178 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1198-1216.
Council by the pious concern of the priest. To his succes sors he bequeathed a continent united in allegiance to the Holy See and a Church strengthened in its doctrinal unity. Notwithstanding his great achievements combining mental force and moral purpose, the Church has found no place for Innocent among its canonized saints.
The following are a few testimonies to his greatness : — Gregorovius declares1 that, although he was
"Not a creative genius like Gregory I. and Gregory VII., he was one of the most important figures of the Middle Ages, a man of earnest, sterling, austere intellect, a consummate ruler, a statesman of penetrating judgment, a highminded priest filled with religious fervor, and at the same time with an unbounded ambition and appalling force of will, a true idealist on the papal throne, yet an entirely practical monarch and a cool-headed lawyer. . . . No pope has ever had so lofty and yet so real consciousness of his power as Inno cent III., the creator and destroyer of emperors and kings."
Ranke says :2 —
"A superstitious reverence such asFriedrich Hurter renders to him in his remarkable book I am not at all able to accord. Thus much, however, is cer tain. He stands in the foremost rank of popes, having world-wide significance. The task which he placed before himself he was thoroughly equal to. Leav ing out a few dialectic subtleties, one will not find in him anything that is really small. In him was fulfilled the transition of the times."
Baur gives this opinion : a —
u With Innocent III. the papacy reached its height and in no other period of its long history did it enjoy such an undisturbed peace and such a glorious development of its power and splendor. He was distinguished as no other in this high place not only by all the qualities of the ruler but by personal vir tues, by high birth and also by mind, culture, and learning." 4
1 V : 102 sq. Gibbon, ch. LIX, after acknowledging Innocent's talents and virtues, has this criticism of two of the most far-reaching acts of his reign : " Innocent may boast of the two most signal triumphs over sense and humanity, the establishment of transubstantiation, and the origin of the In quisition."
2 Weltgeschicht?, viii : 334.
3 Geschichte des Mittelalters, p. 220.
4 For judgments of mediaeval authors, see Potthast, Begesta, 461. The contemporaneous author of the Gesta Innocently Migne, 214, p. xviii., thus describes Innocent : ' ' Fuit vir perspicacis ingenii et tenacis memoriae, in divinis et humanis litteris eruditus, sermone tain vulgari quam litterali disertus, exercitatus in cantilena et psalniodia, statura mediocris et decorus aspectu,
§ 41. THE FOURTH LATERAN COUNCIL. 179
Hagenbach : l —
" Measured by the standard of the papacy, Innocent is beyond controversy the greatest of all the popes. Measured by the eternal law of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that which here seems great and mighty in the eyes of the world, seems little in the kingdom of heaven, and amongst those things which call forth wonder and admiration, only that will stand which the Spirit of God, who never wholly withdraws from the Church, wrought in his soul. How far such operation went on, and with what result, who but God can know ? He alone is judge."
medius inter prodigalitatem et avaritiam, sed in eleemosynis et victualibus magis largus, et in aliis magis parcus, nisi cum necessitatis articulus exigebat severus contra rebelles et contumaces, sed benignus erga humiles et devotos ; fortis et stabilis, magnanimus et astutus ; fidei defensor, et hseresis expugnator ; in justitia rigidus, sed in misericordia pius ; humilis in prosperis, et patiens in adversis ; naturse tamen aliquantulum indignantis, sed facile ignoscentis."
1 Kir cheng eschichte des Mittelalters, ch. XIX.
CHAPTER VI.
THE PAPACY FROM THE DEATH OF INNOCENT III. TO BONIFACE VIII. 1216-1294.
LITERATURE: The Chronicles of this period, e.g. M. PARIS, ed. by LUARD — the Franciscan SALIMBENE, ed. by A. BERTANI, Parma, 1857 ; Engl. trans, by COULTON, Loud., 1906. — RICHARD A ST. GERMANO : chronicon rerum per orbem gestarnm, 1189-1243 ; the chronicon Placentinum and chron. de rebus in Italia gestis, ed. by HUILLARD-BREIIOLLES, Paris, 1856. For Honorius III., Opera omnia, ed. by HORAY in Medii cevi bibliotheca patristica, I.- V., Paris, 1879-1883, and Regesta, ed. by the order of Leo XIII., by P. PKESUTTI, Rome, 1888, 1 vol. For Gregory IX., Opera omnia, Antwerp, 1572. Fifteen volumes of Gregory's letters are in MS. in the Vatican : Les Registres de Gregoire IX., 1227-1235, Recueil des bulles publiees tVapres les MSS. originaux du Vatican par L. AUVRAY, Paris, 1896. For Innocent IV., Registres cT Innocent IV., ed. by E. BERGER, 3 vols. Paris, 1884-1897. — The Regesta of POTTIIAST and BOHMER. — Lives of the Popes, in Muratori (two), and by PLATINA. — MANSI : Councils, XXIII. C. HOFLER : Kaiser Friedrich II., Munich, 1844. — ED. WINKEL- MANN : Gesch. Kaisers Friedrichs II., etc., 2 vols., Berlin and Reval, 1863- 1865. — T. L. KINGTON : Hist, of Fred. II., Emp. of the Romans, 2 vols., London, 1862. — F. W. SCHIRRMACHER : Kaiser Fried. II., 3 vols. Getting., 1859-1865. — HUILLARD-BREIIOLLES : Historia diplomatica Friderici II., etc., 6 vols., two parts each, Paris, 1852-1861. A great work. Vol. I. gives the life of Frederick, the other volumes documents. — HUILLARD- BREHOLLES : Vie et correspondance de la Vigne, ministre de Vempereur Fred. IT., Paris, 1866. —E. WINKELMANN : Kaiser Friedrich II., 2 vols. Leipzig, 1896 sq. — P. BALAX : Storia di Gregorio IX. « di suoi tempi, 3 vols., Modena, 1872 sq. — CHAMBRIER : Die letzten Hohenstaufen u.das Papstthum, Basel, 1876. — RAUMER : Gesch. der Hohenstaufen, 5th ed., Leipzig, 1878. Vol. V.— J. ZELLER : Uemp. Fred. II. et la chute de Vemp. Germ, du moyen age, Paris, 1885. — J. FELTEN : Papst Gregor IX., Freib. im Br., 1886. —Uoo BALZANI : The Popes and the Hohenstaufen, London, 1888. — C. KOHLER : D. Verhdltniss Fried. II. zu den Pdpsten seiner Zeit., Breslau, 1888. — J. CLAUSEN : Papst Honorius III., Bonn, 1895. — II. FISIIE.R : The Medieval Empire, 2 vols. London, 1898. — F. FEHLING: Fried. II. und die romischen Kardinale, Berlin, 1901. — H. KRABBO : Die Besetzung der deiitschen Bisthumer unter der Regierung Kaiser Fried. II., 1212-1250, Berlin, 1901. —Tii. FRANZ: Der grow