c. 1150–1227 · Pope (1216–1227)
Pope Honorius III
Successor of Innocent III; he organised the Fifth Crusade and secured Frederick II's commitment to crusade through the Ferentino meeting of 1223 and the San Germano agreement of 1225.
BIOGRAPHICAL DOSSIER
Life and historical role
Life and political setting
From the Roman Savelli family, Cencio served for many years as camerarius in charge of papal finances and compiled the Liber censuum. He was elected pope in July 1216, immediately after Innocent III's death.
Role in the Crusades
He continued preparations for the Fifth Crusade decided at the Fourth Lateran Council and sent Cardinal Pelagius as papal legate. He tried to bring Frederick II, whose guardian he had been in his youth, into the crusade. At Ferentino in 1223 Frederick's marriage to Isabella, heiress of Jerusalem, was agreed; by the San Germano agreement of 1225 the emperor committed to set out in 1227.
Historical significance and source problems
Honorius followed a patient and conciliatory policy toward the emperor; his successor Gregory IX took a harder line. He died in March 1227. Honorius's letters give detailed information on the financing and organisation of the Fifth Crusade.
Biographical information is linked to the sources shown on the page and to the connected event records. Disputed dates are given as approximate, gaps are not filled by conjecture, and later literary or visual depictions are not treated as contemporary portraits.