Born | 1160 | Born At | Anagni, Italy |
Died | July 1216 | Buried At |
Born | 1160 / Anagni, Italy |
Died | July 1216 / |
Related Episodes
Excommunication of King John (click here)
The First Barons' War (click here)
The Fourth Crusade (click here)
Family Tree Details
Innocent (III, Pope) (b.1160 - d.1216)
Timeline
The Order of the Teutonic Knights is approved by Pope Innocent III.
Wulfstan, the bishop of Worcester Cathedral was canonised by Pope Innocent III after many miracles were reported to have taken place by his tomb. ¹
Although the monks of Canterbury wanted their own sub-prior for the post of Archbishop and King John wanted John de Gray, Pope Innocent III chose Stephen Langton. Langton was originally from Lincolnshire but after teaching in Paris had moved to Rome where he had become a Cardinal. The monks of Canterbury accepted the Pope's decision and voted Langton in as the new Archbishop. King John did not agree. ¹
Stephen Langton was chosen as Archbishop of Canterbury by Pope Innocent III. ¹
King John is excommunicated by Pope Innocent III.
In Northampton the Papal legates Pandulf and a Knight Templar met King John after his return from Wales. They had been sent by Pope Innocent in an attempt to get the English king to see the error of his ways but when they failed they served King John with his excommunication. For John this was a serious blow to his ability to rule the country as it absolved the King's subjects from their oaths of allegiance, gave the Barons reason to revolt and allowed the King of France to invade England to remove John from power. ¹
The Pope's patience had run out and declared he would depose King John if he refused to back down. Pope Innocent wanted King Philippe of France to invade England and take the English throne. The French king began preparations for the invasion.
Taking the advice of William Marshal John accepted the demands of the Pope and that Stephen Langton should become Archbishop. A peace mission was also sent to the Pope. ¹
After the failure of the Fourth Crusade, Pope Innocent III had a Crusade preached across Europe.
Rather than wait for the French to set sail, King John ordered his fleet to attack the French ships. The English fleet attacked the French fleet at Damme, Flanders near the town and port of Bruges. The French were taken by surprise and many of their ships were captured or destroyed. The French plans of invasion were destroyed. ¹
When King John agreed to meet Stephen Langton at Winchester he was absolved from excommunication. ¹
Cardinal Nicholas De Romanis arrived in England to prepare for the settlement of the Interdict. John's punishment was to pay 100,000 marks to compensate the church for the losses he had caused it. ¹
At St. Paul's Cathedral, in London, the Interdict was finally lifted. ¹
Hoping to gain the support of the Pope against the Barons, John took the oath to go on Crusade. ¹
Pope Innocent III sent a letter to the Barons asking them to halt their actions against King John. ¹
Pope Innocent III annulled the Magna Carta freeing King John from its limitations. The Pope annulled the charter on the grounds that the King only signed it because he was forced to and that the document was illegal. The Pope was prepared to support John against the rebel barons because he wanted him to take a key role in a new crusade.
In a letter dated 13th September 1215, King John sought help from Pope Innocent III in his fight against the barons. In the letter, written while the King stayed at Dover Castle, John stated that he believed the defence of England was ultimately the responsibility of God and the Pope. Pope Innocent III agreed and declared that the Magna Carta should be annulled.
Pope Innocent III died on July 16th and two days later in Rome the Cardinals elected Honorius III as the new Pope.
On this day in history:
3D Virtual Reconstructions
Transport yourself back up to a thousand years and explore historical buildings as they may have appeared in the past. Built using the popular game development tool Unity 3D, these reconstructions will run in the most of the popular web browsers on your desktop or laptop computer.
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A Medieval Mystery
There appear to be some strange connections between the fourteenth century Old Wardour Castle and ancient stone circle Stonehenge.
1: Location
Old Wardour Castle appears to be aligned to ancient sites in the Stonehenge landscape.
2: Alignment
Stonehenge is aligned to the Summer Solstice. Old Wardour has a very similar alignment.
3: Size
Could the builders of Old Wardour used mesaurements from Stonehenge to layout the geometrical keep?
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