Innocent III dies in Perugia

July 16, 1216

The most powerful pope of the Middle Ages died suddenly while traveling between Italian cities. Legend held that his body was found stripped by looters in a cathedral overnight, a memento mori that later preachers invoked on the emptiness of worldly rule. His pontificate had seen the Fourth Lateran Council, the Albigensian Crusade, and the humbling of kings from London to Constantinople.