CROSIAD, BULL OF. - A papal document containing the favors, privileges, and indulgences granted to the kings of Spain for the faithful who took up arms or contributed through alms to the liberation of their country from the Moors. The document, issued in various forms such as a bull, brief, or apostolic letter, continued to be called the Bulla cruciata down to our own day, since the earliest concessions took this form.
I. HISTORY
The first bull of the Crusade is that of Alexander II (1063) to Ramiro I of Aragon, who was besieging the Moorish stronghold of Graus or Grados; followed by those of Urban II (1089) to the Count of Barcelona, Berenguer Ramón II, engaged in the reconquest of Tarragona, which served as the model for the later bull (1095) of the same Pope for the great Crusade to the Holy Land; of Gelasius II (1118) to Alfonso I of Aragon, engaged in the conquest of Saragossa; of Callistus II (1122) for the resumption of the war against the Moors of Tortosa and Lérida; of Eugenius III (1148) to Count Berenguer IV the Saint, for the conquest of Tortosa; of Innocent III (1212) to Alfonso VIII for the war that ended with the victory of Las Navas; of Gregory IX (1232) to King James I the Conqueror, for the liberation of Valencia; of Clement IV (1265) for the conquest of Murcia; of Benedict XII (1340) to Alfonso XI for the war against Abú 'l-Hasan, King of Morocco, who had invaded the peninsula; and especially those of Sixtus IV and Innocent VIII (the dates do not agree) to Ferdinand V of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, his spouse, for the reconquest of the kingdom of Granada. Once this was accomplished and the armed struggle definitively triumphed over the Moors, the popes continued to grant and reconfirm the bull of the Crusade, devoting the offerings of the faithful to the reconstruction of devastated churches, the building of new ones, and in general to works aimed at the restoration of worship. They did not do this in the form of a perpetual concession, but by constantly renewing and modifying the bull of the Crusade according to the times down to our own day. Thus there exists a long series beginning with that of the time of Leo X down to the present. Of particular note is Benedict XV, who with an apostolic letter of 12 April 1915 (AAS, 7 [1915], pp. 557-569) confirmed and augmented the ancient favors, but adapted them more suitably to present circumstances. Pius XI, then, with another apostolic letter of 15 August 1928 (AAS, 21 [1929], pp. 12-21) determined with greater precision certain points in order to adapt them to the new Code of Canon Law.The privileges of the bull were enjoyed not only by the Spanish but also by the inhabitants of regions that became subject to Spain (mission territories, the kingdom of Naples and Sicily, Latin America, Portugal) and often continued to enjoy them even after regaining their independence (Naples and Sicily, e.g., until 1906; decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office of 5 September 1906); Portugal still enjoys them today, though with various particular modifications.
II. PRESENT DISCIPLINE
Anyone, even a foreigner, may enjoy the favors granted in the bull of the Crusade in Spanish territory, provided he has obtained the so-called “summarium” and paid a fixed offering. The faculty remains even when, having fulfilled these conditions, the person should for some reason be abroad.The favors granted include the gaining of indulgences, dispensation from fasting and abstinence, commutation of certain vows, the recitation of the Divine Office, dispensation from irregularities and impediments to marriage, private oratories, etc. The bull must be promulgated and published every year.