If, as we have seen, Innocent III would admit of no comjiromises with immorality and irregularity, he was certainly stern and even more unfiinching in his deal- ings with all those who separated themselves from the body of the Romish Church. "To him, every offence against religion was a crime against society, and, in his ideal Christian republic, every heresy was a re- bellion which it was the duty of the ruk rs to resist and repress." To extirpate this, " the deadliest of sins," he sent two legates, with the title of inciuisitors, to France. One of them, Castelnau, having become odious by his severities, was murdered near Toulouse, ujion which In- nocent ordered a crusade against the Albigenses (q. v.), excommunicated Ra3'monil, count of Toidouse, for abet- ting them, and bestowed his domains on Simon, count of JMontfort. He addressed himself to all the faithful, exhorting them " to fight strenuously against the min- isters of the old serpent," and promising them tho king- dom of heaven in reward. He sent two legates to at- tend the crusade, and their lettefs or reports to him are contained in the collection of his " Ejiistles" (especially Kpisloki 108 of B. xii, in which the legate Arnaldus re- lates the taking of Beziers, and the massacre of 30,000 individuals of every age, sex, and condition). Innocent, however, who did not live to see the end of the confla- gration he had kindled, can hardly be held responsible for the fearful excesses into which it ran. In 1215 he convened a general council at the Lateran, in which he inculcated the necessity of a new crusade, which he re- garded not merely as lawful, but even a most glorious undertaking in lichalf of religion and piety. He also launched IVcsli anathemas against heretics, determined several points of doctrine antl disci|>line, especially con- cerning auricular confession, and sanctioned the es- tablishment of the two great mendicant monastic or- ders, the Dominicans and Franciscans, the former to ex- tirpate heresy, and the latter to preach sound doctrines, and to assist the parochial clergy in the execution of their duties. For if ever watchfulness was required by the clergy, it was at this time. '• It was in this very century that the darkness of the IMiddle Ages began to disappear. It was during this very reign of Innocent III that the gray da^vn of twilight gave the first prom- ise of modern intelligence and modern independence. . . . Nothing could be more evident than that this spir- it of independence, that was everywhere raising its men- acing front, if not either subjugated or controlled, would revolutionize the whole structure of society, both feudal and ecclesiastical. To control or subjugate the new spirit was therefore the great problem jjrcsented to the Church of the 13th century" (Prof. C. K. Adams, in the Neir-Eiiglander, July, 1870, p. 376). But if, by estab- lishing these mendicant orders, Innocent III had pro- vided himself with willing minions to sjiread over Eu- rope, and to purify the Church from "modern intelli- gence" and " modern independence," he had certainly, at the same time, created for himself an opposition which afterwards became a still greater danger to the hierar- chy itself, by the opposition which these mendicant or- ders created among the laity against the |)arochial cler- gy (compare Reichel, p. 576 sq.). It remains for us only to add one of the greatest achievements of Inno- cent's day, undertaken by him, no doubt, that nothing might be wanting to the completeness of his author- ity throughout the then known world, viz. the estab- lishment of the Latin kingdom at Jerusalem, and the Latin conquest of Constantinople, which Ffoidkes {Chi-it- fendom's Divisions, ii, 226), while yet a communicant of the Roman Catholic Church, does not hesitate to pronounce "one of the foulest acts ever perpetrated under the garb of religion in Christian times ; a sorry
INNOCENT III
592
INNOCENT V
connection, unquestionably, for one of his high position and commanding abilities." At the very commence- ment of liis pontificate, Innocent began writing epistles (209 of B. xi) to the patriarch of Constantinople, and other letters to the emperor Alexius, with the view of inducing the former to acknowledge the supremacy of the see of Kome ; and although he failed in this, he had, soon after, by an unexpected turn of events, the satis- faction of consecrating a prelate of the Western Church as patriarch of Constantinople ; but this by no means resulted, as Innocent most probably desired, in a remiion of churches or Christians ; it M-as only followed by an increase of Church revenues. The Crusaders, whom In- nocent had sent forth, as he thought, for the reconquest of the Holy Land, after taking Zara from the king of Hungary, for which they were severely censured by the pope, proceeded to attack Constantinople, and overthrew the Greek empire. All this was done without Inno- cent's sanction ; but when Baldwin wrote to him, ac- quainting him with the full success of the expedition. Innocent, in his answer to the marquis of Montferrat, forgave the Crusaders in consideration of the triumph which they had secured to the holy Church over the Eastern empire. Innocent sent also legates to Calo Jo- hannes, prince of the Bulgarians, who acknowledged his allegiance to the Roman see (lunocentii III Episfolce). One j'ear after the Lateran Council, " one of the latest acts, and by far the most momentous in the pontificate of Innocent," he was seized with a fatal illness, and died July 16, 121G, in the verj' prime of life, broken down by overwork, for " the work of the whole world was upon him, as may be seen from his letters, not one of which exhibits the impress of any other mind than his own." In Innocent III the Romish Church lost one of the most extraordinary characters, and in several respects the most illustrious, as he was certainly one of the most am- bitious she has ever honored with the pontifical dignity. His yiDntiricate may be fairly considered to have been the period of the highest power of the Roman see. At his death, "England and France, Germany and Italy, Norway and Hungary, all felt the power of Innocent ; Navarre, Castile, and Portugal acknowledged his sway ; even Constantinople owned his supremacy, and owned it to her cost" (Reichel,p. 247 ; compare Hallam, Middle Af/i's, vol. ii, pt. i, ch. vii, p. 199). His works, consisting principally of letters and sermons, and the remarkable treatise On the Misert/ of the Condition of Man, above alluded to, were published in two vols, iblio (Par. 1G82). See Baronius, Annales ; Vas;!, Tireriurium I]istor.-criti~ cnm ; Lannes, IJistoire du Pontifcat du Pajje Jnnoc. Ill (Paris, 1741, 12mo) ; Fabricius, Bill. Pat. med. et inf. alt. iv, 93 sq. ; History of the Christ. Church, in Encyclop. Metrop. vol. iii, ch. i ; Mosheim, Ch. Hist. cent, xii, pt. ii, chap, ii ; Neander, History of the Christian Reliqion and Church, iv, 43, 75, 173, 199," 207, 268, 269, 270, 272, 306, etc. ; IToefer, Konv. Binq. Ghier. xxv, 890 ; Bohringer, Kirrh, Chn^n In nin,irni>hin<,\i. 2, m\ ; Reichel, ^See ofh'inn, ;„ ih< Mi, Idle Af/rs { Lond. 1870, 8vo), p. 242 sq. ; Milnian, L<i/. Christ, (see Index) ; Bower, History of the Popes, vi, 183 sq. ; Wetzer u.Weltc, Kirchen-Lex. v, 631 sq. ; Knf/Hsh Cyclopredia, s. v. ; Chambers, Cycloprvdia, s. V. ; Wurtcr.ticsrhichte Inn. Ill n. seiner Zcitr/enossen (Hamburg. l.s:U-42, 4 vols.; 3d cd. 1845 sq.). (J.II.W.) Innocent III (h). Under this name we also find an anti-])oi)e in the Roman Church. He was a descend- ant of the Frangipani family, and is distinguished from the eminent pope of that name by the surname Landns. After the death of Hadrian he contested the succession of Alexander II, who succeeded in securing his person, and Innocent was imprisoned in the monastery Cava. Thus ended a schism which had lasted twenty years, under four successive rivals for the papal throne. (J. H.W.)