How important was Innocent the III in changing the nature of crusading from 1187-1205?

Pope Innocent III was devoted to the nature of crusading, contributing more to the movement than any other individual, excluding Urban II. He was particularly interested in developing a papal monarchy to obtain a plenitude of power for the papacy. Whilst he was able to change the nature of crusading to a certain extent, predominantly through management, there were other factors, most importantly changes in society as a whole, which lead to fundamental changes. Innocent issued the papal bull Post Miserabile in august 1198. Within this bull he requested that a truce be made for five years between Philip of France and Richard of England, also asking Philip to contribute mercenaries to the crusading movement. He made it clear that authority, especially in the early stages, was to lie entirely in his hands. This lead to him taking more of a lead role than other Popes involved with crusading, such as Gregory the VIII, who were mainly only concerned with calling and preaching the crusades. Through his papal bull he summoned crusaders to two years service, creating a contract. This changes the nature of crusading as it meant there was no way of backing out after crucensignati, making it a more binding commitment. For example in the third crusade such a contract may have prevented 80% of the German army returning home when Barbarossa was killed. One of the most crucial changes that Innocent initiated was imposing clerical taxation in Graves Orientalis Terrae which forced an obligatory income tax of a fortieth, this was introduced because the church recognised that some people couldnt afford to go on crusade and the money was used to send them as long as they agreed to stay in the holy land for at least a year. This differed from previous crusades as before people were expected to sell literally any belongings of worth to raise their own funds for crusading. One aspect of crusading that Innocent changed radically was the motivations behind the m movement. He turned the vow to crusade into a moral imperative for Christians, removing the idea of it being voluntary. Innocent was recorded to have said those men who refuse to take partwill have to answer to us on this matter in the presence of the Dreadful Judge on the last day of severe judgement. By suggesting not only indulgences for those who took the cross, but also punishment for those who refused, he made the crusade much less about personal penitential pilgrimage and more about the fear of consequence if one failed to go on crusade. This contrasts with Gregory VIIIs papal bull Audita Tremendi, in the third crusade, which is much more focused on the material benefits of the pilgrimage for each individual involved. Innocent was also a trained lawyer which meant his rhetoric was effective. Despite being exceedingly involved with the crusades he called, Innocent didnt come to the papal throne with any preconceived plan for crusading. All in all he allowed only six months of planning time for complete preparation. Comparative to Richard Is extensive planning on the third crusade, which involved using his subjects to supply him with what he needed such as bread and pig carcuses, this time scale seems inconceivable for a crusade of its magnitude. By leaving little time for planning Innocent sped up the process of crusading and made people realise that such widespread and drawn out preparation was unnecessary.

However, the ultimate aim of the crusade, to capture Egypt, remained similar to previous crusades which endeavoured to capture lands that not only hold holy significance but also give long term strategic and financial strength. The original aim of the fourth crusade had been Jerusalem but it had to be changes as the truce, formed on 1st July 1198, between Jerusalem and al-Adil was to last for five years, making a direct crusade to Palestine inappropriate. Innocent didnt attempt to change any part of this conquering motive which had inspired crusades to occur since 1097. Although he enforces it more strongly than previous popes the religious part of crusading stays in tact throughout the crusading period. Innocent himself believed in apostolic poverty and was a very humble and pious man who lead a crusade that was, at least partially, inspired by religious zeal. Although the religious aspects diminish as the crusading period continues, particularly in the third crusade where materialism takes over, it still holds an important purpose for crusade. Innocent manages to re-instigate the original religious fervour back into crusading through making it a Christian compulsion. Doge Dandalo tricked the crusaders by forcing them into buying too much from the Venetians. This then meant that the crusaders were in debt to Venice and they made a deal that if they went on crusade with the Venetians to Byzantine their debt would be forgotten. In effect the Doge forced the crusaders into a different type of crusade than the one they originally set out to do, changing crusading without involving Innocent III. Overall, Innocent crucially changed the nature of crusading through his management. He made it more precise and effective in terms of planning and persuaded many more people to take the cross by creating a moral imperative. However, not all changes to crusading were down to Innocent, as shown by Doge Dandalo, and not all aspects of crusading were altered.