Critical of certain practices of the Catholic clergy, Diego de Acebo, Bishop of Osma, viewed the Cathars even less favorably.
Laymen, although they had received the tonsure and were regarded as clerics, publicly preached the doctrine of the Church, under the protection of the supreme pontiff himself.
The Poor Catholics were active, not only through Southern France, but as far as Milan where they founded a school in 1209 to gather and educate recruits for their order.
Within four years of their foundation they extended their activities over the Dioceses of Béziers, Uzès, Nîmes, Carcassonne, Narbonne, Taragon, Marseilles, Barcelona, Huesca, and Milan.
Innocent III had stood by them for four years, repeatedly urging the bishops to support them, and recommending them to the King of Aragon; he exempted them from taking the oath of allegiance, as this was contrary to the teachings of the Waldenses.
[1] In 1237 Pope Gregory IX requested the provincial of the Preaching Friars to visit the provinces of Narbonne and Taragonna and compel the Poor Catholics to adopt one of the approved rules.
The lay people readily accepted his views on religion and formed a religious body known by the name of Humiliates (humiliati).
In this state they remained until 1201, when, upon presentation of their constitution, Innocent III reconciled them with the Church, and reorganized them in conformity with their economic and religious customs, also approving of the name "Humiliati".
Their first superior was Bernard Primus, a former Lombard leader, who, with a few followers, had given the impetus for the foundation of the order by presenting a rule of life to the pope.
Two years later, however, Innocent III gave them a new constitution, in which he retained manual labour for all the members of the order, but declared it only of secondary value for the missionaries or friars to whom he assigned the study of Holy Scripture and preaching as main occupation.
He also makes a more definite division of the members into three classes, or orders, comprising respectively the missionaries or friars, the women who took the vows, and the married people.