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176th Roman Pontiff
Innocent III
INNOCENTIVS Tertius
Lotario dei Conti di Segni
176th Successor of St Peter · 1198–1216 · Italy · b. Gavignano, Papal States
1198
Elected
1216
Reign ended
18 years
Length
12th
Century
The Life
Subject and later the sovereign of the Papal States. Convened the Fourth Council of the Lateran (1215).
Initiated the Fourth Crusade but later distanced himself from it and threatened its participants with excommunication when its leadership abandoned their focus on conquest of the Holy Land and instead decided to sack Christian cities. Endorsed the Franciscan Order.
Portrait: Carlo Raso / Wikimedia Commons