The Fourth Lateran Council was one of the great events of the Middle Ages and of Church History in general. Summoned in 1215 by Pope Innocent III, it was – together with the Council of Trent and the Second Vatican Council – the most important council since Antiquity. The volume brings together a unique and tightly focussed collection of eighteen contributions by international experts in medieval History, Theology and Canon Law. The range of subjects covered includes the organization of the Council, dogma and ecclesiology, the religious life of clergy and laity, monasticism and the relations of the Church to heretics, Jews and Moslems.