Editing Pope Innocent III (section)

===Crusades and suppression of [[heresy]]===

====Fourth Crusade====
Pope Innocent III spent the majority of his tenure as Pope (1198–1216) preparing for a great crusade on the [[Holy Land]]. His first attempt was the [[Fourth Crusade]] (1202–1204), which he decreed by the papal bull ''[[Post miserabile]]'' in 1198.<ref>{{cite book|last=Packard|first=Sidney Raymond|title=Europe and the Church under Innocent III|url=https://archive.org/details/europechurchunde0000pack_p12|url-access=registration|year=1927|publisher=H. Holt|location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Innocent III|first=Pope|title=On the Misery of the Human Condition. De Miseria Humane Conditionis, trans. Donald Roy Howard|year=1969|publisher=Bobbs-Merrill|location=Indianapolis}}</ref> Unlike past popes, Innocent III displayed interest in leading the crusade himself, rather than simply instigating it and allowing secular leaders to organize the expedition according to their aspirations.<ref name="Cheney"/>

Innocent III's first order of business in preaching the crusade was to send missionaries to every Catholic state to endorse the campaign. He sent [[Peter of Capua the Elder]] to the kings of France and England with specific instructions to convince them to settle their differences, resulting in a truce of five years between the two nations, beginning in 1199. The intent of the truce was not to allow the two kings to lead the crusade, but rather to free their resources to assist the Crusade. For the army's leadership, Innocent aimed his pleas at the knights and nobles of Europe,<ref name=Cheney /> succeeding in France, where many lords answered the pope's call, including the army's two eventual leaders, [[Theobald III of Champagne]] and [[Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat]]. The pope's calls to action were not received with as much enthusiasm in England or Germany, and the expedition became mainly a French affair.<ref name=Clayton>{{cite book|last=Clayton|first=Joseph|title=Pope Innocent III and His Times|year=1941|publisher=Bruce Pub.|location=Milwaukee}}</ref>

The Fourth Crusade was an expensive endeavor. Innocent III raised funds with a new approach: requiring all clergy to donate one-fortieth of their income. This marked the first time a pope ever imposed a direct tax on the clergy. He faced many difficulties collecting this tax, including corrupt tax collectors and disregard in England. He also sent envoys to [[John, King of England|King John]] of England and [[Philip II of France|King Philip]] of France, who pledged to contribute to the campaign,{{Citation needed|date=May 2018}} and John also declared his support for the clerical tax in his kingdom. The Crusaders also contributed funds: Innocent declared that those who took the crusader's vow but could no longer fulfill it could be released by a contribution of funds. The pope put Archbishop [[Hubert Walter]] in charge of collecting these dues.<ref name=Cheney /><ref>{{cite book|last=Migne|first=Jacques Paul|title=Patrologia Latina. Vol. 214–217|year=1849–1855|publisher=S.I.|location=Paris}}</ref>

At the onset of the crusade, the intended destination was Egypt, as the Christians and Muslims were under a truce at the time.<ref name=Clayton /> An agreement was made between the French Crusaders and the Venetians. The Venetians would supply vessels and supplies for the Crusaders, who would pay 85,000 [[Mark (currency)|marks]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Villhardouin|first=Geoffrey De|title=Memoirs or Chronicle of the Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople, trans. Frank T. Marzials|year=1908|publisher=J.M. Dent|location=London}}</ref> Innocent approved under two conditions: a representative of the pope must accompany the crusade, and the attack on other Christians was strictly forbidden.

The French failed to raise sufficient funds for the payment of the Venetians. As a result, the Crusaders diverted the crusade to the Christian [[Dalmatia]]n city of [[Zadar]] in 1202 at the will of the Venetian [[Enrico Dandolo]] to subsidize the debt. This diversion was adopted without the consent of Innocent III, who threatened excommunication to any who took part. Most French ignored the threat and therefore were excommunicated by Innocent III, but soon were forgiven. A second diversion occurred when the crusaders engaged in the [[sack of Constantinople]], capital of the [[Byzantine Empire]], at the behest of the exiled prince Alexios. This diversion was taken without any knowledge by Innocent III and he did not learn of it until after the city had been plundered and Alexios was crowned as [[Alexios IV Angelos]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Elliott-Binns|first=Leonard|title=Innocent III|year=1931|publisher=Archon|location=Hamden, Conn}}</ref>

Innocent III was heavily opposed to an attack on Constantinople and sent many letters warning the crusaders. He excommunicated the crusaders who attacked Byzantine cities, but could not stop them. One of the pope's goals had been to persuade [[Alexios III Angelos]], uncle of the exiled prince, to participate in the crusade. Subsequently, Alexios IV was overthrown and [[Baldwin I, Latin Emperor|Baldwin I]] was crowned king of the new [[Latin Empire]], which lasted for the next sixty years.<ref>{{cite book|last=Roscher|first=Helmut|title=Papst Innocenz III. Und Die Kreuzzuge|year=1969|publisher=Vandenhoeck U. Ruprecht|location=Gottingen}}</ref>

====Albigensian Crusade====
[[File:Albigensian Crusade 01.jpg|thumb|280px|left|Innocent III launched the [[Albigensian Crusade]] against the Cathars.]]

Pope Innocent III was also a zealous protector of the Catholic faith and a strenuous opponent of so-called [[Heresy in Christianity|heretics]]. His chief activity was turned against the [[Albigenses]] whose expansion he viewed as a mortal threat to Catholicism.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Catholic Encyclopedia : Pope Innocent III |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08013a.htm |access-date=2024-02-02 |website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref> They were especially numerous in a few cities of Northern and Southern France. During the first year of his pontificate, Innocent sent the two [[Cistercian]] monks Rainer and Guido to the Albigenses in France to preach to them the true doctrines of the Catholic faith and dispute with them on controverted topics of religion. The two Cistercian missionaries were soon followed by [[Diego of Osma|Diego, Bishop of Osma]], then by [[Saint Dominic]] and the two papal legates, [[Peter of Castelnau]] and Raoul.

When, however, these missionaries were ridiculed and despised by the Albigenses, and the papal legate Castelnau was assassinated in 1208, Innocent resorted to force. He ordered the bishops of Southern France to put under interdict the participants in the murder and all the towns that gave shelter to them. He was especially incensed against [[Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse|Count Raymond of Toulouse]] who had previously been excommunicated by the murdered legate and whom the pope suspected as the instigator of the murder. The count protested his innocence and submitted to the pope but the pope placed no further trust in him. He called upon the King of France, [[Philip II Augustus of France|Philip II]] to raise an army for the suppression of the Albigenses. Under the leadership of [[Simon_de_Montfort,_5th_Earl_of_Leicester|Simon de Montfort]] a cruel campaign ensued against the Albigenses which, despite the protest of Innocent, soon turned into a war of conquest.<ref name="catholic.encyclopedia.ott.michael.1910"/> During the siege of [[Béziers]], the [[Arnaud Amalric|leader]] of the crusader assault famously but dubiously declared upon being asked how to distinguish [[Cathars]] from [[Catholics]] at the besieged town "[[Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius]]",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gahom.ehess.fr/relex/dialogusmiraculorum1/CdH-Dialog.mir.-Vol1/CdH-Dialog.mir.-Volume1-308.html |title=Dialogus Miraculorum |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220034410/http://gahom.ehess.fr/relex/dialogusmiraculorum1/CdH-Dialog.mir.-Vol1/CdH-Dialog.mir.-Volume1-308.html |archivedate=20 February 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Berlioz|first=Jacques|title="Tuez-les tous, Dieu reconnaîtra les siens" – La croisade contre les Albigeois vue par Césaire de Heisterbach|year=1994|publisher=Éditions Loubatières|location=Portet-sur-Garonne}}</ref> which translates as: "Slay them all, God will recognize his own." This statement is often cited as "Kill them all and let God sort them out."

The [[Albigensian Crusade]] led to the deaths of approximately 20,000 men, women and children, Cathar and Catholic alike, decimating the number of practising Cathars and diminishing the region's distinct culture.<ref name=Cheney>{{cite book|last=Cheney|first=Christopher R.|author-link = C. R. Cheney|title=Innocent III and England|year=1976|publisher=Anton Hiersemann|location=Stuttgart}}</ref> The conflict took on a political flavor, directed not only against the heretics, but also the nobility of [[Toulouse]] and vassals of the [[Crown of Aragon]], and finally brought the region firmly under the control of the king of France. [[Peter II of Aragon|King Peter II of Aragon]], Count of Barcelona, was directly involved in the conflict, and was killed in the course of the [[Battle of Muret]] in 1213. The conflict largely ended with the [[Treaty of Paris (1229)|Treaty of Paris of 1229]], in which the integration of the [[Occitania|Occitan]] territory in the French crown was agreed upon.