Another phase of the Cistercian drive against heresy opened in January 1198, when Innocent III became pope, and extended until 1208, when the murder of a Cistercian legate precipitated the advance toward armed intervention in Occitania. At the outset of his papacy, Innocent III undertook initiatives to effect a broad programme of reform, including a widespread crusade against the perceived enemies of Christendom. Although papal priorities stressed the crusade to the Holy Land, the fight against heresy intensified as well. In fact, the campaign against heretical Christians in Occitania reached for a time the status of the crusades to the Holy Land, with the awarding of plenary indulgences, the protection of crusaders, and various measures for recruiting and financing the expeditions. Innocent III appealed strongly to the Cistercian Order to place qualified monks at his service for preaching. His persuasion began with a letter to the 1198 General Chapter and the failed but dramatic appearance there of his legate Fulk of Neuilly seeking to recruit Cistercians for preaching the Eastern crusade. By the 1201 General Chapter, Fulk had papal authorization to designate three Cistercian abbots as his assistants. The same determination marked Innocent III's efforts to engage the Cistercians in preaching against heresy; his letters praise them and attempt to persuade them that the active life could be very profitable and useful. Cistercians, including a 1206 delegation of abbots and numerous other monks, involved themselves in public preaching as never before.