople instead of retaking Jerusalem as his crusader
oath had pledged. Innocent III condemned him for desecrating Byzantine Churches in no
uncertain terms, sympathizing with the Greeks who called his men "dogs."
Church-State Rivalry
From 800 C.E., the Popes had claimed to be the representative of Christ the King of earth,
legitimizing kingly power. Increasingly, kings claimed that God blessed their succession, even
that they were semi-divine. They did not need the Pope. Lacking coercive force, the Popes
generally relied on the threat of excommunication to exert authority. This did not always work.
Frederick II was excommunicated but still went Crusading, where he negotiated control of
Jerusalem for a ten year period. Consequently, without also commanding a degree of temporal
power through the control of territories, the Papacy could not expect kings to simply comply.
Innocent III restored papal authority mainly by re-possessing the former papal states. Innocent
III, in asserting papal authority, left his mark across Europe. For example, Alfonso IX of Leon
was excommunicated by him for marrying Berengaria, in breach of the Church's laws of
Consanguinity. In 1208 C.E., he annulled Alfonso of Portugal's marriage with Urraca for the
same reason.
Church reform
Innocent III also summoned the Fourth Council of the Lateran (12th ecumenical council) in
November 1215. It decided to send another crusade to the Holy Land (Fifth Crusade) and issued
some seventy reformatory decrees. Among other things, it encouraged creating schools and
holding clergy to a higher standard than the laity both in terms of their personal moral conduct,
and knowledge of theology. He approved the rule of the Franciscans and Dominicans. If only
briefly, he also re-united the Eastern and Western churches, confirming in 1215 that after the
Bishop of Rome, the Patriarch of Constantinople was next in rank. However, following the sack
of Constantinople (1204) he also tried to Latinize the Eastern Church, while Constantinople
remained in Frankish hands as what was known as the Latin Empire (1204-1226; the title of
emperor was claimed by Franks until 1383).
Death
Innocent III died at Perugia and was buried in the cathedral there, where his body remained
until Pope Leo XIII (1878 C.E.–1903 C.E.) had it transferred to the Lateran in December 1891.
Although the papal power over Kings that Innocent III established would be short-lived, he
sincerely attempted to turn theological principles into actual powers. Two of his Latin works are
still widely read: De Miseria Humanae Conditionis, a tract on asceticism that Innocent III wrote
before becoming Pope, and De Sacro Altaris Mysterio, which is a description and exegesis of the
liturgy.
Legacy
While he may not have been a deeply spiritual man, Innocent III was less worldly and less
personally ambitious than many of those who occupied the Papal throne. He was ambitious for
the papacy, wanting to restore its political authority. From a modern perspective that regards
separation of church and state as inviolable, this may not appear to be a positive legacy.
However, the theology of the day said that Christ had bequeathed secular and spiritual authority
to the Pope. God through Christ directed all of human life, and Christ did so through his earthly
deputy, or vicar, the Pope. At its best, this placed all life under God and elevated spiritual health
above material wealth. In practice, more often than not, the Church itself became corrupt and
possessed so much material wealth and political power that it neglected its role as shepherd of
Christ's flock, as the curator of souls. Innocent tried to restore the balance. He did not neglect
spiritual health and wanted better trained clergy. He was aware that the wealth and luxury of the
Church compromised its message that where your treasure is, there will your heart be also and
for this reason approved the rules of the Franciscans and Dominicans, whose life styles were
much humbler than that of most clergy and bishops. He is reputed to have been deeply pious and
to have had a profound understanding of human psychology. Certainly, he was far from perfect
but he qualifies as one of the more sincere and Godly men to have sat on St Peter's throne.
Pope Innocent III set out to restore the temporal authority of the church, challenged by Kings
who saw no reason why they had to have papal blessings. They saw themselves as responsible
directly to God. This left no check or balance against the power of kings since, rebellion aside, it
was almost impossible for their subjects to express any criticism. At its best, the papacy ensured
that Kings ruled according to the principles of justness, even if the hierarchical system made the
nobility more entitled to justice than the commoners. In theory, any priest could become Pope, so
the Popes should hold all people's welfare at heart. Powell (1994) shows how Innocent III's
legacy can be praised or denounced. For some he was godly and devoted to serving Christ,
within the limitation of his day. His pursuit of heresy may score a negative point from a modern
perspective. However, his desire and partial success in restoring East-West Christian unity scores
a positive point. For others, he was over ambitious and too full of prejudice, too interested in
worldly power (12-14).