19 April 1213 A.D. Innocent III’s Papal Bull Leading to Fourth Lateran Council—Opens 19 April 1213 and Closes 11 November 1215
19 April 1213
A.D. Innocent III’s Papal Bull Leading to
Fourth Lateran Council—Opens 19 April 1213 and Closes 11 November 1215
The Fourth
Council of the Lateran was convoked by Pope Innocent III
with the papal bull of April 19, 1213, and the
Council gathered at Rome's Lateran
Palace beginning November 11, 1215.[1] Due to the great length of time between the Council's convocation and
meeting, many bishops had the opportunity to attend. It was the 12th ecumenical council and
is sometimes called the "Great Council" or "General Council of
Lateran" due to the presence of seventy-one patriarchs and metropolitan bishops,
four hundred and twelve bishops, and nine hundred abbots and priors together with representatives of several monarchs.[1]Contents
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Purposes of the Council
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Pope Innocent III had always planned to gather an ecumenical council because of the limited results of the Third Crusade and the bitter results of the Fourth Crusade, which had led to the capture by Latin forces of Constantinople and large parts of the Byzantine Empire. Innocent III wanted to reformulate papal involvement in the Crusades as outlined in his decree "To Free the Holy Land", but only towards the end of his pontificate did he realise this project.
The Pope presented seventy-one decrees; the Council considered these along with the organization of the Fifth Crusade and with measures against heretics. Those gathered in Council engaged in little discussion and generally approved the decrees presented by Innocent III.
In secular matters, Raymond VI of Toulouse, his son (afterwards Raymond VII), and Raymond-Roger of Foix attended the Council to dispute the threatened confiscation of their territories; Bishop Foulques and Guy de Montfort (brother of Simon) argued in favour of the confiscation.
The Council confirmed the elevation of Frederick II as Holy Roman Emperor. Pierre-Bermond of Sauve's claim to Toulouse was rejected, and Toulouse was awarded to Simon de Montfort; the lordship of Melgueil was separated from Toulouse and entrusted to the bishops of Maguelonne. Provence, a possession of Raymond VI, was confiscated and kept in trust to be restored to his son if he proved worthy of it.
Canons
Canons presented to the Council included:[1]
Canon 1: Exposition of the Catholic Faith and of the sacraments. It
includes a brief reference to Transubstantiation.
Canon 3: Procedure and penalties against heretics and their protectors.
Canon 4: Exhortation to the Greeks to reunite with the Roman Church and
accept its maxims, to the end that, according to the Gospel, there may be only
one fold and only one shepherd.
Canon 5: Proclamation of the papal primacy recognized by all antiquity.
After the pope, primacy is attributed to the patriarchs in the following order:
Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem.
Canon 6: Provincial councils must be held annually for the reform of
morals, especially those of the clergy.
Canon 8: Procedure in regard to accusations against ecclesiastics. Until
the French Revolution, this canon was of considerable importance in criminal
law, not only ecclesiastical but even civil.
Canon 9: Celebration of public worship in places where the inhabitants
belong to nations following different rites.
Canon 11 renews the ordinance of the council of 1179 on free schools for
clerics in connexion with every cathedral.
Canon 12: Abbots and priors are to hold their general chapter every three
years.
Canon 13 forbids the establishment of new religious orders, lest too great
diversity bring confusion into the Church.
Canons 14-17: Against the irregularities of the clergy — e.g.,
incontinence, drunkenness, attendance at farces and histrionic exhibitions.
Canon 18: Clerics may neither pronounce nor execute a sentence of death.
Nor may they act as judges in extreme criminal cases, or take part in matters
connected with judicial tests and ordeals.
Canon 19: Household goods must not be stored in churches unless there be an
urgent necessity. Churches, church vessels, and the like must be kept clean.
Canon 21, the famous "Omnis utriusque sexus", which commands
every Christian who has reached the years of discretion to confess all his, or
her, sins at least once a year to his, or her, own (i.e. parish) priest. This
canon did no more than confirm earlier legislation and custom, and has been
often but wrongly, quoted as commanding for the first time the use of
sacramental confession. The confession came into existence over a long period
of time.[2] However, this was the first time that it took the shape of the Christian
confessional as we know it today.[2]
Canon 22: Before prescribing for the sick, physicians shall be bound under
pain of exclusion from the Church, to exhort their patients to call in a
priest, and thus provide for their spiritual welfare.
Canons 23-30 regulate ecclesiastical elections and the collation of
benefices.
Canons 26, 44, and 48: Ecclesiastical procedure.
Canons 50-52: On marriage, impediments of relationship, publication of
banns.
Canons 68, 69: Jews and Muslims shall wear a special dress to enable them
to be distinguished from Christians. Christian princes must take measures to
prevent blasphemies against Jesus Christ.
References
^ Jump up to: a b c 
One or
more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain: Herbermann, Charles,
ed. (1913). "Fourth Lateran Council (1215)". Catholic
Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.
One or
more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain: Herbermann, Charles,
ed. (1913). "Fourth Lateran Council (1215)". Catholic
Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.
^ Jump up to: a b Abercrombie,
N., Hill, S., & Turner, B. S. (1986). Sovereign individuals of capitalism.
London: Allen & Unwin.
External links
Un document retrouvé by Achille Luchaire, in Journal
des savants, n.s. 3
(1905), 557-567, including a list of participants in the Council
Woods, Marjorie Curry and Rita Copeland.
"Classroom and Confession". The Cambridge History of
Medieval English Literature, pp. 376–406. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0-521-89046-5.
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