Innocent III

Introduction
Early life and career
Early pontificate
Later pontificate

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Christ as Ruler, with the Apostles and Evangelists (represented by the beasts). The female figures are believed to be either Santa Pudenziana and Santa Praxedes or symbols of the Jewish and Gentile churches. Mosaic in the apse of Santa Pudenziana, Rome,A

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Vikings. Viking warriors hold swords and shields. 9th c. AD seafaring warriors raided the coasts of Europe, burning, plundering and killing. Marauders or pirates came from Scandinavia, now Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. European History

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Holy week. Easter. Valladolid. Procession of Nazarenos carry a cross during the Semana Santa (Holy week before Easter) in Valladolid, Spain. Good Friday

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Related Questions

How did Alexius IV become Byzantine emperor with Crusader support?
How did England become a papal fief under King John?
How did Pope Innocent III change the power of the medieval papacy?
How did Pope Innocent III expand the Papal States?
How did Pope Innocent III reform the Roman Curia?
How did Pope Innocent III strengthen the papal court system?
How did Pope Innocent III try to pay for the Fourth Crusade?
How did St. Dominic try to convert the Cathars?
How did the Albigensian Crusade change political control of southern France?
How did the Fourth Lateran Council define transubstantiation?
How did the decretal Per venerabilem become part of canon law?
What did Pope Innocent III mean by comparing papal authority to the Sun?
What happened when the Fourth Crusade captured Constantinople in 1204?
What indulgences and protections did Pope Innocent III offer to Crusaders?
What name did Pope Innocent III use before becoming pope?
What new marriage rules did the Fourth Lateran Council establish?
What problems faced Pope Innocent III at the beginning of his pontificate?
What restrictions did the Fourth Lateran Council impose on Jews and Saracens?
What right did Pope Innocent III claim in the decretal Per venerabilem?
When and where did Pope Innocent III die?
Where did Lothar of Segni study theology?
Where was Pope Innocent III born?
Which religious group did Pope Innocent III target in southern France?
Which theological books did Lothar of Segni write before becoming pope?
Who attended the Fourth Lateran Council?
Who were Philip of Swabia and Otto of Brunswick?
Why did Pope Innocent III accept the conquest of Constantinople at first?
Why did Pope Innocent III build the Torre dei' Conti in Rome?
Why did Pope Innocent III excommunicate King John of England?
Why did Pope Innocent III excommunicate the Venetians during the Fourth Crusade?
Why did Pope Innocent III first support Otto of Brunswick for the imperial throne?
Why did Pope Innocent III later support Frederick II for the imperial throne?
Why did Pope Innocent III want Sicily separated from the Holy Roman Empire?
Why did the Albigensian Crusade attract warriors from northern France?
Why did the Albigensian Crusade fail to eliminate Catharism immediately?
Why did the Fourth Crusade attack the Christian city of Zadar?
Why did the Fourth Crusade divert from the Holy Land to Constantinople?
Who was Gregory XI?
What was significant about Gregory XI’s return to Rome?
What was the miracle of St. Sylvester I?
What is the Donation of Constantine?
Why is St. Leo I called “Leo the Great?”
What were St. Damasus I’s accomplishments as pope?
Who was Clement V?
Why did Clement V move the papacy to France?
Why did Clement V dissolve the Knights Templar?
What is St. Pius X known for?

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Pope Innocent III - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Innocent III

pope

Also known as: Lotario di Segni, Lothar of Segni

Written by

Kenneth J. Pennington

Ken Pennington Kelly-Quinn Professor of Ecclesiastical and Legal History, The Catholic University of America. Author ofPope and Bishops: The Papal Monarchy in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries,...

Kenneth J. Pennington

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

Innocent III (born 1160/61, Gavignano Castle, Campagna di Roma, Papal States [now in Italy]—died July 16, 1216, Perugia) was the most significant pope of the Middle Ages. Elected pope on January 8, 1198, Innocent III reformed the Roman Curia, reestablished and expanded the pope’s authority over the Papal States, worked tirelessly to launch Crusades to recover the Holy Land, combated heresy in Italy and southern France, shaped a powerful and original doctrine of papal power...

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