Vows, Debt, and Pontifical Control of Exchanges in the Early Thirteenth Century

Abstract

Between 1190 and 1234, from the first compilations of pontifical decretal letters up to theLiber Extra, the pontificate acquired power over the management of debts. This article provides a detailed analysis of theLiber Extrasection on vows, which offered a means of exchanging spiritual and temporal matters: vows, especially those concerning crusades, were offered, bartered, and redeemed. Innocent III played a significant role: for him, pontifical power was neither directly absolute nor contractual, but arbitrational. However, he had to compromise with more strictly centralizing forces in the Curia, which triumphed in theLiber Extra. This work, ordered by Gregory IX, served as the unstable but long-lasting basis for monarchical laws.