1603

Jul. 10. San Germano. Pope Innocent III informs the patriarch of Jerusalem and the magistri of the Knights Templar [militia Templi] and the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem that a major Christian army is being gathered in Germany and France, and that in Germany a general tax has been imposed with the agreement of the princes. He adds that 1000 librae Provenienses has been collected in the Temple in Paris, drawn from an alms gift from the Cistercians and from the fortieth imposed on Church incomes. This will be sent to the Holy Land. He asks them to prepare, not only in the province of Jerusalem, but also in Antioch and Tripoli, for the arrival of the Christian forces.