Be it known to you that eleven hundred and ninety-seven years after the
Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the time of Innocent Pope of
Rome, and Philip King of France, and Richard King of England, there was
in France a holy man named Fulk of Neuilly—which Neuilly is between
Lagni-sur-Marne and Paris—and he was a priest and held the cure of the
village. And this said Fulk began to speak of God throughout the
Isle-de-France, and the other countries round about; and you must know
that by him the Lord wrought many miracles.
Be it known to you further, that the fame of this holy man so spread,
that it reached the Pope of Rome, Innocent*; and the Pope sent to
France, and ordered the right worthy man to preach the cross (the
Crusade) by his authority. And afterwards the Pope sent a cardinal of
his, Master Peter of Capua, who himself had taken the cross, to
proclaim the Indulgence of which I now tell you, viz., that all who
should take the cross and serve in the host for one year, would be
delivered from all the sins they had committed, and acknowledged in
confession. And because this indulgence was so great, the hearts of men
were much moved, and many took the cross for the greatness of the
pardon.
[Note: Innocent III, elected Pope on the 8th January 1198, at the early
age of thirty seven, Innocent III was one of the leading spirits of his
time—in every sense a strong man and great Pope. From the beginning of
his pontificate he turned his thoughts and policy to the recovery of
Jerusalem.]