Innocent IV | Papal Bull, confirming the powers of the Franciscans against heresy, with seal, 1254riars Minor

Innocent IV—Papal Bull

Contemporary notarial copy of a papal Bull issued on behalf of Pope Innocent IV at the Lateran, c. 33 x 26 cm, on vellum, granting powers to inquisitors of the Order of Friars Minor and preachers, dated 20 March 1254, 15 lines, in 13th-century papal minuscule written by the imperial notary Roland, seal still affixed and in good condition; folds visible, a few small holes where document was folded, one hole in head-margin of document.

A PAPAL BULL THAT FORMED PART OF THE FIGHT AGAINST HERESY UNDER INNOCENT IV. Issued only two years after the infamous bull Ad extirpanda (15 May 1252) that authorised and legalised torture of heretics — “although one must stop short of danger to life or limb” (BRP 1858) — the bull at hand delegated power to Franciscan inquisitors (l.2 ordine fratrem minorum) and preachers in the fight against heresy. The bull is nearly identical to a bull promulgated on the 23 March (BFRP number DXXXII) issued only three days after our document. The edict at hand contains a full notarial authentication clause by the imperial notary Roland, making this copy a notarised exemplum copied from the original papal edict. The document is countersigned by numerous witnesses.

This bull authorises the members of the Order of Friars Minor to grant absolution from ecclesiastical censures, dispense clergy from irregularities, commute crusade vows (here the crusade against heretics rather than the ongoing seventh crusade in the Holy Land), and extend indulgences to crusaders, permit sacraments during interdict, and redirect confiscated or illicit goods toward anti-heresy efforts (if rightful owners cannot be established). The privileges granted by the decree are in line with the traditional inquisitorial powers delegated by Innocent IV during the increased campaigns against heresy in the mid-13th century.

With his ascent to the apostolic seat on 25 June 1243 Innocent IV (formerly Sinibaldo de Fieschi) was embroiled in power struggles abroad and at home; having inherited the feud with emperor Frederick II from his predecessor and fearing abduction, he had to flee Rome in 1244 only a year into his papacy. His papal reign was far from peaceful, with Mongol invasion threatening the borders of the Christianised world, the loss of Jerusalem to Muslim forces in 1244, and continuing strife with the Holy Roman emperor, culminating in the Battle of Foggia. Only a few days after the defeat of the papal forces at Foggia by Manfred of Sicily, half-brother to the late Holy Roman emperor Conrad IV, Innocent IV died, concluding the dramatic last year of his papacy.

PROVENANCE:

Issued by Pope Innocent IV at the Lateran 20 March 1254; Sale, Christie's, 3 December 1986, lot 281 

LITERATURE:

“Innocent IV (1243-1254), Anno 1254. die 23. Martii.” Telma - Bullarium Franciscanum romanorum pontificum (permalink: https://telma-chartes.irht.cnrs.fr/bullarium-franciscan.php/152367); BFRP, Bullarium Franciscanum romanorum pontificum, tomus I ab Honorio III ad Innocentium IIII, Rome, 1759, n°DXXXII., pp.714-715. https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb10940308?page=762; BRP, Bull Ad Extirpanda (Bullarium Romanorum Pontificum, vol. 3, eds. A. Tomassetti, S. Franco, H. Fory, H. Dalmazzo, Turin 1858, Lex 25, p.556a