‘Serpent in the Dust: Sparrow on the Housetop’: Attitudes to Jerusalem and the Holy Land in the Circle of Pope Innocent III

Abstract

Shortly after his election on 8 January 1198, one of the earliest duties of the youthful and energetic new pope, Innocent III (1198-1216), was to inform the ecclesiastical and lay rulers of Christendom of his succession following the death of his predecessor, the nonagenarian Celestine III (1191-98). His immediate task, therefore, was to undertake a ‘mail-shot’ of a series of personal letters announcing that he had been so chosen. One recipient of such a missive was Aimery the Monk, Patriarch of Jerusalem (1194/97-1202), who was suffering, together with others, the dire consequences of recent events in the Holy Land. Given these circumstances, Innocent’s letter to Aimery was couched in somewhat mild and unexpectedly innocuous language. All he did was to assure the Patriarch of his papal solicitude and to promise that one of his many future duties as pope would be to attempt a resolution of the Holy Land problem. It would be through God’s help and with fasting, tears, and prayers, that the people of the Holy Land might expect to be freed. Eighteen years later they were still waiting.