Medieval Popes: Leo IX to Innocent III – Scholastic Mariology (Pontifical Doctrine IV, nos. 100-121)

# Medieval Popes Documented in *Doctrina Pontificia IV* by Saint Leo IX (1049) to Innocent III (1198-1216)

The popes of the medieval era, as documented in *Doctrina Pontificia IV*, from Saint Leo IX (1049) to Innocent III (1198-1216), illustrate how Mariology evolved from the patristic-conciliar era to the great scholastic period. The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) and numerous speeches by Innocent III on Marian feasts mark the pinnacle of this section.

## Collection: *Doctrina Pontificia IV: Marian Documents*, nn. 100-121

## Popes: Leo IX | Gregory VII | Urban II | Innocent III

## Council: Lateranense IV (1215)

## Period: 1049-1216

—

### Saint Leo IX (1049-1054), n. 100: Creedal Affirmation

Saint Leo IX, the reformer of the Church and pope during the Great Schism of 1054, includes in his creed the affirmation of Mary’s divine motherhood and perpetual virginity. At a time of grave ecclesiastical schism, belief in Mary as *Theotokos* served as a point of communion between Rome and Constantinople, even within the year of the Schism.

—

### Saint Gregory VII (1073-1085), n. 101: Creedal Affirmation

The great Gregorian reformer includes a beautiful Marian affirmation in his creed: Mary is Mother of God, ever virgin, model of ecclesiastical sanctity. The Gregorian reform was partly inspired by devotion to Mary as a model of purity and service—qualities that Gregory VII sought to restore among the clergy.

—

### Urban II (1088-1099), n. 102: Virgin’s Preface

Urban II, the pope of the First Crusade, is the first documented pope to have enriched the Virgin Mary’s Mass Preface with a special formula. The Preface is the most solemn part of the Mass before the Consecration. His association with Mary reveals the liturgical importance of Mary in medieval theology.

> **”Et te in veneratione beatae Mariae semper Virginis collaudare… quae et Unigenitum tuum Sancti Spiritus obumbratione concepit, et virginitatis gloria permanente, lumen aeternum mundo effudit, Iesum Christum Dominum nostrum”**
>
> And to praise you in the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary ever Virgin… who conceived your Only-begotten by the shadow of the Holy Spirit, and remaining in the glory of virginity, she shed eternal light upon the world, Jesus Christ our Lord.

—

### Innocent III (1198-1216), nn. 105-121: Marian Speeches

Innocent III is the most prolific medieval pope in documents related to Mariology in *Doctrina Pontificia IV*, with seventeen texts (nn. 105-121). These include:

– **n. 105:** Creedal Affirmation (Lateran Council IV, 1215)
– **n. 106:** Creedal Definition
– **nn. 107-121:** Speeches on Marian feasts: Advent, Christmas, Purification, Assumption, Nativity of Mary, and a hymn to the Virgin, as well as a text on praying to Mary.

The most famous speech by Innocent III is that on the Assumption (nn. 112-116), where he develops the theology of Mary’s celestial glory, anticipating the definition by Pius XII in 1950.

**Quote:**

> “The Blessed Virgin Mary has been exalted above the choirs of angels to the celestial kingdoms, where she reigns with the Son forever, and intercedes for us with God, because the Son listens to the Mother, and the Father listens to the Son.”

**Supplementary Reading:**

Explore Mariology, Lumen Gentium (Chapter VIII), Munificentissimus Deus (on the Assumption), and the Postgraduate Program in Mariology.