2515

September 17. Lyons. Pope Innocent IV writes to the patriarch of Antioch [Alberto Roberti], the archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, [deans, archdeacons, archpriests, provosts and other prelates of churches] in the patriarchates of Antioch and Jerusalem and on the island of Cyprus, ordering them not to hinder the activity of the Friars Preachers (Dominicans). Indeed, throughout Christendom many prelates envy the poverty of the Dominicans and try to control their settlements, masses, funerals, and confessions notwithstanding their religious autonomy. The pope assigns the patriarch of Jerusalem and the archbishop of Nazareth as conservators to protect the basic privileges of the Dominicans, by using ecclesiastical censure in case of necessity.