The Papacy, Religious Life, and the Crusade in the Early Thirteenth Century ― Studies in Honor of James M. Powell

In commemoration of the anniversary of the Fifth Crusade and the pontificate of Innocent III (1198-1216), this collection of papers, dedicated to the memory of James M. Powell, re-examines the role of the papacy and the crusade in the religious life of the early thirteenth century and beyond. Was Innocent III more theologian than lawyer-pope and how did his personal experience of earlier crusade campaigns inform his own vigorous promotion of the crusade? How did the outlook and policy of Honorius III differ from that of Innocent III in crucial areas including diplomatic relations with Frederick II, the fostering of new religious orders and reform of the old? How much did both popes depend on legates, including John of Salerno and Jacques de Vitry, to promote their plans for reform and the crusade? How did the laity make its own mark on the crusade through their participation in the peace movements which were so crucial to the stability in Europe essential for enabling crusaders to fulfill their vows abroad? Further essays explore the role of prophecy and eschatology in justifying the crusading ethos and guiding military and spiritual decisions and the flip-side of prophetic and eschatological expectation: the commemoration of crusade campaigns through the deliberate construction of physical and literary paths of remembrance. Yet while the enemy was often constructed in deliberately polarizing fashion, did confessional differences really determine the way in which Latin crusaders and their descendants interacted with the Muslim world or did a more pragmatic position of a€?rough tolerancea€ shape mundane activities, trade agreements and treaties? Expectations of aid from the mythical king of the Indies during the Fifth Crusade hinted also at the expanding horizons of Latin Christians, and the volume closes with an examination of how the crusade ethos would be exported by explorers and colonists to the Indies and Mesoamerica in the sixteenth century.

Jessalynn Bird, DPhil (Oxon) is an independent scholar who has published numerous articles on the crusade and reform work of Peter the Chantera€?s circle, including the fama-based inquisition against heresy, crusade sermons, anti-usury efforts, hospitals, and pilgrimage. She has recently completed a sourcebook with Edward Peters and the late James M. Powell titled Crusade and Christendom: Annotated Documents in Translation from Innocent III to the Fall of Acre, 1187-1291 (2013), and is working on a book on women and the crusades and on translations of James of Vitrya€?s eastern and western histories.