“Rethinking Innocent IV and the Crusades” seeks to reassess the pontificate of Innocent IV (1243–1254) through a sustained examination of his engagement with the crusading movement. We are pleased to invite proposals for 20-minute papers exploring all aspects of the relationship between the pontificate of Innocent IV and the crusading movement. We particularly welcome contributions that adopt interdisciplinary approaches, including (but not limited to) history, legal history, theology, manuscript studies, political thought and institutional history. Particular attention will be moreover giving the proposals concerning the history of heresy and heretical communities during Innocent’s pontificate, the relationship with the Mendicant Orders, with the Mongol World, the promotion and the business of the cross in Italy.

London, 24-26 September 2026.

Hybrid form, both in Person and Online

Conference Organisers

• Collette Firestone (PhD student in History at Royal Holloway University)
• Alessandro Scalone (PhD student in History at Royal Holloway University of London/Visiting Fellow at Institute of Historical Research in London)

Overview of the Event

“Rethinking Innocent IV and the Crusades” seeks to reassess the pontificate of Innocent IV (1243–1254) through a sustained examination of his engagement with the crusading movement. Long overshadowed by the more extensively studied pontificates of his predecessors, Innocent IV nonetheless presided over a period of profound transformation in the ideology, organisation, and geographical scope of crusading. His pontificate coincided with simultaneous crises and initiatives across Europe and the Mediterranean world: from the Mongol advance in the East to the consolidation of crusading activity in the Baltic, and from renewed campaigns in the Holy Land to complex negotiations with secular rulers. Far from constituting a merely transitional phase or a simple continuation of earlier policies, Innocent IV’s pontificate offers a unique vantage point from which to examine the evolving nature of papal authority, particularly in light of the diversification of crusading theatres and the reconfiguration of legal, political, and diplomatic relationships in the dynamic context of the mid-thirteenth century.

By bringing together leading international experts from a range of disciplines - including history, theology, canon law, political thought, manuscript studies, and diplomatic history - and early-career researchers, the conference aims to illuminate the breadth and complexity of Innocent IV’s involvement in crusading enterprises from a plurality of perspectives and methodological approaches. Topics to be addressed include, but are not limited to: responses to the Mongol advance and their implications for Latin Christendom; the organisation and financing of crusades in the Baltic, the Mediterranean, and the Holy Land; the development of papal legal thought concerning infidels and jurisdiction; the role of legates and papal agents; and the interaction between papal policy and regional political dynamics in Europe and the Near East. 

Through this multidisciplinary investigation, the conference also seeks to situate Innocent IV’s pontificate within broader historiographical debates on the transformation of crusading ideology, the expansion of papal jurisdiction through the negotium crucis, and the shifting boundaries of Christian and non-Christian relations in the thirteenth century. By fostering dialogue across disciplinary boundaries, the event aims to generate new methodological perspectives and to promote a more nuanced understanding of a pivotal yet comparatively understudied moment in the history of the medieval papacy and the crusades. 

We are pleased to invite proposals exploring all aspects of the relationship between the pontificate of Innocent IV and the crusading movement. We particularly welcome contributions that adopt interdisciplinary approaches, including (but not limited to) history, legal history, theology, manuscript studies, political thought and institutional history. Particular attention will be moreover giving the proposals concerning the history of heresy and heretical communities during Innocent’s pontificate, the relationship with the Mendicant Orders, with the Mongol World, the promotion and the business of the cross in Italy. 

Submission guidelines: 

Proposals for 20 minutes papers to be sent by 8 June 2026. Please include: 

• Paper title 
• Abstract (max. 300 words) 
• Your name and affiliation 
• Brief CV (1 page) 

Submissions should be sent to:

• Alessandro.scalone.2018@live.rhul.ac.uk
• Collette.firestone.2015@live.rhul.ac.uk

Registration fees

£50 in person/£30 online