Published in The Middle Ages and the Crusades

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This article presents some reflections on the existing relations between the pontifical politics and the history of the crusades in the early 13th century. We appeal to the analysis of Ad Liberandam, the bulla issued in 1215 by Innocent III to the convening of a new crusade to Jerusalem, in order to demonstrate how the Papacy transformed that notorious military mobilization in an unparalleled opportunity for the exercise and strengthening of the papal government. Through this association, the crusading expeditions were exposed to a vigorous process of institutionalization. This process allowed the Holy See redraws its media for social control and the strategies of domination projected by the popes on the seigniorial society.