Gregory IX and Spain

While papal participation in Peninsula affairs was de-emphasized by the influential Iberian chroniclers of the mid-thirteenth century, in reality there was close co-operation between the papacy and the Iberian ecclesiastical and secular rulers to an unprecedented degree in the crusades, with the development of inquisitions, and in resolving the disputes of local churches. Nevertheless, the papacy found it difficult to implement the reforms of the Fourth Lateran Council, despite the support of the friars, and found that Iberian prelates and kings often pursued their own interests, which would place them at odds with the pope on a number of issues.