Innocent's activity. But the many-sided Pope did not ignore the
religious wants of the Church. His crusade against heresy was no mere
war against enemies of the wealth and power of the Church. The new
tendencies that were to transform the spiritual life of the thirteenth
century were not strange to him. He favored the early work of Dominic;
he had personal dealings with Francis, and showed his sympathy with
the early work of the poor man of Assisi. But it is as the conqueror
and organizer rather than the priest or prophet that Innocent made his
mark in the Church. It is significant that, with all his greatness, he
never attained the honors of sanctity.

Toward the end of his life, Innocent held a general council in the
basilica of St. John Lateran. A vast gathering of bishops heads of
orders, and secular dignitaries gave brilliancy to the gathering and
enhanced the glory of the Pontiff. Enthroned over more than four
hundred bishops, the Pope proudly declared the law to the world. "Two
things we have specially to heart," wrote Innocent, in summoning the
assembly, "the deliverance of the Holy Land and the reform of the
Church Universal." In its vast collection of seventy canons, the
Lateran Council strove hard to carry out the Pope's programme. It
condemned the dying heresies of the Albigenses and the Cathari, and
prescribed the methods and punishments of the unrepentant heretic. It
strove to rekindle zeal for the crusade. It drew up a drastic scheme
for reforming the internal life and discipline of the Church. It
strove to elevate the morals and the learning of the clergy, to check
their worldliness and covetousness, and to restrain them from abusing
the authority of the Church through excess of zeal or more corrupt
motives. It invited bishops to set up free schools to teach poor
scholars grammar and theology. It forbade trial by battle and trial by
ordeal. It subjected the existing monastic orders to stricter