Honorius III (pope)

Beginnings

It was initially Chanoine with the church of Holy-Marie-Major with Rome then became chamberlain of the Pope in 1188 and cardinal-deacon of Santa Lucia in Silica in 1193. Under Clement III and Célestin III, he was the treasurer of the Catholic church.

In 1197, he became a tutor of the future emperor Frederic II, which had been entrusted to the guard Innocent III by the Constance empress.

Innocent III made a cardinal-priest of it the March 13rd 1198 and he became later cardinal of Saint-Pierre-and-Paul.

Pope

The July 18th 1216, nineteen cardinals gathered in Perugia, where had just died Innocent III, to elect its successor. Cencio Savelli was devoted the July 24th.

It had as principal projects to start again the Fifth crusade, started in vain with its predecessor, and Church reforms it.

Fifth crusade

The Crusade had been called by the Concile of Lateran IV of 1215 and Honorius III began the preparations in 1217. It raised an exceptional Dîme, the pope and each cardinal having to contribute a tenth moreover during three years and the bishops a twelfth of their incomes. But these funds remained insufficient.

It made crown Pierre II of Courtenay (April 1217) emperor of Constantinople. The new Emperor was then captured and perishes without to have been able to advance money. Honorius thus awaited impatiently the support of Frederic II, who had sworn to embark in 1217. In 1220, Frederic II was elected emperor and crowned in Rome, but it continued to temporize its forwarding.

The countryside of Egypt failed with the loss of Damiette (September 8th 1221). The king Andre II of Hungary and others cross German took again Damiette but this victory did not last.

The June 21st 1225 was fixed like goes back for the departure to Frederic II and Honorius III organized its marriage with Isabelle, heiress of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, to finally give him an incentive to leave. Frederic signed then the treaty of San Germano in July 1225 to obtain new a two years carryforward.

Honorius III died the March 18th 1227 without to have seen its projects of crusade concluded. It is its successor Gregoire IX which was to deal with its realization.

On the other hand, Honorius III supported the Albigensian Crusade which took place in the south of France. It confirmed Simon IV of Montfort in its conquest of the territories of Raymond VI of Toulouse and made in kind obtain the assistance of the king de France Louis VIII, with which it granted to besiege and take Avignon, in spite of the protests of Frederic II who regarded it as an imperial city.

Other achievements

Honore gave the pontifical sanction to the Dominicain S in 1216 and to the Franciscain S in 1223. He approved the Rule of Dominique de Guzmán in his bubble Religiosam vitam , dated from the December 22nd 1216, and that of François d' Assise in his bubble Solet annuere of the November 29th 1223. He approved the Carmélites by his bubble of the January 30th 1226, Ut vivendi normam and the religious congregation of the “Valley of the Schoolboys” (Vallis scholarium), rested by four professors of theology of the Université of Paris.

He granted privileges to the Universities of Paris and Bologna, the two greater centers of studies at that time. It ordered in its bubble Super speculated Domini to support students in theology in each diocese.

Works

Most important of the writings of this former Treasurer of the Church for the historians are the Liber censuum Romanæ ecclesiæ , which gives a list of all the incomes and properties of the Holy See, all the donations, the privileges and the contracts with the cities and the sovereigns. The register was started under Clément III and was completed in 1192 under Célestin III. The original manuscript is always with the the Vatican (Vaticanus, 8486).

Honore wrote also a life of Célestin III, a life of Gregoire VII, a Ordo Romanus , which describes the ceremonial and the rites for various occasions and 34 sermons.

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