Synopsis
Undoubtedly the most significant of the general church
councils it was convoked by Innocent III and
regarded as his greatest achievement. Intended to elevate the quality of the
spiritual life of the ordinary Christian it prescribed an annual confession for
the people. It made an official statement on the doctrine of the eucharist, popularising1 the term "transubstantiate". It forbade the
foundation of new religious orders and any involve of clergy in trials by
ordeal.
Note:
Although
the word transsubstantiatis was popularised by Lateran IV, it was in use
well before then, and its very first known usage can be traced to a theological
treatise written in the year 1140. See J. W. Goering, "The Invention of
Transubstantiation, Traditio 46. [Thanks to William Hopkins Campbell of
St Andrews University for pointing this out]
 |
S. Kuttner
& A. Garcia y Garcia, "A New Eyewitness Account of the Fourth Lateran
Council," Traditio 20 (1964): 115-78. |
 |
H.J.
Schroeder. editor & Translator, Disciplinary Decrees of the General
Councils: Text, Translation, and Commentary, Harry Rothwell, ed. St. Louis,
MO & London, 1937. |
 |
Robert
Bartlett, Trial by Fire and Water: The Medieval Judicial Ordeal. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1988. Pbk. ISBN: 0198227353. pp.192. |
 |
B. Bolton,
"'A show with a meaning': Innocent III's approach to the Fourth Lateran
Council, 1215," Medieval History 1 (1991): 53-67. |
 |
Leoanrd E.
Boyle, "The Fourth Lateran Council and Manuals of Popular Theology," T.J.
Hoffman, ed., The Popular Literature of Medieval England. University of
Tennesee, 1985. pp.30-43. |
 |
P.J. Dunning,
"Irish Representatives and Irish Ecclesiastical Affairs at the Fourth Lateran
Council," J.A. Watt, J.B. Morrall & F.X. Martin, eds., Medieval Studies
Presented to A. Gwynn. Dublin, 1961. pp.90-113. |
 |
Marion
Gibbs & Jane Lang, Bishops and Reform, 1215-1272: With Special Reference
to the Lateran Council of 1215. Frank Cass & Co., 1962. Hbk. ISBN:
0714614769. |
 |
Stephen
Kuttner & Antonia Garcia y Garcia, "A New Eyewitness Account of the Fourth
Lateran Council," Traditio 20 (1964): 115-78. |
 |
F. Donald Logan, A History of the Church
in the Middle Ages. London & New York: Routledge, 2002. Pbk. ISBN:
0415132894. pp.193-201. |
 |
Alexander
Murray, "Confession before 1215," Transactions of the Royal Historical
Society, 6th series, 3 (1993): 51-81. |
 |
Paul
B. Pixton, The German Episcopacy and the Implementation of the Decrees of
the Fourth Lateran Council, 1216-1245: Watchmen on the Tower. Studies in
the History of Christian Thought. Leiden: E J Brill, 1994. Hbk. ISBN:
9004102620. pp.543. |
 |
Fiona Robb,
"The Fourth Lateran Council's Definition of Trinitarian Orthodoxy," Journal
of Ecclesiastical History 48.1 (1997): 22-43. |
 |
John Shinners & William J.
Dohar, eds., Pastors and the Care of Souls in Medieval England. Notre Dame
Texts in Medieval Culture. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press,
1998. Pbk. ISBN: 0268038503. pp.360. |
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Fourth
Lateran Council: 1215 (Norman P. Tanner) |
 |
Norman P Tanner, The Councils of the
Church: A Short History. The Crossroad Publishing Company, 2001. Pbk. ISBN:
0824519043. pp.144. |
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