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Abstract
Western Christendom was developing a growing pattern of intolerance during the eleventh and twelfth centuries toward groups of people who were considered as ‘other’ and pushed to the fringes of society. Heretics and Jews were always included among those people viewed with suspicion, oftentimes suffering violence and persecution. The pontificate of Innocent III proved to be a turning point at which the Jews began to experience a steady decline. This study examines the possible motivation and influence of Innocent III in relationship to Canons 67 through 70 of the Fourth Lateran Council, which imposed harsher restrictions upon the Jews, and proved pivotal in their deterioration and persecution within Western Christendom.
This study first examines the developments in Church reform, growth of heresy, development of papal authority, and Church policy concerning the Jews during the twelfth century. A comparative study of the First, Second, and Third Lateran Councils establishes a common thread of Church reform and Church policies toward heretics and Jews. Possible background influences upon Innocent III are examined in relationship to family and education, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Joachim of Fiore.
Under the leadership of Innocent III, the attempted reforms of the Fourth Lateran Council gave more strength and unity to the organizational structure and application of Church doctrines and teachings. The development of the papal monarchy, its bureaucracy, canon law and courts increasingly infused the Church into the entire fabric of medieval society, creating an awareness among the people of the societas christiana. This consciousness led to the exclusion and persecution of heretics and Jews who were perceived as enemies of the societas christiana.
The monastic theologians Bernard of Clairvaux and Joachim of Fiore proved to be influential upon the reform ideas of Innocent III. The apocalyptic thinking of Joachim of Fiore affected Innocent III's concern and resolve for the imminent conversion of the Jews. No evidence exists that Innocent III initiated Canons 67 through 70 of the Fourth Lateran Council, but they did act as a catalyst which the pope viewed as an opportunity to bring about social and economic pressures that would facilitate the conversion of the Jews.