Introduction

On 17 July 1216 the Champenois crusade preacher, Jacques de Vitry, reached Perugia expecting that Innocent III would confirm his appointment as bishop of Acre. Jacques arrived, however, only to find that Innocent had died the previous day. Gazing upon his almost naked and decomposing body (‘corpus fere nudum et fetidum’), Jacques contemplated the brevity and treacherous vainglory of the world. With these words, Jacques alluded to the words frequently used by Innocent himself, and revealed his admiration for the late pope. Unexpectedly, however, it was Innocent's successor, Honorius III, who confirmed Jacques's appointment and sent him eastwards. Although Honorius's pontificate has traditionally been regarded as ‘simply an echo of that of his great predecessor’ and while Innocent III certainly has received the most scholarly attention in the past few decades, Powell's work and recent research by Smith and Claverie6 on Honorius III and the Latin East has provided convincing evidence, not only for an active continuation of Innocent's reform and crusade agenda, but also for Honorius's own responsive decision-making and how his policies were generated from a close interaction with legates and nuntii. This contribution focuses on the hitherto neglected interaction between Jacques de Vitry and Honorius III.