Innocent III (pope)
1161 – 1216 Italian Pope (1198-1216)
Pope at the height of medieval papal power, who called the Fourth Lateran Council.
- Religion
- Catholic; Bishop of Rome
- Affiliations
- The papacy
Innocent III raised the papacy to its greatest height, treating kings as his vassals and calling himself less than God but greater than man. He forced King John of England and other rulers to submit, launched the Fourth Crusade and the crusade against the Cathars in southern France, and approved the new orders of Francis and Dominic. His Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 defined key doctrines including transubstantiation and required yearly confession.
In the timeline
- 1179 – 1215 The Lateran Councils impose the Jewish badge and segregation mentioned
- 1198 – 1216 Innocent III and the height of papal power central figure
- 1202 – 1204 Fourth Crusade called it
- 1204 The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople mentioned
- 1209 – 1229 The Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars mentioned
- 1215 Fourth Lateran Council convened it
- 1215 The Fourth Lateran Council orders Jews to wear distinguishing marks mentioned