Pope+Innocent+III

= = =__Pope Innocent III__ = Pope Innocent III is seen by modern scholars as the most influential Pope of the medieval era. He left the papacy at the pinnacle of its authority and power in the [|Middle Ages]. In the year 1198, after the death of [|Pope Celestine III], a young cardinal by the name of Lothar of Segni was elected Pope Innocent III. Innocent III was such an influential figure, as no other pope had such a wide ranging effect on the Papacy and Europe as a whole. He re-established Papal control over [|Rome] and the surrounding lands of the [|‘Patrimony of St. Peter,’]and Innocent was also responsible for instigating Crusades and holding the influential Fourth Lateran Council. flat
 * < Name: ||< Lothario of Segni ||
 * < Born: ||< 1160/1161 ||
 * < Died: ||< 16 July 1216 ||
 * < Papacy: ||< 8 January - 16 July 1216 ||
 * < Lineage: ||< [|Celestine III] - Innocent III - [|Honorius III] ||

=__Papal States __=  Immediately upon his election as pope in 1198, Innocent set about establishing a power base across the disputed Papal territories. Papal legates were sent to the cities surrounding Rome to have their leaders swear loyalty to him. He reasserted his own control over Rome by forcing the nobility to swear homage to him. Innocent soon controlled a sizeable area of land stretchin g across central Italy coast to coast. The area now under papal control was larger than any of his predecessors, which he used to justify his later political influence.

=__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Crusades __=

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Pope Innocent III was responsible for instigating the Fourth Crusade against [|Constantinople] and also the Albigensian Crusade in southern France. In 1202, Pope Innocent called for a crusade in support of the remaining crusaders in the holy land. The aim of the expedition was initially aimed at conquering [|Egypt]; however the campaign was diverted to Constantinople by the deposed heir of the Byzantium throne, [|Alexius IV]. The resulting <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">sack of Constantinople in 1204 became an influential moment in the history of the church as it momentarily left a Latin ruler as the head of the Eastern Church. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">In 1208, Pope Innocent launched the Albigensian Crusade which took place in southern [|France]. It was designed to combat what he saw as an increase in heresy particularly in regards to the Christian heretic group; the Cathars. The war would eventually live out Pope Innocent lasting more than 20 years. This action was to set a dangerous precedent that now Pope’s could call crusades against political enemies within Christendom itself.

=__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Fourth Lateran Council __= <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">In 1215, Pope Innocent III called the Fourth Lateran Council. The council was considered to be the most important assembly of the [|Roman Communion] before the [|Counter-Reformation]. 412 bishops, 800 heads of Monastic houses, envoys from [|England] and France as well as the competing German emperors [|Frederick II] and [|Otto IV] and delegates from cities across Latin Europe were in attendance at the council. The aim of the council was to implement reforms in wake of what Pope Innocent saw as declining moral integrity within the church. Pope Innocent had previously taken an increased role in the selection of church positions as well as removing those whom he thought had damaged the church’s reputation. The result of the council was the induction of 72 papal canons. These dealt with the increase in heresy, the calling of another crusade to the holy land, the regulation of church practices and beliefs and new restrictions and legislation in relation to the Jews.

=__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Death and Legacy __=

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: justify;">Pope Innocent III died 16 July 1216. He was a hugely influential figure during the high middle ages and his reign as Pope left a lasting legacy on Europe and the Church as a whole. Innocent III extended the boundaries of papal control across lands in central Italy and also extended the influence of the pope into the political affairs of other European states as well. Pope Innocent continued the crusader movement, instigating two of his own and with the Albigensian crusade setting a dangerous precedent on calling crusades against political enemies with Europe itself. Finally his reforms of the church administration through the influential fourth Lateran Council sealed his fate as one of the most influential Popes of all time.

=__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">References __=