Pope Innocent III was a shrewd and successful politician as well as what he claimed as other in the past had claimed, the vicar of Peter the Apostle. This claim to temporal power over the christian world allowed him to drastically increase the Papal States political dominion over Italy and its surrounding islands. At the same time, Pope Innocent III built a web of political alliances between the Papacy and several catholic monarchies throughout Europe. His political activities were a dividing and uniting tactic used to dictate the  secular affairs of the christian world and secure papal authority that he and other popes continued to pursue through the high to late middle ages.

A.)     The letters of Pope Innocent III show that he was a seemingly political pope, more so than his predecessors, who although began to dive into the secular realm of temporal politics, they did so at a lower rate, so to speak, than Innocent III.  Innocent III shows his geographical reach through his dialogues with various Kings and monarchs, specifically John of England. In the letter John sent Innocent III showing his fealty to Innocent III shows that the pope had created a strong alliance of a hierarchical and subordinate nature to create a lasting influence over the English kingdoms. Innocent III is able to do this through the use of the idea of papal primacy, which had been established long ago by previous popes. but this time the idea can be seen as indoctrinated in the minds of monarchs throughout Europe. This is seen in John continual references to the Pope as the vicar of Peter and as the Servant of Christ. Throughout the letter John repeatedly stated that it is his duty to serve the “vicar of Christ” as he is the representative of God’s divine will on earth. This idea is clearly seen in the letter when John states, “…He has set one whom he has appointed as his vicar on earth, so that, as every knee is bowed to Jesus, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, so all men should obey his vicar and strive  that there be one fold and one shepherd.” (Cheney/Semple 75). Here, Innocents III reach has been shown to be extremely wide and his authority that he has over several catholic monarchs is almost absolute. The wording and systemic organization of the hierarchy of power from God through Jesus to his apostles and lastly his “vicar” on earth are shown to be unquestioned by John. The unquestioning authority the pope has is the result of the idea of papal primacy  permeating into the consciousnesses of monarchs throughout Europe by this time. Pope innocent took this perceived authority and exemplified it to gain almost absolute temporal power. This idea is relayed in Madigan’s text as he states, “To a greater degree than any other Pontiff before or since, Innocent achieved the dream of Gregory VII and became, in fact as well as in theory, the undisputed leader of Christendom.” (Madigan 290). Here, Madigan shows the way in which Pope Innocent III both exemplified and achieved the ideals previous popes that asserted the idea of papal primacy and used his reign as Pontifex Maximus to expand the political power of the Pope and the Papal States as a polity altogether. Whether this focus on temporal political affairs was reasonable or not is debatable but many academics have argued that if Pope Innocent wouldn’t have done this the Papal States would have been reduced to nothing more than what it had been at the fall of the Roman empire in the 6th century. This is asserted by Madigan when he states that King Otto “Gathered an army to invade Italy” (Madigan 289). If Innocent would have taken the political actions he had, the papal states would have been invaded and he perhaps would have been removed from his position. So in all, Pope Innocent created a situation where he and later Popes would ultimately have to take part in political affairs to assure the security o and influence of the Pope and the Papal States.
B.)     As Madigan Stated, the Pope’s influence and authority in political matters were used time and time again to dictate the  Geopolitical status quo of medieval Europe. This secular emphasis so to speak, was seen in the conflict that arose when King John of England disputed Innocent’s appointment of Archbishop of Canterbury. John didn’t allow Innocent’s Archbishop into the country and threatened any priests and monks with imprisonment if they disobeyed his commands.  Here, John is seen using his political power to dispute this appointment and prevent the Pope’s will. The Pope then uses his power to essentially ex-communicate the whole of the Kingdom of England through interdiction and deprive whole of its people from the sacraments and other holy rites. The Pope eventually wins out and forces the submission of King John to his absolute authority in both political  and religious matters when the pope sees it is suitable. This level of Papal authority was unseen until Innocent’s reign and it goes to show how much he used the idea of Papal primacy to his advantage. He once stated that God appointed the “Vicar of Christ” as  “set between God and man, lower than God but higher than man, who Judges all and is judged by none”. This essentially is the Pope stating that his is the mediator between God and man, which is contradictory to 1 Timothy 2:5, but he nonetheless makes this claim of authority. Innocent’s power grabs were stated by Madigan when he writes, “Indeed, It is impossible to read this text in any other way than as an assertion of supreme authority in the the temporal as well as the religious realm.” (Madigan 290). Here Madigan states that the over his pontificate, Pope Innocent III gave himself ultimate authority over any and all matters whether temporal or religious. whether that was justified is something to debate as some contested the Pope’s authority and others obeyed it unquestionably. This authority was used to forced King John into submission an essentially make all of England a fief of the Pope. If Innocent could do this without even sending one soldier there, what is the limit of his power? John’s decision ultimately shows that the Pope’s religious and political authority were unrivaled at the beginning of the 13th century and that the Pontiff had the ability to dictate the political affairs of the world as the Vicar of Christ himself, something no other person in the world at that time could do altogether.