Exhibit 527

Innocent III, letters Cum ex injuncto and Sicut Ecclesiarum praelatis (to Metz), 1199

Exhibit 527 · Papal letters (in translation)

Innocent III, letters Cum ex injuncto and Sicut Ecclesiarum praelatis (to Metz), 1199

But although the desire to understand the divine Scriptures

Reports that lay men and women of Metz had Scripture and other books translated into French for their own use and met in secret to discuss and preach; says the desire to understand Scripture is not forbidden but commendable, while the secret assemblies, usurped preaching and contempt of priests are condemned; the companion letter to the bishop orders him to investigate and to warn them, noting the pope's ignorance of their faith.

Source: Pope Innocent III
Date: 1199
Quoted from: Cum ex injuncto (Wikisource volunteer translation; Latin in Migne PL 214)
Grade: Primary record
Document: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Translation:Cum_ex_injuncto
Accessed: 2026-11-09
Cited by: Findings citing this exhibit
Note: The letters were later included in canon law.

Cited by

Finding REL-2.9: Reported Innocent III in 1199 called the desire to understand the divine Scriptures "commendable" while condemning secret lay assemblies and usurped preaching; Thomas More wrote in 1529 that the clergy kept from the laity only translations not yet approved or already condemned; the 1559 Act of Supremacy limited what commissioners could adjudge heresy; and Anne Hudson reports about 250 surviving manuscripts of the Wycliffite Bible, including a copy owned by Henry VI.
Finding REL-2.10: Open question How far vernacular Scripture was restricted in Europe and England before 1520, given licensing, noble and orthodox ownership and the limits of the Toulouse and Oxford texts, is disputed and is not settled by the documents cited here.