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 HONORIUS

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HONORIUS

the pope and the emperor to its height; but the rup- ture between the emperor and the papacy did not tate place until Honorius III had died.

Though the general crusade planned by Honorius III y.-aa never realized, he deserved the gratitude of the world as the great pacificator of his age. Know- ing that the crusade was impossible as long as the Christian princes were at war with one another, he began his pontificate by striving to establish peace throughout Europe. In Italy there was scarcely a city or province at peace with its neighbour. Rome itself rebelled against the rule of Honorius, so that in June, 1219, he found it advisable to leave the city. He went first to Rieti, then to Viterbo, returning to Rome in September, 1220, after the Romans were reconciled to him through the intervention of Fred- erick II, then on his way to Rome to be crowned emperor. In the war that followed between the Conti and the SaveUi, the Romans sided with the Conti, and the pope, being of the family of the Sa- veUi, was again forced to flee to Rieti in June, 1225. He returned to Rome in January, 1226, after Angelo di Benincasa, a friend of Honorius HI, was elected senator of Rome. Through his legate Ugolino (af- terwards Gregory IX) Honorius effected the recon- ciliation of Pisa and Genoa in 1217, Milan and Cre- mona in 1218, Bologna and Pistoia in 1219, and through his notary Pandulf he prevailed upon the Duchy of Spoleto to become papal territory, and upon the cities of Perugia, Assisi, Foligno, Nocera, and Terni, to restore what had formerly belonged to the pope.

In England the authority of the pope was para- mount ever since that country had become a fief of the Apostolic See under Innocent III. The cruel King John had died on 16 October, 1216, leaving his ten-year-old son Henry III as successor. The cru- elty and faithlessness of King John may have justified the English barons in rebelling against him and olTer- ing the English crown to Louis, the son of King Philip of France, but now it became their duty to be loyal to the lawful king, Henry III. Honorius III ordered Gualo, his legate in England, to urge the recal- citrant barons to return to their natural allegiance and gave him power to excommimicate all who con- tinued to adhere to Prince Louis of France. On 19 January, 1217, he wrote to William, Earl of Pem- broke, who w-as the young king's guardian and the regent of England, to prepare for war against Prince Louis and the faithless English barons. It was due to the severe measures taken against the barons by the papal legate that peace was finally restored and that Henry III was acknowledged the undisputed King of England on 11 September, 1217. After the death of Pemliroke in May, 1219, the regency of Eng- land was nominally in the hands of the king's min- isters; actually, however, England was ruled by Honorius III through Pandulf, who had meanwhile succeeded Gualo as papal legate in England. The influence of Honorius III continued to be paramount in England during his entire pontificate, for Henry III was still in his minority, and he as well as the barons and the people acknowledged the pope as the suzerain of the kingdom.

The untiring activity of Honorius III in the inter- ests of justice and peace was felt throughout the Christian world. In Bohemia he safeguarded the rights of the Church against the encroachments of King Ottocar, through his legate Gregorius de Cres- centio in 122.3. In Hungary he protected King Andrew II against his rebellious son Bela IV by threatening the latter with excommunication. For Denmark he effected in 1224 the liberation of its King Waldemar from the captivity in which he was held by Count Henrj' of Schwerin. In Swcflen he protected the rights of the Church against t he encroach- ments of King John, and urged celibacy upon the clergy. For the Latin Empire in the Orient he

crowned Peter of Courtenay as Emperor of Con- stantinople, in Rome on 12 April, 1217, and protected his successor Robert and King Demetrius of Thessa- lonica against Theodore Comnenus. In CjT^rus he abated the quarrels between the Greeks "and the Latins. In Spain he effected a lasting peace between Iving Ferdinand III and Alfonso IX of Leon, under- took a crusade against the Moors (121S-1219), and protected the boy-king Jaime of Aragon against Counts Sancho and Fernando. In Portugal he de- fended Archbishop Estevao Suarez against the ex- communicated King Alfonso II (1220-122;:!). In France he induced King Louis VIII to undertake a crusade against the Albigenses in 1220. He also assisted Bishop Christian of Prussia in the conversion of the pagan Prussians, and at the bishop's suggestion called upon the ecclesiastical provinces of Mainz, Magdeburg, Cologne, Salzburg, Gnesen, Lund, Bre- men, Trier, and Cam in in 1222 to prepare a crusade against them.

Honorius III was also a liberal patron of the two great mendicant orders and bestowed numerous priv- ileges upon them. He approved the Rule of St. Dominic in his Bull "Religiosam vitam", dated 22 December, 1216, and that of St. Francis in his Bull "Solet annuere", dated 29 November, 1223. Many authorities maintain that Honorius III had granted the famous Portiuncula indulgence to St. Francis as early as 1216, others hold [Kirsch in "Theologische Quartalschrift", LXXXVIII (Tiibingen, 1906), fasc. 1 and 2] that this indulgence is of later origin and that the indulgence which Honorius granted to St. Francis is essentially different from the so-called Portiuncula indulgence. On 30 January, 1226, he approved the Carmelite Order in his Bull " Ut vivendi normam". He also approved the religious congregation " Val des Ecoliers" (Vallis schokirium. Valley of scholars), which had been founded by four pious professors of theology at the University of Paris. The Bull of approbation " Exhibita nobis" is dated 7 March, 1219. The congregation was united with that of St. Gene- vieve by Innocent X in 16-16. It is remarkable that four out of the sL\ or seven saints that were canonized by Honorius III were Enghsh or Irish. On 17 May, 1218, he canonized William, Archbishop of Bourges (d. 1209); on IS February, 1220, Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln (d. 1200); on 21 January, 1224, William, Abbot of Roschild in Denmark (d. 1203); on 18 March, 1226, William, Archbishop of York (d. 1154).

He also appointed a committee to investigate the alleged miracles of the Cistercian abliot, St. Maurice of Cornoet (d. 1191). The latter was never formally canonized, but his cult dates back to the pontificate of Honorius III. His feast is celebrated by the Cister- cians on 13 October. Honorius III probably canon- ized also St. Raynerius, Bishop of Forconium, now Aquila, in Italy (d. 1077). Being a man of learning, Honorius insisted that the clergy should receive a thorough training, especially in theology. In the case of a certain Hugh whom the chapter of Chartres had elected bishop, he withheld his approbation be- cause the bishop-elect did not possess sufficient knowl- edge, "quum pateretur in litteratura defectum", as the pope states in a letter dated 8 January, 1219 (Horoy, loc. cit. infra, III, 92). Another bishop he even deprived of his office on account of illiteracy (RajTialdus, <id nnintm 1221). He bestowed various privileges upon the Universities of Paris and Bologna, the two greatest seats of learning during those times. In order to facilitate the .study of theology in dioce.ses that were distant from the gieat centres of learning, he ordered in his Bull "Super specula Domini" that some talented young men should be sent to a recog- nized theological school to study theology with the purpose of teaching it afterwards m their own dioceses.

Honorius III acquired some fame as an author. His letters, many of which are of great historical