Editing Pope Innocent III (section)

===Involvement in Imperial elections===
Innocent was concerned that the marriage of Henry VI and Constance of Sicily gave the Hohenstaufens a claim to all the Italian peninsula except for the Patrimony, which would be surrounded by Imperial territory.<ref name=Muldoon/>

After the death of [[Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Henry VI]], who had recently also conquered the [[Kingdom of Sicily]], the succession became [[German throne dispute|disputed]]: as Henry's son [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick]] was still a small child, the partisans of the [[Hohenstaufen|Staufen]] dynasty elected Henry's brother, [[Philip, Duke of Swabia]], king in March 1198, whereas the princes opposed to the Staufen dynasty elected [[Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto, Duke of Brunswick]], of the [[House of Welf]]. King [[Philip II of France]] supported Philip's claim, whereas [[Richard I of England|King Richard I of England]] supported his nephew Otto.<ref name="Comyn, pg. 275">Comyn, p.&nbsp;275</ref>

In 1201, the pope openly espoused the side of Otto IV, whose family had always been opposed to the house of Hohenstaufen.<ref name="Bryce, pg. 206">Bryce, p.&nbsp;206</ref>{{quote|It is the business of the pope to look after the interests of the Roman empire, since the empire derives its origin and its final authority from the papacy; its origin, because it was originally transferred from Greece by and for the sake of the papacy; ... its final authority, because the emperor is raised to his position by the pope who blesses him, crowns him and invests him with the empire. ...Therefore, since three persons have lately been elected king by different parties, namely the youth [Frederick, son of Henry VI], Philip [of Hohenstaufen, brother of Henry VI], and Otto [of Brunswick, of the Welf family], so also three things must be taken into account in regard to each one, namely: the legality, the suitability and the expediency of his election. ...Far be it from us that we should defer to man rather than to God, or that we should fear the countenance of the powerful. ...On the foregoing grounds, then, we decide that the youth should not at present be given the empire; we utterly reject Philip for his manifest unfitness and we order his usurpation to be resisted by all ... since Otto is not only himself devoted to the church, but comes from devout ancestors on both sides, ... therefore we decree that he ought to be accepted and supported as king, and ought to be given the crown of empire, after the rights of the Roman church have been secured.|''Papal Decree on the choice of a German King'', 1201<ref name="MS"/>}}

The confusion in the Empire allowed Innocent to drive out the imperial feudal lords installed by Emperor Henry VI from [[Ancona]], [[Spoleto]] and [[Perugia]].<ref name="Comyn, pg. 277">Comyn, p.&nbsp;277</ref> On 3 July 1201, the [[papal legate]], [[Cardinal-Bishop]] Guido of [[Palestrina]], announced in [[Köln Cathedral]] that Otto IV had been approved by the pope as Roman king and threatened with [[excommunication]] all those who refused to acknowledge him. At the same time, Innocent encouraged the cities in [[March of Tuscany|Tuscany]] to form a league called the [[League of San Genesio]] against German imperial interests in Italy, and they placed themselves under Innocent's protection.<ref name="Comyn, pg. 277"/>

In May 1202, Innocent issued the decree ''Per Venerabilem'', addressed to [[William VIII of Montpellier]], explaining his thinking on the relation between the papacy and the Empire. This decree was afterwards embodied in the ''[[Corpus Juris Canonici]]'' and contained the following items:
* The German princes have the right to elect the king, who is afterwards to become emperor. This right was given by the [[Apostolic See]] when it transferred the [[dignitas (Roman concept)|imperial dignity]] from the Greeks to the Germans in the person of [[Charlemagne]].
* The right to investigate and decide whether a king thus elected is worthy of the imperial dignity belongs to the pope, whose office it is to anoint, consecrate, and crown him; otherwise it might happen that the pope would be obliged to [[anointing|anoint]], [[consecration|consecrate]], and crown a king who was excommunicated, a [[heresy|heretic]], or a [[paganism|pagan]].
* If the pope finds that the king the princes have elected is unworthy of the imperial dignity, the princes must elect a new king or, if they refuse, the pope will confer the imperial dignity upon another king because the Church requires a patron and defender.
* In case of a double election, the pope must exhort the princes to agree. If, after a due interval, they have not reached an agreement, they must ask the pope to arbitrate. If this fails, the pope must decide in favour of one of the claimants. The pope's decision need not be based on the greater legality of either election but the qualifications of the claimants.<ref name="catholic.encyclopedia.ott.michael.1910"/>

Despite papal support, Otto could not oust his rival Philip before the latter was murdered in a private feud. Otto's rule was undisputed, and he reneged on his earlier promises. He set his sights on reestablishing imperial power in Italy, claiming even the Kingdom of Sicily. Given the papal interests in keeping the Holy Roman Empire and Sicily apart, Innocent now supported his ward, King Frederick of Sicily, to resist Otto's advances and restore the Staufen dynasty to the Holy Roman Empire. Frederick was elected by Staufen partisans.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1998|title=Innocent, III |url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1631003270/UHIC?u=aubu98092&xid=db6e947a |journal=Encyclopedia of World Biography |via=Gale}} {{registration required}}</ref>

The conflict was decided by the [[Battle of Bouvines]] on 27 July 1214, which pitted Otto and [[John, King of England]] and the [[Angevin Empire]] against [[Philip II of France|Philip II]] of [[Capetian dynasty|Capetian France]]. The French defeated Otto, and he lost all influence. He died on 19 May 1218, leaving Frederick II as undisputed emperor. King John was forced to acknowledge the Pope as his feudal lord and accept [[Stephen Langton]] as [[Archbishop of Canterbury]].<ref name="autogenerated1994">Powell, James M. ''Innocent III: Vicar of Christ or Lord of the World?'' Washington: Catholic University of American Press, 2nd ed., 1994. {{ISBN|0-8132-0783-5}}</ref> In his turn, Frederick II would later become a bitter opponent of the papacy once his empire was secure. The victory of the Capetians in this battle permitted the [[Invasion of Normandy by Philip II of France]] and ended the Angevin Empire.