The First Council of Lyons
The Cathedral of St. John, Lyons · June–July 1245 · convened by Innocent IV · a pope sits in judgment on an emperor.
Innocent IV had fled Rome to escape the Emperor Frederick II, and summoned the council to Lyons, beyond the emperor’s reach. Attendance was small, perhaps a hundred and fifty bishops. The council’s business was dominated by the pope’s quarrel with Frederick, whom Innocent charged with perjury, sacrilege, and suspicion of heresy.
On July 17, 1245, Innocent pronounced Frederick deposed and released his subjects from their oaths of allegiance. The council also lamented the loss of Jerusalem, taken by the Khwarazmians in August 1244, and called for a crusade, which Louis IX of France led three years later.
Principal Acts
- Deposed the Emperor Frederick II and absolved his subjects of their allegiance.
- Mourned the loss of Jerusalem and proclaimed a new crusade.
- Sought aid for the Latin Empire of Constantinople and defense against the Mongols.
Why It Matters
The deposition rested on the claim that the pope may unmake kings. That claim did not die with Frederick. In 1570 Pius V used it against Elizabeth I in the bull Regnans in excelsis, and it was one reason English Protestants regarded loyalty to Rome and loyalty to the Crown as incompatible.
Numbering. Rome reckons this the thirteenth ecumenical council. Protestants do not count it ecumenical.
The Medieval Councils
- 1123Lateran I
- 1139Lateran II
- 1179Lateran III
- 1215Lateran IV
- 1245Lyons I
- 1274Lyons II
- 1311Vienne
- 1409Pisa
- 1414Constance
- 1431Basel–Ferrara–Florence
- 1512Lateran V
- 1545Trent
