Innocent III’s Islam policy combined crusade, legal restriction, and missionary work

Evidence

Innocent was a lawyer and legislator, and one of his major concerns was to forge a coherent and effective policy toward non-Catholics: Greek and oriental Christians, heretics, Jews, and Muslims. In his letters to Muslim rulers, Innocent (like his predecessors) invited them to embrace the Christian faith. Toward Islam, Innocent was relentless in urging a three-pronged attack: crusade against Muslim principalities, legal restrictions on Muslims living in Christian territories, and mission to Muslims everywhere. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1007

Categorization

• XREF: The three-pronged strategy foreshadows the ‘sword, law, and word’ division of labor later codified in Iberian legal texts and in Tolan’s own argument across this book.