Innocent
III: The Papacy At Its Height
(By: William Tramel)
When one considers the church under the persecution of the Roman Empire and the church of the medieval period we see two starkly different entities. One with Christ as head (the early church) and the other with a man in the position of authority and it is into the latter that Innocent III is made pope.
Born in 1161 into a family with aristocratic lineage on his father’s side and Roman nobility on his mother’s side, Innocent was one of the most learned and powerful men of his day. He was made a cardinal-deacon by the age of twenty-nine and elected pope before he was forty even before he was ordained as a priest (Austin 191). Innocent’s noble heritage may be the underlying influence that drove him in his quest for supreme authority that marks his reign. Many mark the zenith of the papacy with Innocent’s reign (1198-1216) as pope (Cairns 231, Austin 191, and Mattox 194).
Innocent not only was a brilliant diplomat but was also the recipient of fortunate well-timed events (Walker 368). Had Henry VI lived past his early thirties the results of Innocent’s reign might have been different yet Henry VI died leaving his three-year-old son, Frederick II, as the next king. Anarchy became the order of the day. Soon after Henry the VI died so did Frederick’s mother who left the boy in the care of Innocent III. Innocent capitalized on this and became the virtual ruler throughout Western Europe, Spain, Norway, and England (Austin 191).
Innocent quickly took up the challenge of the rulers of the rising nation-states of France, England and of the Holy Roman Empire after he had ascended to the chair of Peter. The first victim of Innocent’s might was Philip Augustus of France who had forced French bishops to annul his first marriage so he could marry another. Innocent demanded that Philip take back his first wife and put away the new, but Philip refused to do so. Innocent promptly shut down all the churches in France forbidding the people from partaking of the seven sacraments except in certain situations. The people would not stand for this and they forced Philip to give into Innocent’s demands. By his action Innocent had forced the ruler of this new nation-state to fall under submission to his rule (Cairns 233).
Innocent utilized a very similar tactic on King John of England and as in the first the results were the same. At the pressure of the people king John was forced into subjection. This time was different for John was also made to acknowledge that his kingdom was just a vassal of the pope and agreed to pay a thousand marks a year to the pope (Cairns 233).
Innocent then went to the extent of claiming the right to set aside human actions since they were contaminated by sin and thus they then fell under his jurisdiction. Consequently he decreed an election of the German kingship null and void because his candidate had the “saner” vote even though it was not the majority (Dowley 263).
Innocent was the first to use the title “Vicar of Christ” and proclaimed that Peter and all his successors were “Left the governance not only of the church but of the whole world.” He considered that the office of the pope was semidivine and in a position between God and man (Austin 192). He must have failed to read or accept Paul's words to Timothy proclaiming that Jesus Himself held this position (I Timothy 2:5). Innocent also affirmed that he was Melchizedek, the priest-king who would bring a centralized Christian society into being (Austin 192). Again Innocent was trying to put himself in Christ position for the Hebrews writer explains that Jesus has fulfilled this position. He accepted as an established fact the theory that the pope was the supreme on earth and believed that kings and princes derived their authority from the pope. It is on this basis that he believed that he had the right to excommunicate or dispose any emperor on earth. He used a clever illustration of the sun and the moon to verify his position; in short the illustration states that God had set up to governing authorities the sun of the day and the moon of the night. The illustration continues that the sun is the greater since it receives it’s radiance from God while the moon receives its from the sun. His logic was that in like manner the pope received his power from God the secular authorities received theirs from the pope.
The Fourth Lateran Council, which is considered the most significant church council in the medieval period, was called by Innocent III (North 185, Dowely 263). This council seems to be the fitting climax of Innocent’s career for the assembly symbolized the mastery of the papacy over every feature in Latin Christendom. Innocent’s council made the teaching of the transubstantiation the dogma for the church and led to the shameful isolation of the Jews from society at large, even going as far as to make them wear a special badge. This segregation and mistreatment is just another indication of how far the church and been removed from the true church where prejudices and atrocities of this nature are not to be found.
Innocent III was many things but innocent he was not. His quest for power that was never meant to be his still has a rippling affect today in that the pope still interjects in world politics and even our own presidents have called the pope on sensitive issues. But Innocent’s greatest travesty was his formation of what later would be called the Inquisition. While heresy in any form must be faced and defeated by the church the church does not have the right to murder those who are errant. Innocent III declared heresy and capital crime. The bloody warfare was climaxed by the massacre at Beziers where the papal legate said, kill them all, for God knows his own and 20,000 men women and children lost their lives. While many were killed others were maimed and disfigured having their ears and noses cut off. This violence was spurred on when Innocent III granted absolution of all sins and acquisition of new lands to those who fought against the heretics. Innocent provided the greatest motivation there could be the freedom from the debt to God and wealth here on this earth, and because of this many people were slain.
Innocent III thought himself as high enough to play God, to alter the life of men at his will to direct nation and to take lives as he willed. There has probably never been a greater adversary to Christianity than Innocent III.
Bibliography
Austin, Bill. Austin’s Topical History of Christianity. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1987.
Carnes, Earle E. Christianity Through The Centuries. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1967
Dowely, Tim. Introduction to The History of Christianity. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995.
North, James B. From Pentecost To the Present. Joplin, Missouri:College Press Publishing Company, 1993
Mattox, F.W. The Eternal Kingdom. Delight, Arkansas: Gospel Light Publishing Company, 1961.
Walker, Williston, Richard Norris, David Lotz and Randy Handy.
A History of the Christian Church. New York: Scribner, 1985.