Papa et pecunia: Innocent III’s combination of reform and fiscal policy to finance crusades

Abstract

This article examines the fiscal policies of Pope Innocent III throughout his pontificate, culminating in the canons of the Fourth Lateran Council. The aim of this analysis is to illustrate that not only was Innocent more fiscally minded than his predecessors, but that he also attempted to utilize fiscal policy as a tool for facilitating the crusade movement. Innocent adapted the fiscal tools of his predecessors while inventing several of his own. These tools included streamlined census-taking, income taxation, crusader vow redemptions/commutations, expanding crusade indulgences, the collection of alms, trade embargoes, clerical reform and more. These tools were designed to aid crusade endeavours, either directly or indirectly, and through crusading achieve the salvation of Christian souls.

Keywords:

• Innocent III
• Fourth Lateran Council
• crusade
• indulgence
• alms
• tax

Notes

1. Tanner, Decrees, 187–203. For simony, see Lat. I.1 and Lat. II.1–2. For lay appropriations, see Lat. I.8, 12, and 18 and Lat. II.5 and 10.

2. Lopez, Commercial Revolution.

3. Yunck, ‘Economic Conservatism’, 335, 350.

4. Little, ‘Pride Goes before Avarice’, 21.

5. Bloomfield, The Seven Deadly Sins, 95.

6. Tanner, Decrees, 197 and 202.

7. Friedberg, Corpus iuris canonici, I, D. 35, c. 1 and D. 44, c. 2–4.

8. Tanner, Decrees, 214–9, cc. 7 (Cum in ecclesiae), 10 (Monachi non pretio), and 15 (Cum in officiis).

9. Ibid., 200.

10. Friedberg, Corpus iuris canonici, I, C. 14, qq. 3 and 4. See also McLaughlin, ‘Teaching of the Canonists’, 95.

11. Soria, ‘Alexander III and France’, 194.

12. Tanner, Decrees, 225.

13. 1Comp 5.15.1–5 (X 5.19.1–5), 6–7 (X –), 8–11 (X 5.19.6–9).

14. 1Comp 5.15.3 (X 5.19.4) (Super eo vero).

15. 1Comp 5.15.1 (Plures clericorum – X 5.19.1), 4 (Quoniam non solum – X 5.19.2), 6 (Nihilominus tibi precipimus), 7 (Ex transmissa conquestione); Duggan, ‘Master of Decretals’, 410.

16. 1Comp 5.15.1 (X 5.19.1).

17. 1Comp 5.15.10 (X 5.19.8) (Conquestus est nobis); Pflugk-Harttung, Acta Pontificium Romanorum Inedita, I, 240 (Ex transmissa vestra).

18. PL 200.196 (Constitutus in nostra praesentia); McLaughlin, ‘Teaching of the Canonists’, 99.

19. PL 200.125–6 (Super illa sollictudine); McLaughlin, ‘Teaching of the Canonists’, 110.

20. Fabre, Le liber censuum, 7 vols.

21. Martini, ‘Innocenzo III’, 312.

22. Powell, Deeds, xii–xiii.

23. PL 214. cap. VIII, cols. xxi–xxii.

24. PL 214. cap. XLI, col. lxxx.

25. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, I:92 (Auctor novi et), 93 (Per alias litteras) and 99 (Serenitatem regiam volumus). For this source, all numbers are document numbers, not page numbers.

26. Ibid., I:448 (In eo sumus) and 449 (Sicut nobis per); PL 214.424–5.

27. Cheney, Innocent III and England, 109–10.

28. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, I:399 (Quam perniciosum sit); PL 214.376.

29. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, I:326 (Sacra docente scriptura – 8 August 1198) and 530 (Inter corporalia et – 21 January 1199); PL 214.291–3; PL 214.486–9.

30. Stubbs, Rogeri De Houedene, IV, 78–9.

31. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, VII:229 (Anno septimo pontificatus); PL 215.550–1.

32. PL 216.876–8 and 878–80 (Joannes Dei gratia).

33. Lunt, Papal Revenues, II, 62–4.

34. Powell, Anatomy of a Crusade, 102–3; Bird, ‘Peter the Chanter’s Circle’, 503.

35. Stubbs, Gervase of Canterbury, I, 198–9.

36. Lunt, ‘Ordinance of 1184’, 240–2.

37. Stubbs, Rogeri de Houedene, II, 335–7; H. François Delaborde, Oeuvres de Rigord, I, 88–90.

38. Pflugk-Harttung, Acta Pontificium Romanorum Inedita, III, 363–4; Roscher, Papst Innocenz III, 76–7.

39. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, I:336 (Post miserabile); PL 214.308–12.

40. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, II:258(270) (Graves orientalis terrae); PL 214.828–32.

41. PL 214.830.

42. PL 214. cap. LXXXIV, cols. cxxxii–cxxxviii.

43. Stubbs, Radulfi de Diceto, II, 168–9.

44. Lunt, Papal Revenues, I, 120.

45. PL 214. cap. LXXXIV, cols. cxxxii–cxxxviii.

46. Stubbs, Rogeri de Houedene, IV, 165–7 (Iustus et misericors); Cheney and Cheney, Letters, 52 #318.

47. Cheney, ‘Master Philip’, 347 (Tanta est humane) and 349 (Miramur plurimum et); Cheney and Cheney, Letters, 122 #738 and 124 #752.

48. Stubbs, Walteri de Coventria, II, 194–5.

49. Stenton, Pipe Roll 48, 17, 41, 138, 144, 172, 182, 187, 198, 273, 277.

50. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, X:149 (Inveterata pravitatis haereticae); PL 215.1246–8.

51. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, XI:153(158) (Ut contra crudelissimos); PL 215.1469–70.

52. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, XII:87 (Ut hii qui); PL 216.98–9.

53. Martini, ‘Innocenzo III’, 320.

54. Kay, ‘The Albigensian Twentieth’, 307–15; Bird, ‘Peter the Chanter’s Circle’, 503.

55. Lunt, Papal Revenues, I, 119.

56. Substitute crusading itself is a fertile topic for discussion, but mostly lies beyond the scope of this article.

57. Pflugk-Harttung, Acta Pontificium Romanorum Inedita, I, 183–4 (Milites templi Jerosolimitani).

58. Stubbs, Gervase of Canterbury, I, 199. See also Vincent, ‘Beyond Becket’, 293. It is unclear whether this policy came directly from Alexander III or was initiated by Henry II.

59. PL 202.1539–42 (Audita tremendi); Pflugk-Harttung, Acta Pontificium Romanorum Inedita, III, 363–4 (Quam gravis et); Lunt, Papal Revenues, I, 116; Roscher, Papst Innocenz III, 76.

60. X 3.34.1–2 (De peregrinationis quoque and Venientis ad nos).

61. Riley-Smith, What Were the Crusades?, 45.

62. Ibid., 45–6; Lunt, Papal Revenues, I, 112.

63. Baldwin, Masters, Princes, and Merchants; Bird, ‘Peter the Chanter’s Circle’.

64. Bird, ‘Peter the Chanter’s Circle’, 506–8.

65. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, I:336; PL 214.308–12.

66. X 3.24.8–9 (Quod semper his and Ex multa tuae); Cheney, Innocent III and England, 249–53.

67. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, XI:25(26,27) (In eundem fere) and 26(28) (Si tua regalis); PL 215.1358–9; Gomez, ‘Battle of Las Navas’, 88.

68. PL 216.514 (Recepimus litteras dolore); O’Callaghan, ‘Innocent III’, 329; Gomez, ‘Battle of Las Navas’, 87.

69. PL 216.817–21 and 822–3.

70. Quia vero subsidium terrae sanctae multum impediri vel retardari contingeret si ante susceptionem crucis examinari quemlibet oporteret an esset idoneus et sufficiens ad huiusmodi votum personaliler prosequendum, concedimus ut, regularibus personis exceptis, suscipiant quicunque voluerint signum crucis; ita quod cum urgens necessitas aut evideus utilitas postulaverit, votum ipsum de apostolico possit mandato commutari aut redimi vel differri. PL 216.819–20.

71. Roscher, Papst Innocenz III, 279–80.

72. Bird, ‘Peter the Chanter’s Circle’, 509.

73. Ibid., 508–9.

74. Andrea, ‘The Devastatio Constantinopolitana’, 132, 141; Maleczek, Petrus Capuanus, 136; Queller and Madden, The Fourth Crusade, 48.

75. Bird, ‘Reform or Crusade?’, 172–3; Powell, Anatomy of a Crusade, 21.

76. Tanner, Decrees, 245 (Omnes utriusque sexus); Foreville, Latran, 247; Powell, Anatomy of a Crusade, 20.

77. … per eleemosynam maculas peccatorum eliminat, et sordes abluit vitiorum… PL 217.745.

78. Huius quoque remissionis volumus esse participes, iuxta quantitatem subsidii et devotionis affectum, omnes qui ad subventionem ipsius terra, de bonis suis congrue ministrabunt. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, II:258(270); PL 214.831.

79. Floyer and Hamilton, Catalogue of Manuscripts, 47 (Et quantum ad deum – 12 August 1202); Cheney and Semple, Selected Letters, 46; Cheney and Cheney, Letters, 70 #433.

80. PL 214. cap. LXXXIV, cols. cxxxii–cxxxviii; Bolton, ‘Hearts Not Purses’, 130.

81. Lecoy de La Marche, Anecdotes historiques, 79; translated in Tugwell, Early Dominicans, 87. This anecdote concerns Bishop Diego of Osma.

82. PL 216.822–3.

83. PL 216.886–7 (Venereabilis frater noster – 20 June 1,213); Cheney, ‘Cistercian Tithe-Paying’, 148–50.

84. Volumus insuper, ut ipsorum hereticorum bona omnia publicentur. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, X:149; PL 215.1, 246–8; Rist, ‘Salvation’, 100.

85. PL 180.1064–6; translated in Riley-Smith, Idea and Reality, 57–9.

86. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, X:190 (Ut esset Cain – 17 January 1208); PL 215.1291; Baldwin, Masters, Princes, and Merchants, 299.

87. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, V:32–6(33–7); VI:15; VII:213; X:61, 92, 204; XI:153(158).

88. … prius tamen deductis usuris quarum solutio vitari non possit… Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, II:258(70); PL 214.829.

89. … ut debitores qui alieno aere tenentur, a creditoribus suis cessantibus interim exspectentur usuriis quandiu ibi pro negotiofidei laborabunt … Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, XI:10(11) (Cum a catholicis); PL 215.1348. See also Moore, ‘Innocent III and Usury’, 66.

90. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, XI:58(62) (Cum iuxta canonicas); PL 215.1380–1.

91. X 3.20.1; Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, IX: 10 (Insinuatione tibi presentium – 1 March 1206); McLaughlin, ‘Teaching of the Canonists’, 127.

92. … frequenter dotis fructus non sufficient ad onera matrimonii supportanda. X 5.19.16 (Salubriter); X 4.20.7 (Per vestras nobis – 8 March 1206); Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, IX:13; McLaughlin, ‘Teaching of the Canonists’, 131–4.

93. … mutuanda, etiam sub usuris … Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, V:84(85) (Gaudemus in Domino); PL 214.1072; Moore, ‘Innocent III and Usury’, 69.

94. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, I:326 and 530; PL 214.291–3 and 486–9; Stubbs, Rogeri De Houedene, IV, 78–9.

95. Bird, ‘Reform or Crusade?’, 182.

96. Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum Nova, vol. XXII, cc. 763–6 and 817–54; Baldwin, Masters, Princes, and Merchants, 311; Brundage, Medieval Canon Law, 180–3.

97. Tanner, Decrees, 265–6.

98. … si…Iudaei a christianis graves et immoderatas usuras extorserint, christianroum eis participium subtrahatur … Tanner, Decrees, 265.

99. Tanner, Decrees, 200 and 223. Lat. II.13 outlawed usury in all forms, without exception.

100. McLaughlin, ‘Teaching of the Canonists’, 99.

101. Quanto amplius christiana religio ab exactione compescitur usurarum, tanto gravies super his Iudaeorum perfidia inolescit… Tanner, Decrees, 265.

102. Lunt, Papal Revenues, I, 51.

103. Tanner, Decrees, 267–71.

104. Garufi, Chronica, 63; translated in Moore, Pope Innocent III, 231–2.

105. Tanner, Decrees, 249–50.

106. Ibid., 218–9.

107. Ibid., 254.

108. Ibid., 218–9 and 255.

109. Ibid., 259–61.

110. See Duggan, ‘Conciliar Law 1123–1215’; García y García, ‘The Fourth Lateran Council’. These two works were instrumental in the identification of the decretal sources, from which many of these canons borrowed phrases or precedents.

111. See Cheney, ‘Cistercian Tithe-Paying’, 147–8.

112. Garufi, Chronica, 63.

113. Acts 8:9–24. The term simony comes from the story of Simon Magus who attempted to purchase priestly powers from St Peter. See also 2 Kings 5:20–7. The story of Giezi exemplifies the sin of clerical greed, though in an ancient Jewish context.

114. Tanner, Decrees, 214–5 and 264–5.

115. Ibid., 217 and 264–5.

116. Ibid., 243.

117. Ibid., 197.

118. Tanner, Decrees, 250.

119. Ibid., 213–4.

120. Ibid., 251.

121. Ibid., 263.

122. Yunck, ‘Economic Conservatism’, 334–5; Bolton, ‘Hearts not Purses’, 142–3.

123. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, VI:81, 243(243), VII:165, X:68, XII:67, XIII:88; PL 214.903–5; PL 216.408–9. Bolton, ‘Hearts not Purses’, 129–32; Powell, Anatomy of a Crusade, 22.

124. Lecoy de La Marche, Anecdotes historiques, 79; translated in Tugwell, Early Dominicans, 87.

125. X 3.34.8–9; Bird (et al.), Crusade and Christendom, 49–52.

126. Ut aulem operum exhibitione monstretis vos portare in cordibus vestris stigmata Jesu Christi … PL 216.822–3.

127. Quippe dum layci uident delinquere clericos, et ipsi eorum exemplo ad similia prolabuntur. Garufi, Chronica, 63; translated in Moore, Pope Innocent III, 232–3.

128. … gerentes humilitatem cordis et corporis, et tam in victu quam in vestitu mediocritatem servantes … Tanner, Decrees, 267.

129. Verum ne nos aliis onera gravia et importabilia imponere videamur, digito autem nostro ea movere nolimus … Matthew 23:4; Luke 11:46; Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, I:336; PL 214.310.

130. Floyer and Hamilton, Catalogue of Manuscripts, 47; Cheney and Semple, Selected Letters, 46; Cheney and Cheney, Letters, 70 #433.

131. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, II:258 (Graves orientalis terrae); PL 216.819 (Quia maior); Tanner, Decrees, 268 (Ad liberandam).

132. Tanner, Decrees, 267–71.

133. Kay, ‘The Albigensian Twentieth’, 308.

134. Cheney, Innocent III and England, 268.

135. Foreville, ‘Représentation et Taxation’, 23.

136. Riley-Smith, What Were the Crusades?, 47.

137. Stubbs and Davis, Select Charters, 285–91 (Articles of the Barons) and 291–303 (Magna Carta).

138. … qui personaliter non accesserint in subsidium Terrae sanctae, competentem conferant numerum bellatorum cum expensis ad triennium necessariis secundum proprias facultates, in remissionem peccatorum suorum… Tanner, Decrees, 268.

139. Bysted, The Crusade Indulgence, 132.

140. Tanner, Decrees, 264.

141. … cum dedicator basilica, non extendatur indulgencia ultra annum … ac deinde in anniversario dedicationis tempore quadraginta dies de iniunctis poenitentiis indulta remissio non excedat … Ibid.

142. Delaborde, Œuvres, 303–4; Dickson and Dickson, ‘Robert of Courson’, 112; Bysted, The Crusade Indulgence, 148.

143. Bird, ‘Peter the Chanter’s Circle’, 517.

144. PL 217.255–8 (Vos qui elegistis); Bird, ‘Peter the Chanter’s Circle’, 518–9.

145. Tanner, Decrees, 223; Stantchev, Spiritual Rationality, 58–60.

146. Registra Vaticana 4, 137r.

147. X 5.6.12 (Quod olim – 20 December 1187–20 January 1188); Holtzmann, ‘La ‘Collectio seguntina’’, 422; Menache, ‘Papal Attempts’, 242; Stantchev, Spiritual Rationality, 35–60.

148. … talibus gremium non aperiatur ecclesiae, nisi totum quod ex substantia tam damnata perceperint et tantundem de sua in subsidium praedictae Terrae transmiserint … Tanner, Decrees, 270.

149. Menache, ‘Papal Attempts’, 244.

150. Van Doosselaere, Commercial Agreements, 33–4.

151. Stantchev, Spiritual Rationality, 57.

152. Hageneder and Haidacher, Die Register Innocenz’ III, I:536 (539) (In favorem orientalis); PL 214.493. See also Madden, Enrico Dandolo, 119–21. Innocent initially reiterated Gregory VIII’s total embargo, but granted an exception for non-strategic goods only to Venetians.

153. Lunt, Papal Revenues, I, 51.

154. d’Achery, ‘Chronicon Nicolai Trivetti’, 185; Petrocchi, ‘L’ultimo destino’, 204.

155. X 5.6.12; Holtzmann, ‘La ‘Collectio Seguntina’’, 422.

156. X 3.24.5–9 On Donations; X 3.34.5–10 On Vow and Vow Redemption; X 5.3.29–42 On Simony; X 5.6.13–17 On Jews, Saracens, and their Slaves; X 5.7.10–3 On Heretics; X 5.19.11–8 On Usury; X 5.38.8–14 On Penance and Remissions. These are but a few of the titles for which Innocent’s letters and conciliar canons contribute a large proportion of the total number of canons.