Honorius III
Honorius III (Rome, c. 1148-ibid., March 18, 1227) was the 177th pope of the Catholic Church from 1216 to 1227.
Biography
With the secular name Cencio Savelli, he was canon of the church of Santa María Maggiore until, in 1188, he was named Camerlengo of the Church by Pope Clement III. Pope Celestine III appointed him cardinal deacon of Santa Lucia in Silice, and he would continue with the position of Treasurer of the Church until, in 1197, he became tutor to the future Emperor Frederick II.
On March 13, 1198, Pope Innocent III appointed him cardinal priest of the church of Saint John and Saint Paul, dignity that he would occupy until July 18, 1216, after the death of Innocent III in Perugia, the nineteen cardinals present in said city elected the elderly Centius (Honorio III) as the new pope. The new pontiff will be consecrated as bishop on July 24, 1216 in Perugia and crowned in Rome on August 31, 1216.
Pontificate
Honorius III faced a vast series of problems that affected the Catholic Church of the time: oppression of the Holy Land and the Iberian Peninsula by Muslims, the expansion of the Cathar heresy in the south of the Kingdom of France, the spread of the Christianity among the pagans of the Baltic countries and the defense of the Latin Empire of Constantinople from the Muslims.
Liberation of the Holy Land
The main objective of his pontificate was the carrying out of the Fifth Crusade, which had been decreed at the Fourth Lateran Council and which the death of Innocent III had paralyzed.
To raise the necessary financial funds, it was established that both the pope and the cardinals would contribute to the cause, for three years, with a tenth of their income, while the remaining clergy would contribute a twentieth part.
Despite the fact that the collection was insufficient and that the main Christian prince, the former pupil of Honorius III and king of Germany (King of Romans), Frederick II did not stop delaying his participation in the crusade, an army under of King Andrew II of Hungary set course for the Holy Land, taking, in 1219, the city of Damietta in Egypt.
Honorius III, in an attempt to have Frederick II join the Crusader troops, crowned him Holy Roman Emperor on November 22, 1220 in a ceremony held in Rome.
However, Frederick continued to temporize in sending troops, which combined with a disastrous strategy in Egypt, where the crusaders had rejected an agreement by which Sultan Al-Kamil offered all Muslim possessions in the Holy Land in exchange The fact that the Christian troops left Egypt, choosing to go to Cairo to conquer it, caused a great defeat and the loss, on September 8, 1221, of Damietta and the return of the crusaders to Europe.
Honorius III did not give up, despite the failure of the Fifth Crusade, in his idea of recovering the territories of the Holy Land for Christianity, and taking advantage of the fact that Frederick II had been widowed, he organized the new marriage of the emperor with Yolanda of Jerusalem who Being heir to the kingdom of Jerusalem was an incentive for her participation in the embryonic Sixth Crusade.
The departure date of the imperial troops was set for June 21, 1225, but the emperor again managed to delay the departure, by signing a treaty at the Diet of San Germano, of two years.
Repression of the Cathar heresy
This postponement allowed Honorius III to direct his attention to supporting the crusade against the Albigensians which, led by King Louis VIII of France, was taking place in the south of France and which would prove the taking of Avignon despite the protests of Frederick II who considered it an imperial city.
Protection of the Latin empire of the East
Honorius III continued the efforts of his predecessor Innocent III to Latinize the Eastern Empire and end the Eastern Schism. He crowned the heir to the throne Peter de Courtenay in Rome on 9 April 1217 while leaving France to claim his dominions.
It sheltered the new emperor of Constantinople, Robert I of Constantinople, who had to escape from his kingdom due to a revolt against him due to his dissolute life. Honorius III reproached him for his conduct and ordered him to return to Constantinople and redeem his conduct, but Robert died of illness upon his return, during a stopover in the Morea.
Feudal lordship over England
In the kingdom of England, the authority of the pope was supreme since the country had become a fiefdom of the Holy See with Innocent III by defeating Juan sin Tierra. Cardinal Guala Bicchieri, papal legate in England, oversaw the coronation of the heir Henry III of England at Gloucester Cathedral on October 28, 1216. Henry paid homage to the Holy See and recognized the Roman pontiff as a feudal lord. He Pope Honorius III declared that Henry was his vassal and ward and that the papal legate had complete authority to protect Henry and his kingdom.
In 1215 the first war of the barons had broken out in response to the annulment of the Magna Carta that King Juan sin Tierra had signed supported by his feudal lord: Innocent III. The rebellious barons called upon Prince Louis (future King Louis VIII of France) offering him the throne of England.
Pope Honorius III ordered his legate Cardinal Guala Bicchieri to do everything possible to reduce the rebels to the obedience of the new king Henry III. Cardinal Guala declared that Henry III's war against the rebels was a religious crusade. This proclamation resulted in a series of defections from the rebel movement and the balance of the conflict tilted in favor of the king.
Louis opened new peace negotiations and, on September 12 and 13, 1217, the factions reached a consensus in the so-called final agreement of Lambeth, also known as the Treaty of Kingston.
The regent of the kingdom William the Marshal became ill and died in 1219. The replacement in the government was formed around a group of three main ministers: Pandulf Verraccio, papal legacy of replacement; Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester; Hubert de Burgh, justiciar.
Pandulf as representative of the pope, claimed absolute control over Hubert de Burgh and the other ministers of the young Henry III, managing to govern England in the name of Honorius III until in 1221 Hubert de Burgh and Cardinal Stephen Langton managed to convince the pope to which will end his legacy, leaving Hubert as the dominant politician in Henry's government.
Other realizations
Honorius III promoted, during his pontificate, several religious orders in his desire to reform the church through the approval of their respective monastic rules. On December 22, 1216 he approved the Rule of the Dominicans by publishing the bull Religiosam vitam ; On November 29, 1223 he approved the Rule of the Franciscans by publishing the bull Solet annuere ; On January 7, 1226 he approved the Rule of the Carmelites by publishing the bull Ut vivirdi norman ; On March 7, 1219 he approved the religious congregation (Vallis Scholarium) founded by pious professors of theology at the University of Paris through the bull Exhibita nobis.
Being a learned man, Honorius III insisted that the clergy should receive an education, especially in theology. For this reason he dismissed bishops who did not have the proper knowledge to carry out their duties.
He also granted various privileges to the two main universities of the time: Paris and Bologna. To facilitate the study of theology in dioceses distant from the great centers of learning, he ordered in his bull Super specula that some young talents be sent to recognized theological schools to study so that they could later teach it in their own schools. diocese.
He excommunicated King Alfonso II of Portugal for his policies against the clergy. Alfonso II promised to rectify his errors against the church but died in 1223 without having made any effort to change his policy.
Death
Honorius III will not be able to verify whether the agreement would be fulfilled by Frederick II since he died on March 18, 1227, before the two-year period established in the treaty had expired.
Works
The main work that we owe to Pope Honorius III is the Liber censuum Romanae ecclesiae in which, taking advantage of the knowledge acquired in the performance of the position of treasurer of the Roman Church, he makes an inventory of the income and properties of the Church, donations received, privileges and contracts with cities and sovereigns.
He also wrote a life of Celestine III, a life of Gregory VII, an Ordo romanus de consuetudinibus in which he describes the ceremonial and rites of the Church, a Compilatio Decretalium i> the first official book that collected canon law, and 34 sermons.
In popular culture
The prophecies of Saint Malachy refer to this pope as Canonicus es larere (Canon of Lateran), a quote that refers to the fact that before being elected pontiff he was canon of Saint John Lateran.