A.D. 1198. ΙΕΤΤΕΒ OF POPE INNOCENT. 44 5 enjoin and command you, our brethren the archbishops and bishops, and our dearly beloved sons, the abbats, and other prelates of churches, forthwith to levy a certain number of soldiers, or, in place of such certain number, a fixed amount of money, in the month of March next ensuing, due consideration being had of the means of each, for the purpose of attacking the barbarous tribes of the pagans, and preserving the inheritance of the Lord, which with His own blood He has obtained. But if any person, (a thing that we cannot believe,) shall dare to oppose an ordinance so pious and so necessary, we have determined that he shall be punished as a transgressor of the sacred canons, and do order that he shall be suspended from his duties until such time as he shall have made due satisfaction for the same. Wherefore, trusting in the mercy of God, and in the authority of the blessed Apostles, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and in that power of binding and unloosing which, unworthy as we are, God has bestowed upon us, we do, in the case of those who, in their own persons and at their own expense, shall undergo the labours of this expedition, grant them plenary pardon for those sins for which they have done penance with voice and heart, and do promise them the blessing of everlasting salvation as the reward of the just. And, to those who shall not have gone thither in their own persons, but only, at their own expense, shall have, according to their means and rank, sent fit and proper men, to stay there for two years at least, and to those likewise, who, although at the expense of others, shall, in their own persons, have undergone the labours of the pilgrimage which they have undertaken, we do also grant plenary pardon for their sins. W e do also will that all persons shall be partakers in this remission, who shall give suitable aid to the said land at their own cost, according to the amount of the aid they shall so give, and especially in proportion to the feelings of devotedness they shall manifest. And, in order that all persons may prepare more expeditiously and more securely for going to the aid of the land of the nativity of our Lord, we do take their property from the time that they shall have assumed the cross, under the care of Saint Peter and of ourselves ; and the same is likewise to be under the protection of the archbishops, bishops, and other prelates of the church of God ; it being our order that until their death or return is to a certainty ascertained, the same shall remain safe and untouched.