Relations with the Church
- Pope Innocent's ties with the church is considered to the most important pope of the Middle Ages because of his choice to reform the Roman Curia. The Roman Curia gave Pope Innocent extensive authority over the Papal States, giving him authority and say over the lives of the people. He believed that no one could receive "no salvation outside the church" and by having authority over the papal states, he spead this message thoroughly.
- Another significant contiribution was his launch of three Crusades in order to retrieve the Holy Land, Jerusalem. He was the first pope to let citizens pay tribute to the crusades in placement of fighting in them; this ultimately let women and elderly partipicate.In order to combat heresy, he launched the Albigensian Crusade against southern france, gave bishops and princes the authority to punish for heresy.
- He institued policy that purified clergy behavior and restored their education, claiming that ancient custom and usuage was sinful; he is named to be one of the more progresive popes when it comes to clergy reform.
- Convoked the Fourth Lateran Council in order to retrieve the holy land and ultimately reforme the church. It ordered Jews and Saracens to wear different clothes made Catholics go to yearly confession, receive Communion, during Easter, and clarified transubstantiation as a term of echurastic doctrine.