Pope Innocent III (1160/61–1216): To Root Up and to Plant 0268035148, 9780268035143

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POPE INNOCENT III (1160/61-1216)

POPE INNOCENT III (1160/61–1216) To Root Up and to Plant

JOHN C. MOORE

University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, Indiana

Published in 2009 by University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 www.undpress.nd.edu All Rights Reserved

Cloth edition published in 2003 by Brill Copyright © 2003 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands

This ebook has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this book do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Moore, John C. ( John Clare), 1933– Pope Innocent III (1160/61/1216) : to root up and to plant / John C. Moore. p. cm. Originally published: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2003, in series: The medieval Mediterranean. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-268-03514-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-268-03514-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Innocent III, Pope, 1160 or 61–1216. 2. Popes—Biography. I. Title. BX1236.M66 2008 282.092—dc22 [B] 2008043598

See, I have setyou this day overnationsand overkingdoms,to root up and to pull down, to destroyand to overthrow,to build and to plant. Jeremiah 1:10

To the Greeksand to the barbarians,to the wise and to the unwise, I am a debtor. Romans 1:14

Show me a sign ef tf!)Ifavor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame becausethou, Lord, hast helpedme and comfortedme. Psalm 86 (85): 17

For Pat, with love and thanks.

CONTENTS

List of Illustrations .. ........ ....... ........ .......... ...... .... .... ......... ..... .. ... Preface ....... ...... ......... ........ ....... ......... .......................................... Abbreviations and Notes on Sources ........................... ........... Map: Europe and the Mediterranean Lands about 1200 ...... Map: Western Central Italy ......................................................

x1 x111 xV11 xix xx

CHAPTERONE Lotario dei Conti of Segni .......................... .. CHAPTERTwo

The Beginning ............................... .................

CHAPTERTHREE The Great Princes (1198-1200) CHAPTERFoUR Curia and City (1200-1203)

25

................

50

........................

77

CHAPTERFIVE The Fourth Crusade (1203-1204)

................

102

......................

135

CHAPTERSEVEN Defense of the Church (1207-1212) ..........

169

CHAPTEREIGHT Renewal (1212-1214)

..................................

203

CHAPTERNINE Council and Crusade (1215) ........................

228

CHAPTERTEN The End (1215-1216)

253

CHAPTERSix Jews and Heretics (1205-1207)

....................................

Bibliography ............ .... .. ......... ..... .. .................... ................. .... .....

293

Index

303

..........................................................................................

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Frontispiece This marble relief sculpture by Joseph Kiselewski, twenty-eight inches in diameter, was created in 1950. It is one of twenty-three portraits of famous "lawgivers" located in the House of Representatives Chamber in the U.S. Capitol. Further information can be found at www.aoc.gov I eel art/lawgivers/lawgivers.htm. Photograph reproduced here by permission of the Architect of the Capitol. (between pages 36 and 3 7) Reg. Vat. 5, f. 72r (about 32 x 23 cm.) This is the first page of Innocent's register for his sixth year. The image in the margin forms the initial "I" of the word "Inter", the first word of Reg. Inn. 6: 1 (24 February 1203), addressed to the monks at Subiaco. Innocent is portrayed as the central figure, with a Cardinal John and two clerks in subordinate positions. The banner in the pope's hands reads, "Children, may our blessing so profit you in bearing fruit in this life that it may be a source of help to you [in the next]." The banners held by the clerks read, "Holy and just father, we beseech you to help your [people]"; "And on me, a flea, kind father, bestow your blessing." (Was "the flea" the artist?) The illuminated initial was added probably a year or two after the text of the letter was entered, in the space left by the scribe. (See Reg. 6: 1, p. 3, n. 1.) Photograph reproduced here by permission of the Prefect, Archivio Segreto Vaticano. (between pages 88 and 89) This fresco is located in the Benedictine monastery of Sacra Speco in Subiaco. It portrays Innocent III, St. Benedict (on the left) and Abbot Romano. The text beneath the image of Innocent is a copy of the same letter shown in Illustration 2 (Reg. Inn. 6: 1). It is addressed to Prior John and the brothers, granting to them in perpetuity an annual subsidy of six pounds of silver, to be paid from papal revenues. The letter was dated 24 February 1203, and the

Xll

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

fresco was probably executed about thirteen years later. Further information can be found at www.benedetti-subiaco.it. Brill Academic Publishers and the author did their best to establish rights to the use of the materials printed here. Should any other party feel that its rights have been infringed we would be glad to take up contact with them.

PREFACE

In the 1830s, Friedrich Hurter published a laudatory and lengthy biography of Pope Innocent III organized on strictly chronological lines. Although true to the way Innocent experienced his life, the result was, in its abundant detail, somewhat difficult to follow. Later biographers, perhaps learning from Hurter's experience, have all organized their studies of Innocent's life topically. In his six volume biography of Innocent, Achille Luchaire devoted each volume to a separate aspect of the pope's life: Les Royautes Vassales,La Q_uestion d'Orient,and so forth. This approach by Luchaire and later students of Innocent, including the distinguished scholars Jane Sayers 1 and Colin Morris, 2 has revealed a great deal about Innocent and his pontificate, but at a cost. Readers can rarely learn from these studies how Innocent experienced his pontificate from day to day and how the events in one area of his experience may have influenced his reaction to events in others. A "sign of God's favor" in Spain, for example, could play a role in his deciding to try again to organize a great crusade to the Holy Land. Another common tendency among students of Innocent has been to stress certain of his decretals that were influential in the development of canon law after his death. This approach too has produced a body of very valuable historical literature, but it has also somewhat distorted our understanding of Innocent. A phrase used once or twice by Innocent may be very important to later history without being especially important for understanding Innocent's mind. He claimed the right to intervene in the conflict between John of England and Philip of France occasione peccatior rationepeccati,by reason of sin, a phrase to assume considerable importance because of its inclusion in canon law. But Innocent used it only on this one occasion and it is not the best entry into his understanding of his office. The same can be said of several of his other decretals.

1 2

Innocent IIL· Leader efEurope 1198-1216 (London, 1994). The Papal Monarchy: The Western Churchfrom 1050 to 1250 (Oxford, 1989), pp.

417-451.

XIV

PREFACE

A similar tendency of scholars has been to quote a rarely used but striking phrase from Innocent's records as though it characterized his entire papacy. Innocent's attitudes, or at least his moods, varied over his eighteen-year pontificate. He was not always the "cool and calculating pope" presented by Walter Ullmann. 3 He was sometimes over-confident, sometimes discouraged, sometimes elated, frequently ineffectual, and in his uncertainties he searched the developments of his day for signs of divine approval or disapproval. This book, while not completely abandoning topical emphases, returns to a chronological approach in order to recapture events as Innocent experienced them and to look for their impact on him personally and on the decisions he made. It also looks to phrases, such as those in the front pages of this book, that tell more about Innocent's fundamental views than do some expressions that were later enshrined in decretal collections. The book is not intended to revisit the many controversies surrounding Innocent and his pontificate but to give as clear and full a picture as possible of Innocent the man and of his life as he experienced it. At the same time, it is intended to be solidly based on evidence. I hope that even well-informed scholars, while testing my assertions against the evidence cited, can learn something from this approach and that general readers will find here a comprehensible and reliable introduction to Pope Innocent III. In pursuit of this purpose, I have quoted generously from Innocent's sermons and letters, all the while knowing that there is at present no way of knowing how much of that material was actually written by him, how much was written by others on his behalf Consequently, we cannot always be sure that a perceptive observation or a neat turn of phrase originated with him. But just as we attribute to modern heads of states opinions presented in speeches that were nearly always drafted by others, I do not hesitate to attribute to Innocent ideas and attitudes that appear frequently in his writing, even though the text may have been first drafted by advisers or curial clerks. Few historians would doubt that Innocent was a strong personality, and few would find it likely that the prevailing themes and attitudes of his papacy were created and maintained by anyone but him. The annotation of this book clearly shows my dependence on the work of many other scholars, but it does not convey my debt espe-

3

"Innocent III, Pope," New CatholicEncyclopedia(New York, 1967), 7:521.

PREFACE

xv

cially to a few scholars of an earlier generation. The thorough and scrupulous scholarship of C. R. Cheney, Raymonde Foreville, Michele Maccarrone, and Helene Tillmann made this book possible. I am also especially grateful to Professors Alfred Andrea andJames Powell, and to my long-time friend and colleague Professor Linton S. Thorn. Each of them read the entire manuscript of this book and offered many helpful suggestions. John C. Moore Bloomington, Indiana November, 2002

ABBREVIATIONS AND NOTES ON SOURCES

Note: Biblical translations are generally based on the Revised Standard Version, but I have frequently modified the translation, considering both the Latin Innocent used and the Douay Rheims translation of the Vulgate. Other translations are mine unless otherwise indicated, but I have consulted other translations in making my own, especially those in Andrea, Contemporary Sources. Andrea, Contemporary Sources.Alfred J. Andrea, Contemporary Sources far the FourthCrusade (Leiden, 2000). This work provides translations and commentary for many letters of Innocent III, as well as for other sources. Biographer. A title used in this book to refer to the anonymous author of the Gesta (see below). James M. Powell has argued persuasively that this author was Cardinal Petrus Beneventanus. See Powell, "Innocent III and Petrus Beneventanus: Reconstructing a Career at the Papal Curia," in PopeInnocentIII and His World, ed. John C. Moore (Aldershot, 1999), pp. 51-62. Cheney and Semple. C. R. Cheney and W. H. Semple, SelectedLettersefPopeInnocent III concerning England(1198-12 I 6) (London, 1953). This work provides Latin texts and English translations, together with Cheney's excellent introduction to the papal materials. Gesta. GestaInnocentiiIII. This is an account of Innocent's life up to 1208, written by a contemporary. It is available in an old and unreliable edition in PL 214 and in a modem edition as the doctoral dissertation of David Gress-Wright, "The 'Gesta Innocent III': Text, introduction and commentary" (Bryn Mawr College dissertation, 1981). It is cited in this book by chapter number, with corresponding page references to Gress-Wright's edition. Regarding its author, see "Biographer" above. James M. Powell's translation of the Gesta is forthcoming. Gress-Wright. See Gesta. MHC. De miseriahumana,econditionis.A treatise by Innocent III. An old edition of the Latin text is in PL 217:701-746. For a modem edition see Michele Maccarrone (ed.), Lotharii Cardinalis (Innocentii III), De miseriahumana,econditionis(Lugano, 1955). English versions are: Donald Howard (ed.), Lothario dei Segni (Pope Innocent III), On the Misery ef the Human Condition, trans. Margaret Mary Dietz (Indianapolis and New York, 1969) and Robert E. Lewis (ed. and trans.), Lotario dei Segni (Pope Innocent III), De miseriaCondicionis Humane (Athens, Georgia, 1978). This treatise is cited herein by book and chapter. MGH. MounumentaGermania,e Historica.Begun in the early nineteenth century, this is a multi-volume set containing a vast collection of primary sources from the middle ages, especially those related to Germany and the medieval Roman empire. PL. Patrologi,a Latina,or Patrologi,a,e cursuscompletus... seriesLatina, ed. J. P. Migne (Paris, 1844-1864). Volumes 214-217 of this 221-volume set are devoted entirely to sources related to Innocent III and his pontificate. Usually cited herein by volume and column number.

XVlll

Pott.

QSN. Reg.

RNI.

SAM. Tanner. X.

ABBREVIATIONS

AND NOTES ON SOURCES

Augustus Potthast, RegestaPontificumRomanorumindeab a. post Christumnatum MCXCVIII ad a. MCCCIV, vol. l (Berlin, 1874). Calendar of papal letters with brief summaries. Normally cited by item number rather than by page. De quadripartitaspeci£nuptiarum= The Four Kinds ofMarriage.A treatise by Innocent III. Latin text in PL 21 7:921-968. This indicates a register of Innocent III. Together with other materials related to Innocent's pontificate, his registers are available in PL, vols. 214-217. A new, more informative and more reliable edition of the registers is in progress, being published by the Austrian Academy of Sciences as Di£ RegisterInnocenz'III, ed. Othmar Hageneder et al. (Vienna, 1964-), with each volume corresponding to an extant register. The registers are cited in this book according to the year and the number of the letter, so that Reg. 5: I means the first letter of the fifth year of Innocent's pontificate. Each papal year begins February 22, the anniversary of his consecration as pope. A citation like this, Reg. 2:104 (113), means that the letter is numbered 104 in the Austrian edition but 113 in PL. For the registers that have not yet appeared in the Austrian edition, the place of the letter in the PL edition is given by volume and column number. Reges/umInnocentiiIII papaesupernegotioRomaniimperii(ed. Friedrich Kempf, SJ. (Rome, 1947). This work is also available in a less reliable edition in PL 216:995-11 72. It is a separate register that was maintained by the curia, containing materials having to do with the disputed succession to the office of emperor of the Romans. It is cited by item number. De sacroaltarismysterio= The SacredA{ysteryoftheAltar. A treatise by Innocent III. Latin text in PL 217:773-916. Decreesof the EcumenicalCouncils,2 vols., ed. Norman P. Tanner, SJ. (London, 1990). Contains all the decrees of the councils in the original language, with English translations on facing pages. liber Extra (The Decretals of Pope Gregory IX). In vol. 2 of Corpusiuris canonici,2nd ed. Emil Friedberg (Leipzig, 1879, repr. Graz, 1959).

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