56 Law and Morality Abroad (to ca. ad 1550)kingdom of France under an interdict in 1200, the Duchy of Normandy in
1203, and the Kingdom of En gland in 1208– 14. King John of En gland, how-
ever, retaliated by confi scating church properties within his realm.
Th e popes also claimed a general right of intervention to prevent or coun-
teract the commission of sin. In technical terms, this was known as a juris-
diction pro ratione peccati. Innocent III claimed this power in 1204, in a
decretal entitled Novit Ille. Th e immediate context was a complaint by King
John of En gland against King Philip II of France for breach of a peace treaty
between the two kings. On the basis of this general right “to recall [sinners]
from vice to virtue,” Innocent assumed jurisdiction over the dispute.
Analogous to the jurisdiction pro ratione peccati was the claim by the
popes to a general right to prevent or punish violations of natural law. Th is
was, in a way, the most interesting of all of the powers claimed by the pa-
pacy, since it clearly amounted to a claim of truly universal jurisdiction for
the popes— over pagans and infi dels as well as Christians. Th is thesis was
advanced in the thirteenth century by Innocent IV.
Perhaps the most sweeping claim made by the popes was to an inherent
superiority over secular powers in general— entailing a right to depose rulers
for misconduct. Th is right was fi rst asserted in systematic form by Pope
Gregory VII in the eleventh century— and soon put to the test. Gregory
twice took action against Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, both times com-
bining the sanctions of excommunication and deposition. Th e fi rst occasion
was in 1076, when Gregory deposed Henry as emperor, with a separate act
of excommunication following shortly aft er. Henry countered by purport-
ing to depose Gregory as pope. On this occasion, Henry yielded and made
his famous journey to Canossa to plead for, and receive, forgiveness and re-
instatement from the pope. Henry’s need to deal with a Saxon rebellion in
Germany seems to have provided a large part of his incentive to mend fences
with Gregory. Soon aft erward, when Henry had shored up his position
within the empire, there was another falling- out between the two, with a
second excommunication and deposition by Gregory in 1080. Th is time,
there was no show of humility on Henry’s part. He responded by driving the
pope out of Rome.
Later popes followed Gregory’s lead, or at least attempted to. In 1206,
Pope Innocent III deposed and excommunicated Count Raymond of Tou-
louse for giving support to heretics. It has been observed that Innocent IV