Honorius III, Gregory IX, and the earliest documents on the Rosary (Pontifical Doctrine IV, nos. 122-131)
## Papal Collectio on Marian Doctrine and the Rosary (1216-1254)
**Papas:** Honorius III (1216-1227), Gregory IX (1227-1241), Innocent IV (1243-1254), Urban IV (1261-1264), Gregory X (1271-1276), Nicholas III/IV, Benedict XI (1303-1304)
**Concils:** Second Council of Lyon (1274)
Honorius III (1216-1227)
Honorius III approved the Rule of Saint Dominic (1216) and the Rule of Saint Francis (1223), both founders of orders that significantly contributed to medieval Mariology and the Rosary. While his pontificate did not produce numbered Marian documents in *Doctrina Pontificia IV*, it was within this ecclesiastical context that 13th-century Marian devotions flourished.
Gregory IX (1227-1241)
Gregory IX, the pope who canonized Saint Francis and Saint Dominic, actively promoted Marian devotion among mendicant orders. His pontificate lacked specific numbered documents but it was within this context that Saint Dominic (already canonized) began to be associated, in hagiographical traditions, with the Rosary as its creator.
Urban IV (1261-1264), nn. 126-127
The pope who established the feast of Corpus Christi (1264, featuring Saint Thomas Aquinas’s hymn *Pange Lingua*) also authored the first papal document on the Rosary. Numbered 127, it states:
> “…the recitation of the Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary, commonly known as the Rosary, helps and refreshes the faithful in contemplating the mysteries of faith through the interposed Angelic Salutations.”
Second Council of Lyon (1274), n. 128: Marian Creed
The Second Council of Lyon (1274), chaired by Gregory X who invited Saint Thomas Aquinas (who died en route), produced a Marian profession of faith for Eastern delegates. The Council’s Marian clause constitutes one of the most important texts of ecumenical rapprochement with the Orthodox Church in medieval history.
Nicholas IV (1288-1292), n. 129: Bull of the Rosary
Nicholas IV, the first Franciscan pope (1288), naturally favored Marian devotion within the Franciscan tradition. His bull of 1288 (n. 129) granted special privileges to Rosary Confreries, paradoxically from a Franciscan perspective since the Rosary was more closely associated with the Dominicans. Nevertheless, Nicholas IV demonstrated that by the 13th century, the Rosary had transcended the boundaries of a single order to become a universal Christian devotion.
## Benedict XI (1303-1304), n. 130: “Dum levamus”
Benedict XI, Dominican (later known as Benedict XIII centuries later), produced an important Marian document: the Bull *Dum levamus* (February 11, 1304) regarding Rosary Confreries and their spiritual privileges. The title *”Dum levamus”* (While we take up) refers to the apostolic mission of preaching the Rosary as “lifting” the faithful to contemplation of Christ’s mysteries.
## Additional Reading
Explore **Mariology**, the *Rosarium Virginis Mariae* (John Paul II, 2002), posts on Saint Pius V and the Rosary, and Gregory XIII.
**Post-Graduate Program in Mariology**
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Learn how to pray the Rosary in our guide: How to Pray the Rosary, step by step.
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