A couple months after Innocent became pope, in March 1198 Philip Duke of Swabia was elected King of Germany. Another claimant, Otto Duke of Brunswick, was preferred by several princes. Philip was the brother of his predecessor, Henry VI, King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor. Because Henry had married Constance of Sicily, Innocent was concerned that either Philip or (potentially) Henry's son Frederick would make a claim to not only Sicily, but the Italian Peninsula (Sicily controlled a large part of southern Italy called The Regno). In 1201 Innocent officially supported Otto:
It is the business of the pope to look after the interests of the Roman empire, since the empire derives its origin and its final authority from the papacy;
..., since three persons have lately been elected king by different parties, namely the youth [Frederick], Philip, and Otto, so also three things must be taken into account in regard to each one...
...Far be it from us that we should defer to man rather than to God, or that we should fear the countenance of the powerful. ... since Otto is not only himself devoted to the church, but comes from devout ancestors on both sides, ... therefore we decree that he ought to be accepted and supported as king, and ought to be given the crown of empire, after the rights of the Roman church have been secured.
The Fourth Crusade, which turned out to be disastrous, was Innocent's idea, and the first time a pope ever forced the clergy across Europe to donate 1/40th of their income to the endeavor.
He called for other crusades. The Albigensian Crusade (leading to the first "mass murder") was at his request (see illustration of him calling for it and knights attacking heretics). He was behind the Livonian Crusade (into modern Latvia and Estonia), which he called for in October 1199.
His inducement for Crusading was to offer indulgences, a forgiveness of sins and a quicker path to heaven upon death.
In 1204, while the crusade was attacking Constantinople, Innocent excommunicated King Alfonso IX of León for marrying someone who was too close to him according the rules of consanguinity.
In 1210 he formally recognized the Order of Franciscans. He had informally done so when Francis and 12 followers met him in Rome a year earlier, but wanted them to have more followers before he gave his blessing. He had them tonsured, which gave them legitimacy as a Church-approved order.
One of his biggest accomplishments was the Fourth Lateran Council, which has been mentioned almost as many times in this blog as Innocent himself. Tomorrow we'll start looking at the widespread influence of the Fourth Lateran.
