Fourth Lateran Council (1215)

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Synopsis

Undoubtedly the most significant of the general church councils it was convoked by Innocent III and regarded as his greatest achievement. Intended to elevate the quality of the spiritual life of the ordinary Christian it prescribed an annual confession for the people. It made an official statement on the doctrine of the eucharist, popularising¹ the term "transubstantiate". It forbade the foundation of new religious orders and any involve of clergy in trials by ordeal.

Note:

Although the word transsubstantiatis was popularised by Lateran IV, it was in use well before then, and its very first known usage can be traced to a theological treatise written in the year 1140. See J. W. Goering, "The Invention of Transubstantiation, Traditio 46. [Thanks to William Hopkins Campbell of St Andrews University for pointing this out]

Primary Sources

	S. Kuttner & A. Garcia y Garcia, "A New Eyewitness Account of the Fourth Lateran Council," Traditio 20 (1964): 115-78.
	H.J. Schroeder. editor & Translator, Disciplinary Decrees of the General Councils: Text, Translation, and Commentary, Harry Rothwell, ed. St. Louis, MO & London, 1937.

Secondary Sources

	Robert Bartlett, Trial by Fire and Water: The Medieval Judicial Ordeal. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988. Pbk. ISBN: 0198227353. pp.192.
	B. Bolton, "'A show with a meaning': Innocent III's approach to the Fourth Lateran Council, 1215," Medieval History 1 (1991): 53-67.
	Leoanrd E. Boyle, "The Fourth Lateran Council and Manuals of Popular Theology," T.J. Hoffman, ed., The Popular Literature of Medieval England. University of Tennesee, 1985. pp.30-43.
	P.J. Dunning, "Irish Representatives and Irish Ecclesiastical Affairs at the Fourth Lateran Council," J.A. Watt, J.B. Morrall & F.X. Martin, eds., Medieval Studies Presented to A. Gwynn. Dublin, 1961. pp.90-113.
	Marion Gibbs & Jane Lang, Bishops and Reform, 1215-1272: With Special Reference to the Lateran Council of 1215. Frank Cass & Co., 1962. Reprinted: Lonodn: Routledge, 2019. ISBN: 978-0429685071. pp.216. [Sign-up to Perlego and access book instantly]
	Stephen Kuttner & Antonia Garcia y Garcia, "A New Eyewitness Account of the Fourth Lateran Council," Traditio 20 (1964): 115-78.
	F. Donald Logan, A History of the Church in the Middle Ages. London & New York: Routledge, 2002. Pbk. ISBN: 0415132894. pp.193-201. [Sign-up to Perlego and access book instantly]
	Alexander Murray, "Confession before 1215," Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 6th series, 3 (1993): 51-81.
	Paul B. Pixton, The German Episcopacy and the Implementation of the Decrees of the Fourth Lateran Council, 1216-1245: Watchmen on the Tower. Studies in the History of Christian Thought. Leiden: E J Brill, 1994. Hbk. ISBN: 9004102620. pp.543.
	Fiona Robb, "The Fourth Lateran Council's Definition of Trinitarian Orthodoxy," Journal of Ecclesiastical History 48.1 (1997): 22-43.
	John Shinners & William J. Dohar, eds., Pastors and the Care of Souls in Medieval England. Notre Dame Texts in Medieval Culture. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1998. Pbk. ISBN: 0268038503. pp.360.
	Norman P Tanner, The Councils of the Church: A Short History. The Crossroad Publishing Company, 2001. Pbk. ISBN: 0824519043. pp.144.

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