St. Dominic also established an order for laymen. This order has been designated as the _Third Order of Penitence_, but most commonly as the _Militia of Christ_, because those who were members of it fought against heretics, and assisted the Inquisitors in the exercise of their functions; they were considered as part of the inquisitorial family, and on that account bore the name of _Familiars_. This association afterwards gave rise to that which was called the _Congregation of St. Peter Martyr_; it was approved by Honorius, and confirmed by his successor, Gregory IX. Another association was formed in Narbonne, which also bore the name of _Militia of Christ_; it was soon after blended with the third order of St. Dominic. Honorius having formed a constitution against heretics, the Emperor Frederic II. gave it the sanction of civil law at his coronation. In 1224 the Inquisition already existed in Italy under the ministry of the Dominican friars, which is proved by an edict of the Emperor Frederic against heretics at Padua. The efforts of the Inquisition in Narbonne had not succeeded according to the expectation of the pope, who imputed its failure to the negligence of Cardinal Conrad, whom he recalled, and sent Cardinal Roman in his place. The importunity of this legate induced Louis VIII., King of France, to place himself at the head of an army to march against the nobles who protected the Albigenses. But Louis died in the same year, and the pope followed him, without having succeeded in giving a permanent form to the new tribunal which had been introduced into France. Gregory IX., who ascended the pontifical throne in 1227, finally established the Inquisition: he had been the zealous protector of St. Dominic, and the intimate friend of St. Francis d'Assiz. Cardinal Roman was more fortunate than the legates who preceded him: the nobles, weary of a war which had lasted twenty years, wished for peace. The Count of Toulouse, Raymond VII., after the death of his father, who had begun the war, reconciled himself to St. Louis and the church in a Council of Narbonne, and promised to drive the heretics from his domains. In 1229 another council was held at Toulouse. The decrees were nearly the same as those made at the Councils of Lateran and Verona, except that laymen were then first prohibited from reading the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue. In the succeeding year, many other edicts were published, increasing in severity; but it appears that these rigorous measures failed in effect, as the heresy of the Albigenses penetrated even to the capital of Christendom. CHAPTER III. OF THE ANCIENT INQUISITION OF SPAIN.