''Grandi non immerito'' was a papal bull issued by

Pope Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV ( la, Innocentius IV; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254. Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universitie ...

on 24 July 1245, that effectively removed

Sancho II of Portugal Sancho II (; 8 September 1209 – 4 January 1248), nicknamed the Cowled or the Capuched ( pt, o Capelo), alternatively, the Pious ( pt, o Piedoso), was King of Portugal from 1223 to 1248. He was succeeded on the Portuguese throne by his bro ...

from the throne, replacing him with his brother and heir Afonso, Count of Boulogne, in the capacity of

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

. The King's administrative negligence and frequent conflicts with the clergy (which had gotten him

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

already by that point), along with his unwillingness to listen to the Roman Curia, led to

issuing the bull ''Inter alia desiderabilia'' in March 1245, which severely crippled Sancho's authority by charging him with the responsibility for the kingdom's near-anarchical state. Following the

First Council of Lyon The First Council of Lyon (Lyon I) was the thirteenth ecumenical council, as numbered by the Catholic Church, taking place in 1245. The First General Council of Lyon was presided over by Pope Innocent IV. Innocent IV, threatened by Holy Roman ...

, that same year, Innocent IV issued ''Grandi non immerito'' urging the people and nobility of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

to receive the

Count of Boulogne Count of Boulogne was a historical title in the Kingdom of France. The city of Boulogne-sur-Mer became the centre of the county of Boulogne during the ninth century. Little is known of the early counts, but the first holder of the title is recor ...

and to pay him "fidelity, homage, allegiance, and accordance", under threat of ecclesiastical censure. The bull did not, however, nominally depose King Sancho or remove any descendants he would beget from the succession (though he would go on to die with no legitimate children). The Count of Boulogne ruled the kingdom using the styles of ''Visitador, Curador e Defensor do Reino'' ("Visitor, Caretaker and Defender of the Realm") until his brother's death and his own eventual acclamation as

Afonso III of Portugal Afonso III (; rare English alternatives: ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse''), or ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese), ''Alfonso'' or ''Alphonso'' (Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin), the Boulonnais ( Port. ''o Bolonhês''), King of Portugal ( ...

References

{{Reflist 1245 works 13th-century papal bulls Documents of Pope Innocent IV