Innocent III, Register 5, no. 102    Po. 1947 
Sixth Pontifical Year 

3 Comp. and Bern. Alanus = Text Common to the Three Collections 
Alanus = Text only in Alanus 
Text not in any canonical collection
  Return to Innocent III and the Ius commune
 
Rubric Paterfamilias 
Gregory VII  27-34		 Venetians 44-54 Exegesis 55-88 Foraging 
'undecumque' 97-104		 Necessity 116-117
 
 
Consilium quod dominus papa Innocentius misit crucesignatis sine bulla  

Si vere vos penitet de commisso et plene proponitis satisfacere de peccato, Deum vobis credimus, immo novimus, iam placatum.  Si vero Veneti potuerint ad satisfactionem induci et absolutionis beneficium meruerint obtinere, secure cum eis navigare poteritis et prelium Domini preliari.  Quodsi nec satisfacere forte voluerint nec absolvi, utpote qui non dolere sed gaudere dicuntur potius de commisso, permittimus vobis ut cum ipsis usque in terram Sarracenorum vel Ierosolimitanam provinciam, iuxta quod inter vos convenit et ipsos vel honeste convenerit, navigio transeatis, quanto minus poteritis, cum dolore tamen et amaritudine cordis et sub spe venie, communicantes eisdem. 
 

  
 

Consilium that the Lord Pope Innocent sent to the crusaders without a seal 

If you have truly repented of your sins and propose to render satisfaction fully for them, we believe, rather we know, you will now be reconciled to God.  If, therefore, the Venetians could be induced to render satisfaction and if they would merit the benefit of absolution, you could sail with them securely and fight the battle of the Lord.  If they do not, indeed, want to render satisfaction and do not want to be absolved, as those who are said to rejoice in their sins rather than repent them, we permit you to sail with them to the land of the Sarracens or to the province of Jerusalem.  You should agree on this among yourselves and with the Venetians honestly, and you may make the passage by boat.  However, you should communicate with them as little as you can and with sorrow and sadness in your hearts and with the hope of forgiveness.  
 
 
 
Cum enim iam a vobis maiorem nauli receperint quantitatem nec ad eam possint restituendam induci aut etiam coartari: si aliter fieret, videremini vos dampnum ex penitentia, ipsi autem premium ex contumacia reportare, cum ad hoc debitum exolvendum ipsi vobis maneant obligati et ab excommunicatis exigi possit et recipi, quod debetur.  Est autem cautum in iure, quod si quisquam per terram hereticorum aut quorumlibet excommunicatorum transierit, necessaria emere ac recipere poterit ab eisdem.  Preterea si paterfamilias domus excommunicationis sententia fuerit innodatus, a participatione ipsius familia excusatur. Licet ergo . . dux Venetorum, dominus navium, tamquam paterfamilias domus in excommunicatione persistat, vos tamen tamquam ipsius familiam, dum in navibus eius fueritis, ipsius excommunicatio non continget et excusabiles eritis apud Deum, si in excommunicatorum navibus existentes cum dolore cordis sub spe penitentie communicaveritis ipsis, in quibus communionem eorum nequiveritis evitare. Since, moreover, the Venetians have received a great quantity of  money for your passage from you, and since they cannot be induced to refund it or forced to return it, if it would be decided otherwise, we would seem to injure you for your penance and give them a reward for their contumacy <if we forbade you to take passage with them>.  They remain obligated to fulfil their debt to you, and one may demand and one may receive from excommunicates what is owed.  It is moreover provided by law  that when anyone travels through the lands of heretics or excommunicates, a traveler can buy and receive those things that are necessary.  Therefore if a sentence of excommunication were levied on the paterfamilias of the home, his family would be excused from participation in the excommunication.  Although the doge of the Venetians, the lord of the ships, as the paterfamilias of the home persists in his excommunication, while you will have been on his ships, his excommunication does not touch you.  You will be excused in heaven if you sail on the Venetians' ships with a heart full of sorrow, that you communicate with them with the hope that they will do penance and that your communication with them cannot be avoided. 
 
Verum cum vel in terram Sarracenorum vel Ierosolimitanam provinciam de navibus descendere vos continget, nisi Veneti ad satisfaciendum et recipiendum iuxta formam ecclesie absolutionis beneficium inducti [fuerint] vel compulsi, cum eis nullatenus presumatis prelium Domini preliari, ne, si eis habentibus aliquid de anathemate in crucis insurrexeritis inimicos, non prevaleatis in eos, sed terga vertentes fugiatis potius et cadatis. When you arrive in the lands of the Sarracens or in the province of Jerusalem and disembark from their ships, unless the Venetians have been induced or compelled to give satisfaction and to receive the gift of absolution according to the forms of the church, do not presume to wage the battle of the Lord with them.  Otherwise, if you may do battle against the enemies of the cross with the Venetians  still being subject to condemnation, you may not prevail but fail when you turn your backs and flee.
 
Nam in libro Iosue legitur, quod cum Achor filius Carmy pallium coccineum valde bonum et ducentos siclos argenti regulamque auream quinquaginta siclorum de Iericho anathemate rapuisset, iratus est Dominus Israeli.  Unde cum adversus urbem Hai ascendissent tria milia pugnatorum statim terga vertentes percussi sunt a viris urbis Hai et corruerunt ex eis triginta et VI homines, persecutique sunt eos adversarii de porta usque Sabarym et ceciderunt per prona fugientes.  Nec prius Dominus urbem Hai in manus tradidit Israel, quam Achar populus lapidavit et omnia, que illius fuerunt, igne consumpsit.  In Paralippomenon etiam, cum Iosaphat rex Iuda cum Ochozia rege Israel, cuius opera pessima fuerant, amicitias inivisset fecissentque naves, que irent Tharsys,  Heliezer filius Dodau de Maressa ad Iosaphat prophetasse legitur et dixisse: "Quia habuisti fedus cum Ochozia, percussit Dominus opera tua, contriteque sunt naves nec potuerunt ire in Tharsis."  In libro autem Machabeorum legitur, quod cum Iudas contra Gorgiam prepositum Idumee cum tribus milibus peditum et quadringentis equitibus ascendisset, in congressu contigit paucos ruere Iudeorum.  Cumque postmodum Iudas postratorum corpora in paternis sepulcris ponere voluisset, invenit de idolorum donariis, que apud Iampniam fuerant et a quibus prohibet lex Iudeos, sub tunicis occisorum.  Factum est igitur omnibus manifestum ob hanc causam eos qui ruerant corruisse.  
 

For in the book of Josuha it is read that Achor, son of Carmi, took from the condemned plunder of Jericho  a good red cloak, two hundred silver pieces and a fifty weight bar of gold, the Lord of Israel was angry [Joshua 7:21].  Consequently when the three thousand Israelites ascended to the city of Hai, they immediately turned their backs and were struck down by the men of the city of Hai.  Thirty-six men of Israel were slain.  The men of Hai pursued them from the gate of the city to Sabarim and cut them down as they ran down the slopes [Josuha 7:4-5].  The Lord did not deliver the city of Hai into the hands of the Israelites until the people had stoned Achor and had burned all his belongings [Josuha 7:25-26].  In Paralipomena Josaphat, the king of Juda, made an alliance of friendship with Ochozias, king of Israel, whose deeds were evil, to build a fleet to send to Tharsis.   Eliezer, son of Dodau from Maresa, it is read, prophesied saying: "Because you have a pact with Ochozias, the Lord has destroyed your plans and wasted your ships.  They will not sail to Tharsis [2 Paralip. 20:35-37].  It is also read in the book of the Machabees that when Judas set out against Gorgias, the provost  of Idumaea with three thousand foot soldiers and four hundred horsemen, the battle was fought and a few Jews died.  When the bodies of the slain were gathered and brought to the tombs of their fathers, they found gifts of the idols that were from Idumaea under their tunics.  The law prohibited the Jews from wearing them.  It is clear to all in these matters that for this reason those who fail, fail together. 
 
 
Ne autem victualia vobis desint, karissimo in Christo filio nostro . . imperatori Constantinopolitano scribemus, ut iuxta quod per litteras suas nobis ipse promisit, victualia vobis faciat exhiberi.  Quodsi forsan ea vobis contingeret denegari, cum vos devoveritis ad commune obsequium Crucifixi, cuius terra et plenitudo eius, orbis terrarum, et universi qui habitant in ea, posset utique non absurdum videri ad similitudinem imperatoris  terreni, de quo cautum est in iure civili, quod si eius exercitus indiguerit alimentis, ea poterit accipere undecumque, possitis et vos cum timore Domini sub satisfaciendi proposito ad necessitatem tantum ea sine personarum accipere lesione. In order that you will not be without food, we will write to our most beloved son in Christ, the emperor in Constantinople, and according to his letters he has promised us that he will provide food for you.  And if it may happen that those things may be denied to you, since you have devoted yourselves to the common service of the cross, whose is the land and its plenty, whose is the  world and all those who live in it, it may not seem absurd that you may, remembering to fear the Lord, take those things with the intention of making reparations and only those things that are necessary, without any injury of persons.  In this you may imitate the earthly emperor, concerning whom it is provided for in civil law that if his army were in need of food,  it can gather provisions from anywhere.
 
In libro namque Iudicum reperitur, quod cum Gedeon Zebee et Salmana reges Madian persequeretur instanter et primo a viris Sochot ac secundo ab habitatoribus Phanuel panes pro populo, qui secum venerat et iam quasi defecerat, postulasset, quia ei quod postulaverat denegarunt, victor reversus tulit seniores civitatis Sochot et spinas deserti ac tribulos et contrivit cum eis atque comminuit viros Sochot.  Turrim quoque Phanuel subvertit occisis habitatoribus civitatis.  

Necessitas enim, maxime cum insistitur operi necessario, multum et in multis excusat.  Cum enim Dominus sabbato per sata transiret et vellerent discipuli eius spicas ac manducarent manibus confricantes, quidamque Phariseorum in discipulos: "Quid facitis, quod non licet in sabbatis" proclamarent, Iesus ei legitur respondisse: "Nec hoc legistis, quod fecit David cum esuriret ipse et qui cum eo erant, quomodo venit in domum Dei et panes propositionis sumpsit et manducavit et dedit hiis, qui cum ipso erant, quos non licebat nisi tantum sacerdotibus manducare."   Et consequenter adiecit, quia Filius hominis dominus est etiam sabbati.  Sed et hoc negotium Filii hominis est et prelium Domini quod intenditis preliari.

  
 

In the Book of Judges it is found that when Gideon was pursuing kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna vigorously, and asked first the men of Succoth, and secondly the inhabitants of Penuel, for bread to feed his people who were with him and were almost exhausted, because they denied him what he had asked, when he returned victoriously he carried out the old men of Succoth and with the thorns and thistles of the desert he destroyed and crushed the men of Succoth.  He also destroyed the tower of Penuel and killed the inhabitants of the city.  
Necessity, especially when justifying necessary actions, excuses much in many things. 
 When, moreover, the Lord walked through cornfields on the Sabbath and his disciples picked ears of corn and ate them as they rubbed them between their hands, certain Pharisees said to the disciples: "What are you doing?  That is not permitted on the Sabbath," they proclaimed.  Jesus, it is read, responded: "Have you not read what David did when he and those with him who were hungry,  went into the house of God, and David took the bread set out there and ate them, and gave it to those who were with him, even though the bread was only to be eaten by the priests?"  Jesus then added: "Because the Son of man is Lord also over the Sabbath."  You, moreover,  intend to struggle with the affairs of the Son of man and fight the battles of the Lord.
 
Hec autem exempla de scripturis sanctis induximus, non ut concedamus rapinam, sed ut toleremus, quod ex gravi necessitate sine grandi dispendio vitari non possit.  Provideatis autem prudenter et caute, ut, si forte Veneti voluerint occasiones aliquas invenire, quod exercitus dissolvatur, multa pro tempore dissimulare ac tolerare curetis, donec ad locum perveneritis destinatum, ubi oportunitate accepta eorum, ut expedit, malitiam comprimatis. 
 
 

<Sine loco et anno (Ferentino, 20 June, 1203?)>.

  We bring forward these examples from the Holy Scriptures not because we would permit pillage, but that we would be tolerant of those things which could not be avoided without great loss and under the pressure of grave necessity.  Therefore you should prudently and cautiously plan that, if indeed the Venetians want to find some reasons for which the army may be disbanded, you should tolerate many things and dissimulate for a time, until you arrive at your destination, where, having accepted their plans and willfulness,  as it was expedient, you must curb their malice. 
 
 
Canonical Collections that included the consilium: Alan.  5.21.6; Alan.  (2nd rec.)  5.22.10;  Bern 5.22.13; Collectio Fuld.  5.21.34; 3 Comp.  5.21.7( X 5.39.34).  Bern.'s text is the same as 3 Comp. and X.  Alanus included the section on food but omitted all the biblical arguments. 

Innocent III, Pope. Die Register Innocenz' III. 6: 6. Pontifikatsjahr, 1203/1204, Texte und Indices. Ed. Othmar Hageneder, John C. Moore, and Andrea Sommerlechner with Christoph Egger and Herwig Weigl. Publikationen des Historischen Instituts beim Österreichischen Kulturinstitut in Rom. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1995.  No.  102, pp.  165-168 
Translated by K. Pennington 

On this text see Alfred J. Andrea and Ilona Motsiff, "Pope Innocent III and the Diversion of the Fourth Crusade Army to Zara," Byzantinoslavica: Revue internationale des études Byzantines 33 (1972) 6-25, at 23-25, Alfred J. Andrea, "Conrad of Krosigk, Bishop of Halbertstadt, Crusader and Monk of Sittichenbach: His Ecclesiastical Career, 1184-1225" Analecta cisterciensia 43 (1987) 11-91, at pp.  28-29, and  Donald E. Queller and Thomas F. Madden, The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople (2nd Ed. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997) 90-92.