Both R. Howard Bloch and Jean Leclercq have recently included the name of Pope Innocent HI (1198-1216) among the ranks of medieval misogynistic writers. Such an anti-feminist designation results from his treatise De miseria humanae conditionis (1195), which he authored whilst a cardinal deacon, as Lothario de Segni. However, the passages cited by Bloch and Leclercq only appear misogynistic when we consider them superficially. If we look at the entire corpus of Innocent’s writings and his actions, in their proper contexts, we discover that this Pope can not be so easily categorized. Rather, our analysis will show that there is much more diversity in his perspective on gender than originally thought.
The De miseria should be seen in its unique context when evaluating its attitude towards women. Books I and HI of the treatise belonged to the contemptus mundi tradition which emphasised the vileness and misery of human existence. Moreover, John C. Moore has recently proposed that Book II is a speculum curialis which reflected the questionable moral practices Innocent observed during his career in the Roman Curia.