Pope Boniface VIII (c. 1235 – October 11, 1303), born
Benedetto Caetani, was
PopeThe pope is the Bishop of Rome and, as such, is leader of the worldwide Catholic Church...
of the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
from 1294 to 1303. Today, Boniface VIII is probably best remembered for his feuds with
DanteDANTE is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various National Research and Education Networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
, who placed him in a circle of Hell in his
Commedia, and King
Philip IV of FrancePhilip IV , called the Fair , son and successor of Philip III, reigned as King of France from 1285 until his death. He was the husband of Joan I of Navarre, by virtue of which he was King of Navarre and Count of Champagne from 1284 to 1305...
.
Biography
Caetani was born in 1235 in
AnagniAnagni is an ancient town in Latium, central Italy, in the hills east-southeast of Rome, famous for its connections with the papacy and for the picturesque monuments of its unspoiled historical center...
, c. 50 kilometers southeast of
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
. He was the younger son of a minor noble family, the
Caetani FamilyThe Caetani family was a noble family of medieval origin, the so-called Anagni branch of which won political power and financial success with the election of Benedetto Caetani as Pope Boniface VIII....
, and became a
canonA canon is a priest who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
of the cathedral in Anagni in his teens. In 1252, when his uncle Peter Caetani became bishop of Todi, in
UmbriaUmbria is a region of central Italy. Its capital is Perugia. It has an area of 8,456 km² and about 900,000 inhabitants.- Geography :...
, Benedetto went with him and began his legal studies there. Benedetto never forgot his roots in
TodiTodi is a town and comune of the province of Perugia in central Italy. It is perched on a tall two-crested hill overlooking the east bank of the river Tiber, commanding distant views in every direction.In the 1990s, Richard S...
, later describing the city as "the dwelling place of his early youth," the city which "nourished him while still of tender years," and as a place where he "held lasting memories". In 1260, Benedetto acquired a canonry in Todi, as well as the small nearby castle of Sismano. Later in life he repeatedly expressed his gratitude to Anagni, Todi, and his family.
In 1264, Benedetto became part of the
Roman CuriaThe Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Roman Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
where he served as secretary to
CardinalA cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and making themselves available...
Simon of Brie on a mission to France. Similarly, he accompanied Cardinal Ottobono Fieschi to England (1265–1268) in order to suppress a rebellion by a group of barons against
Henry IIIHenry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for fifty-six years from 1216 to his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
, the King of England. Upon Benedetto's return from England, there is an eight year period in which nothing is known about what occurred in his life. After this eight year period of uncertainty, Benedetto was sent to France to supervise the collection of a
titheA tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a voluntary contribution or as a tax or levy, usually to support a religious organization. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes could be paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
in 1276 and then became a papal notary in the late 1270s. During this time, Benedetto accumulated seventeen benefices which he was permitted to keep when he was promoted, first to
cardinal deaconA cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and making themselves available...
in 1281 and then 10 years later as cardinal priest. As cardinal, he often served as
papal legateA Papal Legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the Pope to Foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
in diplomatic negotiations with
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
,
NaplesNaples in Italy, is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture, architecture, music and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old...
,
SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
, and
AragonAragon is an autonomous community of Spain. Located in northeastern Spain, the region comprises three provinces from north to south: Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza .Aragon's northern province of Huesca borders France and is positioned in the middle of the Pyrenees...
.
He was elected in December 24, 1294 after
Pope Celestine VPope Saint Celestine V , born Pietro Angelerio , also known as Pietro da Morrone, was elected pope in the year 1294, by the Papal election, 1292–1294, the last non-conclave in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Celestine V is recognized by the Church as a saint...
abdicatedPapal resignation is envisaged as a possibility in canon 332 §2 of the Code of Canon Law and canon 44 §2 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches...
in December 13. There is a legend that it was Boniface VIII's doing that Celestine V renounced the papacy—for Boniface, previously Benedetto, convinced Celestine V that no person on the earth could go through life without sin. However, in later times, it is a more common understanding that Celestine V resigned by his own designs and Benedetto merely showed that it was allowed by Church law. Either way, Celestine V vacated the throne and Boniface VIII took his place as pope. One of his first acts as pontiff was to imprison his predecessor in the Castle of Fumone in
FerentinoFerentino is a town and comune in Italy, in the province of Frosinone, Lazio, 65 km southeast of Rome.It is situated on a hill 400 m above sea-level, in the Monti Ernici area.-History:...
, where he died at the age of 81, attended by two monks of his order. In 1300, Boniface VIII formalized the jubilees, which afterwards became a source of both profit and scandal to the church. Boniface VIII founded the
University of Rome La SapienzaSapienza University of Rome, officially Sapienza - Università di Roma, commonly known as Università di Roma "La Sapienza", is a coeducational, autonomous state university in Rome, Italy. It is the largest European university and the oldest of Rome's three state-funded universities; Sapienza was...
in 1303.
Boniface VIII put forward some of the strongest claims to temporal, as well as spiritual, supremacy of any Pope and constantly involved himself with foreign affairs. In his
BullA Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a pope. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end to authenticate it....
of 1302,
Unam SanctamOn 18 November 1302, Pope Boniface VIII issued the Papal bull Unam sanctam which historians consider one of the most extreme statements of Papal spiritual supremacy ever made. The original document is lost but a version of the text can be found in the registers of Boniface VIII in the Vatican...
, Boniface VIII proclaimed that it "is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman pontiff", pushing papal supremacy to its historical extreme. These views and his intervention in "temporal" affairs led to many bitter quarrels with the Emperor Albert I of Habsburg (1291–1298), the powerful family of the Colonnas, with
Philip IV of FrancePhilip IV , called the Fair , son and successor of Philip III, reigned as King of France from 1285 until his death. He was the husband of Joan I of Navarre, by virtue of which he was King of Navarre and Count of Champagne from 1284 to 1305...
(1285–1314) and with
Dante AlighieriDurante degli Alighieri , commonly known as Dante, was an Italian poet of the Middle Ages. His central work, the Divina Commedia , is often considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature.In...
(who wrote
De MonarchiaDe Monarchia is a treatise on secular and religious power by Dante Alighieri. With this Latin text, the poet intervened in one of the most controversial subjects of his period: the relationship between secular authority and religious authority...
to argue against it).
In the field of canon law Boniface VIII continues to have great influence. He published his 88 legal dicta known as the "Regulae Iuris" in 1298. This material must be well known and understood by canon lawyers or canonists today in order to interpret and analyze the canons and other forms of ecclesiastical law properly. The "Regulae Iuris" appear at the end of the so-called
Liber Sextus (in VI°), promulgated by Boniface VIII and now published as one of the five
Decretals in the
Corpus Iuris Canonici. Other systems of law also have their own "Regulae Iuris" even by the same name or something serving a similar function.
Conflicts with Philip IV
The conflict between Boniface VIII and
Philip IV of FrancePhilip IV , called the Fair , son and successor of Philip III, reigned as King of France from 1285 until his death. He was the husband of Joan I of Navarre, by virtue of which he was King of Navarre and Count of Champagne from 1284 to 1305...
came at a time of expanding nation states and the desire for the consolidation of power by the increasingly powerful monarchs. The increase in monarchical power in the rising nation states and its conflicts with the Church of Rome were only exacerbated by the rise to power of Philip IV. In France, the process of centralizing royal power and developing a genuine national state began with the Capetian kings. During his reign, Philip surrounded himself with the best civil lawyers, and decidedly expelled the clergy from all participation in the administration of the law. With the clergy beginning to be taxed in Theri and England in order to finance their ongoing wars against each other, Boniface took a hard stand against it. He saw the taxation as an assault on traditional clerical rights, and ordered the
bullA Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a pope. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end to authenticate it....
Clericis laicosClericis laicos was a Papal bull issued on February 25, 1296 by Pope Boniface VIII in an attempt to prevent the secular states of Europe, in particular France and England, from appropriating church revenues without the express prior permission of the pope...
in February 1296, forbidding lay taxation of the clergy without prior papal approval. In the bull, Boniface states "they exact and demand from the same the half,
titheA tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a voluntary contribution or as a tax or levy, usually to support a religious organization. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes could be paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
, or twentieth, or any other portion or proportion of their revenues or goods; and in many ways they try to bring them into slavery, and subject them to their authority. And also whatsoever emperors, kings, or princes, dukes, earls or barons...presume to take possession of things anywhere deposited in holy buildings...should incur sentence of excommunication." It was during the issuing of
Clericis Laicos that hostilities between Boniface and Philip began. Philip retaliated against the bull by denying the exportation of money from France to Rome, funds that the Church required to operate. Boniface had no choice but to meet Philip's demands quickly by allowing taxation only "during an emergency".
After complications involving the capture of
Bernard SaissetBernard Saisset was an Occitan bishop of Pamiers, in the County of Foix in the south of France, whose outspoken disrespect for Philip IV of France incurred charges of high treason in the overheated atmosphere of tension between the King and his ministry and Pope Boniface VIII, leading up to the...
by Philip, the conflict was re-ignited. In December of 1301, Philip was sent the Papal Bull
Ausculta filiAusculta Fili is a letter addressed 5 December 1301, by Pope Boniface VIII to Philip the Fair, King of France....
("Listen, My Son"), informing Philip that "God has set popes over kings and kingdoms."
The feud between the two reached its peak in the early 14th century when Philip began to launch a strong anti-papal campaign against Boniface. On November 18, 1302, Boniface issued one of the most important papal bulls of Catholic history:
Unam sanctamOn 18 November 1302, Pope Boniface VIII issued the Papal bull Unam sanctam which historians consider one of the most extreme statements of Papal spiritual supremacy ever made. The original document is lost but a version of the text can be found in the registers of Boniface VIII in the Vatican...
. It declared that both spiritual and temporal power were under the pope's jurisdiction, and that kings were subordinate to the power of the Church.
The slap
In response,
Guillaume de NogaretGuillaume de Nogaret or William of Nogaret was councillor and keeper of the seal to Philip IV of France.- Early life :...
, Philip's chief minister, denounced Boniface as a heretical criminal to the French clergy. In 1303, Philip and Nogaret were
excommunicatedExcommunication is a religious censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. The word literally means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
. However, on September 7, 1303 an army led by Nogaret and
Sciarra ColonnaSciarra Colonna, byname of Giacomo Colonna , was a member of the powerful Colonna family, and a strong enemy of Pope Boniface VIII. During the Outrage of Anagni, in September 1303, Sciarra reportedly slapped the pope in the face. He was brother to Stefano Colonna the Elder.The Colonna family was...
of the Colonna family surprised Boniface at his retreat in
AnagniAnagni is an ancient town in Latium, central Italy, in the hills east-southeast of Rome, famous for its connections with the papacy and for the picturesque monuments of its unspoiled historical center...
. The King and the Colonnas demanded that he resign, to which Boniface VIII responded that he would "sooner die". In response, Colonna hit Boniface, a "slap" that is still remembered in the local lore of Anagni.
Boniface was beaten badly and nearly executed but was released from captivity after three days. He died a month later of "shame", on October 11, 1303.
Posthumous trial
After the papacy had been removed to Avignon during the time of
Pope Clement VPope Clement V , born Raymond Bertrand de Got , was Pope from 1305 to his death...
in 1309, he consented to a post-mortem trial by an ecclesiastical consistory at Groseau, near Avignon, which held preliminary examinations in August and September of 1310.
A process (judicial investigation) against the memory of Boniface was held and collected testimonies that alleged many heretical opinions of Boniface VIII. This included the offence of
sodomySodomy is a term used today predominantly in law to describe the act of anal intercourse, oral intercourse, or bestiality.- Definitions :...
, although there is little substantive evidence for this and it is more likely that this was the standard accusation Philip made against enemies.
Before the actual trial could be held, Clement persuaded Philip to leave the question of Boniface's guilt to the
Council of VienneThe Council of Vienne was the fifteenth Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church that met between 1311 and 1312 in Vienne. Its principal act was to withdraw papal support for the Knights Templar on the instigation of the King of France, Philip IV....
, which met in 1311. When the council met, three cardinals appeared before it and testified to the orthodoxy and morality of the dead pope. Two knights, as challengers, threw down their gauntlets to maintain his innocence by wager of battle. No one accepted the challenge, and the Council declared the matter closed.
Culture
- In his Inferno, Dante
Durante degli Alighieri , commonly known as Dante, was an Italian poet of the Middle Ages. His central work, the Divina Commedia , is often considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature.In...
portrayed Boniface VIII as destined for hell, where simonySimony is the ecclesiastical crime of paying for holy offices or positions in the hierarchy of a church, named after Simon Magus, who appears in the Acts of the Apostles 8:18-24. Simon Magus offers the disciples of Jesus, Peter and John payment so that anyone he would place his hands on would...
is punished, although Boniface was still alive at the fictional date of the poem's story. Boniface's eventual destiny is revealed to Dante by Pope Nicholas IIIPope Nicholas III , born Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, Pope from November 25, 1277 to his death in 1280, was a Roman nobleman who had served under eight Popes, been made cardinal-deacon of St...
, whom he meets. A bit later in the Inferno, we are reminded of the pontiff's feud with the Colonnesi, which led him to demolish the city of PalestrinaPalestrina is an ancient city and comune with a population of about 18,000, in Lazio, c. 35 km east of Rome...
, killing 6,000 citizens and destroying both the home of Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
and a shrine to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Boniface's ultimate fate is confirmed by Beatrice when Dante visits Heaven.
- The great mathematician and astronomer Giovanni Campano served as personal physician to Pope Boniface VIII.
- In Boccaccio's
Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian author and poet, a friend, student, and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance humanist and the author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular...
DecameronThe Decameron is a collection of 100 novellas by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio, probably begun in 1350 and finished in 1353. It is a medieval allegorical work best known for its bawdy tales of love, appearing in all its possibilities from the erotic to the tragic...
, Boniface VIII is satiricallySatire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods,...
depicted granting a highwaymanA highwayman was a robber who preyed on travelers, particularly one who traveled by horse; those who robbed on foot were called footpads. Mounted robbers were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads...
(Ghino di TaccoGhinotto di Tacco, called Ghino, was an outlaw in thirteenth century Italy. He was born in the latter half of the thirteenth century in La Fratta, which is now part of Sinalunga in the Province of Siena...
) a priorate (Day 10, second tale). Earlier (I.i), Boniface VIII is also mentioned for his role in sending Charles of ValoisCharles of Valois was the fourth son of Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon. His mother was a daughter of James I of Aragon and Yolande of Hungary. He was a member of the House of Capet and founded the House of Valois...
to FlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence...
in 1300 to end the feud between the Black and White GuelphsThe Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting, respectively, the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor in central and northern Italy during the 12th and 13th centuries...
.
- Boniface was a patron of Giotto di Bondone
Giotto di Bondone , better known simply as Giotto, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence in the late Middle Ages...
.
- Boniface had restored the churches of Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
for the Great Jubilee of 1300, particularly St. Peter's BasilicaThe Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as the ' and commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City. St. Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world, holding 60,000 people. It is the symbolic "Mother church" of...
, the Basilica of St. John LateranThe Basilica of St. John Lateran is the cathedral of the Church of Rome, Italy, and the official ecclesiastical seat of the Bishop of Rome, who is the Pope...
, and the Saint Mary Major BasilicaThe Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major , is an ancient Roman Catholic Marian basilica of Rome. It is one of the four major or four papal basilicas, which, together with St. Lawrence outside the Walls, were formerly referred to as the five "patriarchal basilicas" of Rome , associated with the five...
.
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