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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 September 2016
Although the union between the Latin and Greek Churches was one of Pope Innocent III's career-long ambitions, the limited provisions made by the canons of the Fourth Lateran Council regarding the eastern Churches have led most historians to assume that by the end of his pontificate this matter had been relegated to one of secondary importance and was treated only as an afterthought during the council. By collecting and re-examining the surviving sources, this article shows that considerable time and energy was in fact spent during the council in regulating the affairs of the Churches of former Byzantine lands. The ensuing decisions and legislation formed the basis of the organisation of the Church in much of the Greco-Latin East for at least another three centuries.
1 On Jubin see Jean Richard, ‘L'Abbaye cistercienne de Jubin et le Prieuré Saint-Blaise de Nicosie’, Eπετηρίδα του Κέντρου Επιστημονικών Ερευνών [Bulletin of the Centre of Scientific Research] iii (1969–70), 63–74, repr. in Richard, Jean, Orient et occident au moyen âge: contacts et relations (XIIe–XVe s.), London 1976 Google Scholar, no. xix.
2 This is published in Ferretto, A., ‘Contributi alle relazioni tra Genova e l'Oriente: una lettera del Pontefice Innocenzo iii e un privilegio di Guido, re di Gerusalemme e signore di Cipro’, Giornale Ligustico xxi (1896), 40–8Google Scholar at pp. 43–4, reproduced in Bullarium Cyprium, I: Papal letters involving Cyprus, 1196–1261, ed. Schabel, Chris with an historical introduction by Richard, Jean, Nicosia 2010 Google Scholar, no. b-42.
3 Cornelio, Flaminio, Ecclesiae Torcellanae antiquis monumentis nunc etiam primum editis illustratae, Venice 1749 Google Scholar, i. 229: see the corrected text in Bullarium Hellenicum: the letters of Pope Honorius III to Frankish Greece and Constantinople (1216–1227), ed. Duba, William and Schabel, Chris, Turnhout 2015 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, no. 218.
4 Morris, Colin, The papal monarchy: the Western Church from 1050 to 1250, Oxford 1989, 441 Google Scholar.
5 Cleary, Richard James, Pope Innocent III and the Greek Church (1198–1216): the theological teaching and the juridical, political and diplomatic practice of a pontificate which shaped the attitude of the papacy in regard to the Orthodox Churches through seven centuries, Rome 1993, 240 Google Scholar. Similarly, Raymonde Foreville accuses the council of making no viable preparation for dealing with matters concerning the Greek Church: Latran I, II, III et Latran IV, Paris 1965, 257 Google Scholar.
6 These letters date to January and February 1216, but they are often incorrectly assigned to 1215, for two reasons: first, because the chancery did not begin the new year until March, privileges from January or February that bear the explicit year date of 1215 actually date to 1216 by our reckoning; second, Innocent's regnal year did not begin on the anniversary of his election on 8 January 1198, but was based on his consecration on 22 February, so 1 February in year eighteen, for example, is 1216, not 1215.
7 See recent overviews in Angold, 'Michael, The Fourth Crusade: event and context, Harlow 2003 Google Scholar; Laiou, Angeliki E. (ed.), Urbs capta: the Fourth Crusade and its consequences, Paris 2005 Google Scholar; Phillips, Jonathan, The Fourth Crusade and the sack of Constantinople, London 2005 Google Scholar; Ortalli, Gherardo, Ravegnani, Giorgio and Schreiner, Peter (eds), Quarta Crociata: Venezia, Bisanzio, Impero Latino, Venice 2006 Google Scholar; Piatti, Pierantonio (ed.), The Fourth Crusade revisited: atti della conferenza internazionale nell'ottavo centenario della IV Crociata, 1204–2004: Andros (Grecia) 27–30 maggio 2004, Vatican City 2008 Google Scholar; and Madden, Thomas F. (ed.), The Fourth Crusade: event, aftermath, and perceptions, Aldershot 2008 Google Scholar.
8 See, for example, Bolton, Brenda, ‘A mission to the Orthodox? The Cistercians in Romania’, in Baker, Derek (ed.), The Orthodox Churches and the West (Studies in Church History xiii, 1976), 169–81Google Scholar, repr. in Bolton, Brenda, Innocent III: studies on papal authority and pastoral care, Aldershot 1995 Google Scholar, no. xvii.
9 For an early example of this interpretation see Jean Richard, ‘The establishment of the Latin Church in the Empire of Constantinople, 1204–1277’, in Arbel, Benjamin, Hamilton, Bernard and Jacoby, David (eds), Latins and Greeks in the Eastern Mediterranean, Ilford 1989, 45–62 Google Scholar, repr. in Richard, Jean, Croisades et états latins d'Orient, Aldershot 1992 Google Scholar, no. vi.
10 The letter is accessible in Bullarium Cyprium, b-40; Acta Innocentii III (1198–1216), ed. Haluscynskyj, Theodosyj, Vatican City 1944, 442–4Google Scholar, no. 206; and PL ccxvi.823–6C, no. 30.
11 Archivio Segreto Vaticano, Reg. Vat. 8, fo. 142v. The partial edition in Acta Innocentii III (pp. 443–4, no. 206) attempts to publish the addressees in the East.
12 King Demetrius of Thessaloniki (b. 1205), son of Boniface of Montferrat, was too young to be invited to the council, but it is safe to assume that the secular authorities of the kingdom of Thessaloniki would be represented by the emperor's emissaries, since Henry had succeeded in defeating a rebellion by that kingdom's Lombard nobles and had installed his own brother, Eustace, as regent.
13 Haluscynskyj reads ‘Cavithien’ and guesses ‘Corinthien’, but the manuscript actually has ‘Corithien’: Acta Innocentii III, 443–4, no. 206. Haluscynskyj did not include Neopatras, not recognising ‘Neupraten’ as an error for ‘Neopatren’. For Serres, Haluscynskyj correctly interpreted ‘Serten’ (not the Serta in North Africa) as an error for ‘Serren’. He also lists ‘Midicen’ among the eastern dioceses, without further details, not the Midica in North Africa, but perhaps understanding it as ‘Maditen’, Madytos (Maydos), which was just a bishopric, although in 1228 it was referred to as an archdiocese. There are other possibilities in Latin Christendom, however.
14 Luchaire, Achille, ‘Un Document retrouvé’, Journal des savants iii (1905), 557–67Google Scholar. The attendees from Romania are listed at p. 562 and those from Cyprus, mixed in with those from Sicily, at p. 563. At p. 564 n. 4 Luchaire reads ‘Aradiensis’ as a ‘facile’ error for ‘Macrensis’, Marki, but surely it is Herakleia, sometimes written ‘Aracliensis’ (but also ‘Yracliensis’, ‘Eracliensis’ and ‘Heracliensis’) with the ‘cl’ easily mistaken for a ‘d’.
15 For notes on the controversial Archbishop Giacomo Viadro see Fedalto, Giorgio, ‘La chiesa Latina a Creta dalla caduta di Constantinopoli (1204) alla rinconquista Bizantina (1261)’, Κρητικά Χρονικά [Cretan Chronicles] xxiv (1972), 145–76Google Scholar at pp. 151–8.
16 Vetera monumenta Slavorum meridionalium historiam illustrantia, ed. Theiner, Augustin, Rome 1863, 47–70 Google Scholar at pp. 63–70. Sixteen involving the church of Constantinople are catalogued in Santifaller, Leo, Beiträge zur Geschichte des Lateinischen Patriarchats von Konstantinopel (1204–1261) und der venezianischen Urkunde, Weimar 1938, 186–7Google Scholar, nos 133–48.
17 Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, lat. 11867, fos 36va–37rb; Hampe, –Karl, ‘Aus der verlorenen Registerbänden der Päpste Innozenz iii. und Innozenz iv., I: Aus den letzen Jahren Innozenz iii.’, Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung xxiii (1902), 545–67Google Scholar at pp. 559–63, nos 13–18.
18 Vetera monumenta, 64, no. 22; 67, no. 118; PL ccxvii.241C; Antiquitates italicae medii aevi, ed. Lodovico Antonio Muratori, Milan 1741, v.835–6; Acta Innocentii III, 542, no. 4.
19 This is dated 1215 in the edition of David, Lucas, Preussische Chronik, ed. Hennig, E., Königsberg 1812, ii. 204–8Google Scholar, and in most of the published summaries, including the excerpt in Bullarium Cyprium, no. b-4. However, the Regesta Pontificum Romanorum, ed. Potthast, Augustus, Berlin 1874, i. 446 Google Scholar, no. 5078, has the correct date, 1216.
20 Vetera monumenta, 67, nos 118, 120–1; Antiquitates italicae medii aevi, v.833–4 (Pelagius) and 835–6 (Innocent); Acta Innocentii III, 542–3, nos 4, 6; Bullarium Hellenicum, no. 180 (for earlier editions and summaries of Honorius' letters see the entries in Bullarium Hellenicum).
21 Vetera monumenta, 64, 66, nos 47, 101, 105; Acta Innocentii III, 543, no. 5; Potthast, Regesta, i. 452, 454–5, nos 5160, 5211, 5231.
22 Vetera monumenta, 65, nos 76–8, 80–2; Acta Innocentii III, 543, no. 3; Bullarium Hellenicum, no. 43.
23 Vetera monumenta, 64, nos 39–43; Bullarium Hellenicum, nos 83–4.
24 A Byzantine monastery called St Mary Agriotissa once existed north of Limassol but, according to letters of Innocent iv, this monastery was dedicated to St Margaret in the thirteenth century: Cartulary of the cathedral of Holy Wisdom of Nicosia, ed. Nicholas Coureas and Christopher Schabel, Nicosia 1997, nos 107–8; Bullarium Cyprium, nos e-1 and e-4.
25 On this matter see Andrić, Stanko, ‘Baziljanski i benediktinski samostan sv. Dimitrija u Srijemskoj Mitrovici [The Basilian and Benedictine monastery of St Demetrius in Sremka Mitrovica]’, Radovi: Zavod za hrvatsku povijest [Papers: Institute of Croatian History] xl (2008), 115–85Google Scholar, esp. pp. 132–4.
26 For Honorius' letter see Claverie, Pierre-Vincent, Honorius III et l'Orient (1216– 1227): étude et publication de sources inédites des Archives vaticanes (ASV), Leiden 2013 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, no. 5. Laberia is thought to refer to the Judean desert, which was known to the Franks as La Berie or La Grand Berie: Pringle, Denys, The churches of the crusader kingdom of Jerusalem: a corpus, Cambridge 1998, ii. 271–8Google Scholar, esp. p. 272. However, it has also been suggested that the Palestinian monastery had moved to Berroia in northern Greece (hence Laberia) after the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in 1187: van Tricht, Filip, The Latin renovatio of Byzantium: the empire of Constantinople (1204–1228), Leiden 2011, 313 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
27 Claverie, Honorius III et l'Orient, no. 24.
28 Another monastery appearing separately, further down Theiner's list, under rubric 200, St Cucufacius, must refer to the Portuguese foundation dedicated to this saint.
29 Vetera monumenta, 65, nos 56–8; Bullarium Hellenicum, nos 15–17.
30 Vetera monumenta, 65, nos 69, 70; Acta Innocentii III, 543, nos 1, 2.
31 Bullarium Hellenicum, nos 21, 54–5, 61, 230
32 On Innocent and the patriarchate's rank see Duba, William, ‘The status of the patriarch of Constantinople’, in Beihammer, Alexander D., Parani, Maria G. and Schabel, Christopher D. (eds), Diplomatics in the eastern Mediterranean, 1000–1500: aspects of cross-cultural communication, Leiden 2008, 63–92 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For the topic's prominence in the debates see Mesarites's, Nikolaos report in Neue Quellen zur Geschichte des lateinischen Kaisertums und der Kirchenunion, ed. Heisenberg, August, Munich 1923, iii. 34–6Google Scholar.
33 Vetera monumenta, 66, nos 83–5, 87, 91; Hampe, ‘Aus der verlorenen Registerbänden’, 545–67, no. 14; Bullarium Hellenicum, nos 12, 28, 59, 105, 138, 188.
34 Vetera monumenta, 64, 66, nos 28, 92–3, 95; Hampe, ‘Aus der verlorenen Registerbänden’, 562–3, nos 16–18; Acta Innocentii III, 541–2, nos 3, 6; Bullarium Hellenicum, no. 264.
35 Bullarium Hellenicum, no. 75.
36 Ibid. no. 23.
37 Vetera monumenta, 64, nos 24–7. It is worth noting that, while reproducing Theiner's rubrics, Potthast mistakenly has Innocent iii addressing Emperor Baldwin, rather than Emperor Henry: Potthast, Regesta, i. 451, nos 5143–5.
38 Vetera monumenta, 66, no. 90; Hampe, ‘Aus der verlorenen Registerbänden’, 561–2, no. 15; Acta Innocentii III, 542, no. 5 (= 543, no. 4).
39 Vetera monumenta, 66, nos 88–9.
40 Santifaller, Beiträge, 100–1, no. 2.
41 Bullarium Hellenicum, no. 40.
42 Ibid. no. 185, listing previous editions, including PL ccxvi.968–72C.
43 Έγγραφα αναφερόμενα εις την μεσαιωνικήν ιστορίαν των Αθηνών [Documents relating to the medieval history of Athens], ed. Spyridon P. Lampros, Athens 1906, no. 11; Acta Innocentii III, no. 217; Acta Honorii III (1216–1227) et Gregorii IX (1227–1241) e registris Vaticanis aliisque fontibus, ed. Aloysius L. Tautu, Vatican City 1950, no. 48; Bullarium Hellenicum, no. 87; cf. Acta Honorii III, no. 94, and Bullarium Hellenicum, no. 127, from 1222: ‘quam etiam felicis recordationis I. papa predecessor noster apostolico munimine roborans … predicti predecessoris nostri statutum super resignatione facta Ravenice tempore Generalis Concilii editum’.
44 Vetera monumenta, 66, no. 86.
45 Ibid. no. 87; Bullarium Hellenicum, nos 22, 78, 119–20, 123, 125.
46 See now Gemeinhardt, Peter, ‘The Trinitarian theology of Joachim of Fiore’, Archa Verbi ix (2012), 9–33 Google Scholar.
47 Decrees of the ecumenical councils, ed. Tanner, Norman P., London 1990, i. 259 Google Scholar.
48 Ibid. i. 235.
49 Setton, Kenneth M., The papacy and the Levant, 1204–1571, Philadelphia 1976–84, i. 30 Google Scholar; Van Tricht, The Latin renovatio, 332.
50 Van Tricht, The Latin renovatio, 321–32.
51 The letter is published in Acta Innocentii III, 591–7, appendix 1, n. 22; excerpts are translated in Cleary, Pope Innocent III, 222–8.
52 This is published in Ecclesiae Graecae monumenta, ed. Cotelier, Jean Baptiste, Paris 1686, iii. 495–520 Google Scholar, and PG cxl.293–8C.
53 This is published in Manafis, Konstantinos A., ‘Επιστολή Βασιλείου Πεδιαδίτου Μητροπολίτου Κερκύρας προς τον Πάπαν Ιννοκέντιον Γ΄και ο χρόνος πατριαρχείας Μιχαήλ Δ΄ του Αυτωρειανού [A letter of Basileios Pediadites Metropolitan of Corfu to Pope Innocent iii and the dating of the patriarchate of Michael iv Autorianos]’, Επετηρίς της Εταιρείας Βυζαντινών Σπουδών [Bulletin of the Society of Byzantine Studies] xlii (1975/76), 429–40Google Scholar.
54 Decrees of the ecumenical councils, i. 239.
55 Bullarium Hellenicum, no. 222.
56 Bullarium Cyprium, i, no. c-47, listing earlier editions.
57 Schabel, Chris, ‘The myth of Queen Alice and the subjugation of the Greek clergy on Cyprus’, in Fourrier, Sabine and Grivaud, Gilles (eds), Identités croisées en un milieu méditerranéen: le cas de Chypre (antiquité–moyen âge), Rouen 2006, 257–77Google Scholar, repr. in Schabel, –Christopher D., Greeks, Latins and the Church in early Frankish Cyprus, Aldershot 2010 Google Scholar, no. ii.
58 Luchaire, ‘Un Document’, 561.
