The image is taken from the Vatican Archives Register 5 at the beginning of Innocent III's sixth year (1203), at the time when he began to plan for the Fourth Crusade. The illustration shows Innocent, flanked by a cardinal and standing on two figures who were most likely scribes who entered papal letters into the registers.

1.  The eleventh century was an Age of Reform.  Discuss the issues that the reformers of the Church wanted to confront.  Compare and contrast the problems of the Church in the eleventh century with the problems that the Church faces today.   What issues did Pope Gregory VII think were most important for reforming the Church?  How successful was he in carrying out his program for reform?  What were the most significant results of the Gregorian reform movement in the twelfth century?

2. In the period between 1150 and the end of Pope Innocent III's pontificate, the key issue that faced the Latin West was the role of the bishop of Rome in the power structures of society.  Beginning with Thomas Becket, continuing through Magna Carta,  the Fourth Crusade, and finishing with the policies Innocent III, discuss the role of the pope in Christian Latin society. 

Essay is due on December 14, 2002