The document of the surrender states that henceforth the kings of England were to rule as vassals of the pope and to pay an annual tribute of marks to the See of Rome. On 20 July, , the king was solemnly freed from the ban at Winchester and after the clergy had been reimbursed for its losses the interdict was lifted from England on 29 June, It appears that many of the barons were not pleased with the surrender of England into the hands of the pope.
They also resented the king's continuous trespasses upon their liberties and his many acts of injustice in the government of the people. They finally had recourse to violence and forced him to yield to their demands by affixing his seal to the Magna Charta.
Innocent could not as suzerain of England allow a contract which imposed such serious obligations upon his vassal to be made without his consent. His legate Pandulph had repeatedly praised King John to the pope as a wise ruler and loyal vassal of the Holy See. The pope , therefore, declared the Great Charter null and void, not because it gave too many liberties to the barons and the people, but because it had been obtained by violence.
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. For similar reasons he annulled, in , the marriage of the crown-prince, Alfonso of Portugal , with Urraca, daughter of Alfonso of Castile. He prepared a crusade against the Moors and lived to see their power broken in Spain at the battle of Navas de Tolosa, in He protected the people of Norway against their tyrannical king, Sverri, and after the king's death arbitrated between the two claimants to the Norwegian throne.
He mediated between King Emeric of Hungary and his rebellious brother Andrew, sent royal crown and sceptre to King Johannitius of Bulgaria and had his legate crown him king at Tirnovo, in ; he restored ecclesiastical discipline in Poland ; arbitrated between the two claimants to the royal crown of Sweden ; made partly successful attempts to reunite the Greek with the Latin Church and extended his beneficent influence practically over the whole Christian world.
Like many preceding popes , Innocent had at heart the recovery of the Holy Land, and for this end undertook the Fourth Crusade. The Venetians had pledged themselves to transport the entire Christian army and to furnish the fleet with provisions for nine months, for 85, marks. When the crusaders were unable to pay the sum, the Venetians proposed to bear the financial expenses themselves on condition that the crusaders would first assist them in the conquest of the city of Zara.
The crusaders yielded to their demands and the fleet started down the Adriatic on 8 October, Zara had scarcely been reduced when Alexius Comnenus arrived at the camp of the crusaders and pleaded for their help to replace his father , Isaac Angelus, on the throne of Constantinople from which he had been deposed by his cruel brother Alexius.
In return he promised to reunite the Greek with the Latin Church , to add 10, soldiers to the ranks of the crusaders , and to contribute money and provisions to the crusade. The Venetians , who saw their own commercial advantage in the taking of Constantinople, induced the crusaders to yield to the prayers of Alexius, and Constantinople was taken by them in Isaac Angelus was restored to his throne but soon replaced by a usurper.
The crusaders took Constantinople a second time on 12 April, , and after a horrible pillage, Baldwin, Count of Flanders , was proclaimed emperor and the Greek Church was united with the Latin. The reunion, as well as the Latin empire in the East, did not last longer than two generations.
When Pope Innocent learned that the Venetians had diverted the crusaders from their purpose of conquering the Holy Land he expressed his great dissatisfaction first at their conquest of Zara , and when they proceeded towards Constantinople he solemnly protested and finally excommunicated the Venetians who had caused the digression of the crusaders from their original purpose.
Since, however, he could not undo what had been accomplished he did his utmost to destroy the Greek schism and latinize the Eastern Empire. Innocent was also a zealous protector of the true Faith and a strenuous opponent of heresy. His chief activity was turned against the Albigenses who had become so numerous and aggressive that they were no longer satisfied with being adherents of heretical doctrines but even endeavoured to spread their heresy by force.
They were especially numerous in a few cities of Northern and in 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 Faith and dispute with them on controverted topics of religion.
Dominic and the two papal legates. Peter of Castelnau and Raoul. When, however, these peaceful missionaries were ridiculed and despised by the Albigenses , and the papal legate Castelnau was assassinated in , 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, for good reasons, the pope suspected as the instigator of the murder.
The count protested his innocence and submitted to the pope , probably out of cowardice, but the pope placed no further trust in him. He called upon France to raise an army for the suppression of the Albigenses. The culminating point in the glorious reign of Innocent was his convocation of the Fourth Lateran Council , which he solemnly opened on 15 November, It was by far the most important council of the Middle Ages.
Besides deciding on a general crusade to the Holy Land, it issued seventy reformatory decrees, the first of which was a creed Firmiter credimus , against the Albigenses and Waldenses , in which the term "transubstantiation" received its first ecclesiastical sanction. The labours of Innocent in the inner government of the Church appear to be of a very subordinate character when they are put beside his great politico-ecclesiastical achievements which brought the papacy to the zenith of its power.
Still they are worthy of memory and have contributed their share to the glory of his pontificate. During his reign the two great founders of the mendicant orders , St.
Dominic and St. Francis, laid before him their scheme of reforming the world. Innocent was not blind to the vices of luxury and indolence which had infected many of the clergy and part of the laity. In Dominic and Francis he recognized two mighty adversaries of these vices and he sanctioned their projects with words of encouragement.
The lesser religious orders which he approved are the Hospitallers of the Holy Ghost on 23 April, , the Trinitarians on 17 December, , and the Humiliati , in June, In he commissioned the Cistercian monk , Christian, afterwards bishop , with the conversion of the heathen Prussians.
At Rome he built the famous hospital Santo Spirito in Sassia, which became the model of all future city hospitals and exists to the present time see Walsh, "The Popes and Science", New York, , p. Innocent died at Perugia , while travelling through Italy in the interests of the crusade which had been decided upon at the Lateran Council.
Innocent is also the author of various literary works reprinted in P. It is an ascetical treatise and gives evidence of Innocent's deep piety and knowledge of men. His treatise "De sacro altaris mysterio libri VI" P. It was printed repeatedly, and translated into German by Hurter Schaffhausen, He also wrote "De quadripartita specie nuptiarum" P.
Innocent was born to rule; he was exceptionally gifted in intellect, will, and leadership. He was the foremost church lawyer of the age. Still, he had a combative spirit and was prone to fits of depression. He began his reign by purging church officials not loyal to him and by curbing excesses of his own household.
Plates of gold were exchanged for wood, and nobles from royal families were replaced by monks. He reasserted control over the papal estates, though after an attempt on his life, he gave his family charge of key cities. Innocent saw the pope as feudal overlord of all secular rulers—"not only over the universal church, but the whole world.
The death of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI in gave him the opportunity to put this theory into practice by arbitrating between the rivals for the imperial throne.
He conceded the right of the imperial electors to select a candidate, but he insisted he make the final appointment. He first selected Otto of Brunswick, who promised to recognize the enlarged Papal States and renounce any claim to the assets of deceased church officials.
Innocent could truthfully declare that kings held their crown by virtue of the "grace of God and of the pope. He compelled Philip of France to take back the wife he divorced. Innocent corresponded with the eastern emperor about reunion until the Fourth Crusade was diverted on its way to Egypt and ended up sacking Constantinople in Turning the fait accompli to his best advantage, Innocent set up a Latin rite church in the ruins.
In the Middle Ages the interdict could be imposed either as personal or local in nature. A personal interdict, still part of canon law today, is directed against a person or a group of persons, i.
The personal interdict, which can be implemented by a bishop, stays with a person wherever they go. The local interdict was exercised only by a pope and extended over an entire diocese, or an entire country. King John, who reigned from to , is viewed by most historians as an ineffectual leader because of his inability to get along with his subjects and with other European leaders.
He was ill-tempered and stubborn, especially when it came to dealing with the expanding influence of Pope Innocent III. On one occasion during Mass, he reportedly wrote a note to the celebrant asking him to hurry up, as the king wanted to go to lunch.
The collision of king and pope took place in when the archbishop of Canterbury died. In his role as chancellor he oversaw the day-to-day affairs of government, and as archbishop he was the leader of the Catholic Church in England. In these positions he was skillful, effective and powerful, traits not lost on King John, who recognized Walter as holding the second most important position in the kingdom. The monks had the right to elect the archbishop, but by custom it always had been someone acceptable to the king.
But the monks did not trust their king, because he had shown little interest in religious matters. Additionally, there was an ongoing dispute between the monks and bishops of England as to whether or not the bishops had any role in the selection process. En route, the clandestinely elected Reginald began to brag to those he met about his new position, and word of the secret election soon got back to King John.
King John intimidated a number of the Canterbury monks into voting for his choice and asked the English bishops not to interfere with this selection. He sent the monks, who were embarrassed and submissive after being confronted, off to Rome to support de Gray. The bishops, upset that they were slighted in the selection process, also dispatched a representative to plead their concerns before the pope.
Reginald, unaware that these actions were taking place, continued on to the Vatican. The pope quickly took advantage of the chaos. Canonical law regulating ecclesiastical elections was vague, allowing Innocent to interpret the rules as he saw fit. He invoked the law by first dismissing Reginald, because he had been elected in secret, and then Bishop de Gray, because he had been named before the pope had proclaimed the invalidity of Reginald.
Innocent saw an opportunity to widen papal influence in England and in selected his trusted friend Cardinal Stephen Langton as the archbishop of Canterbury. Born in England, Langton had been living in Paris for 25 years, was teaching theology at the university and was close to the French court. Canon law specifies the following situations as being subject to automatic interdict latae sententiae : physical violence against a bishop Canon ; someone other than a priest attempting to preside over the Mass or hear confessions ; falsely accusing a priest of soliciting adultery during the sacrament of penance ; a religious attempting to marry while under the vow of celibacy Also, a person who celebrates or receives a sacrament through the use of simony is subject to an interdict or suspension and an interdict is imposed on someone who promotes a plot against the Church.
King John reacts to the pope Clearly, this was a precedent-setting attempt by the pope and, if successful, the most important religious position outside Rome would forever serve at the inclination of the Holy See. It seemed to John that the archbishop of Canterbury should be acceptable and responsible to the king, not a Vatican-appointed delegate who lived in England but was responsible to the pope.
Had the pope at least consulted with John, the situation may have had a different result, but there would be no compromise. Innocent announced his selection in a letter to the king and tried to pacify him by including a gift of four very valuable rings.
But John would have none of it and angrily proclaimed that Langton was not welcome in England as archbishop.
The king also sent his knights to oust the monks at Canterbury, who had conducted the secret election and had switched their allegiance to the pope.
The pope responded by directing three English bishops to meet with the king and explain that in accordance with canon law, the continued ill treatment of the clergy and failure to accept Langton would result in England being placed under a nationwide interdict.
Innocent, despite past custom, was convinced that the authority to select the archbishop rested with the pope. At the threat of an interdict, King John flew into a rage, threatening the life and livelihood of every clergyman in the country. This action suspended all religious services, denied Mass to everyone except the clergy, took away all the sacraments save confession and viaticum for the dying, and baptism, which had to be done privately.
Couples could not be married in the Church and no one could be buried in consecrated Catholic cemeteries. Every Englishman suffered because of the actions of the king. In response, King John increased his persecution of the clergy in England by confiscating their lands, not offering them any protection and not supporting them financially.
In an effort to insure support of the most powerful land barons, he began taking hostages from members of their families. This act, and many other selfish decisions by the king, served to infuriate the barons and lords of the land. The Catholics living in England in the early 13th century had difficulty understanding why they could not practice their faith and could not participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in their own country.
This, of course, was the purpose of the local interdict imposed by Innocent III; that is, he sought to take advantage of this belief and bring public pressure on King John.
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