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How did Pope Innocent III try to pay for the Fourth Crusade?
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Innocent III
Innocent III, fresco in the Abbey of San Benedetto, Subiaco, Italy.
To help fund the Fourth Crusade, Pope Innocent III imposed a tax on all clerical incomes. This measure was significant as it later served as a precedent for systematic papal income taxes. Additionally, he promised a new papal indulgence to those who took up the cross and placed the Crusaders under papal protection.12
Despite these efforts, the expedition remained chronically short of money, which contributed to the Crusaders' inability to fulfill their financial obligations to the Venetians for transport.21