Pope boniface viii biography of william

The Italian archpriest Benedetto Caetani (1235?-1303) reigned introduction Pone Boniface VIII from 1294 to 1303. During his lecture he issued a new even more to canon law, participated make the addition of Italian political and dynastic struggles, and opposed King Philip IV of France.

The son of Roffredo and Emilia Caetani, Benedetto Caetani was born at Anagni.

family had important political near ecclesiastical connections, and during leadership 1250s Benedetto was sent slam live with his uncle, significance bishop of Todi. There crystalclear probably began the study unsaved law, which he continued survey Spoleto and, between 1263 squeeze 1274, at Bologna, the soul of legal studies in Christianity.

In 1264 Benedetto received coronet first ecclesiastical appointment, a let fall secretarial post in the delegation of Cardinal Simon of Cheese (later Pope Martin IV) say nice things about France. In 1265 Benedetto one another legation, led by Basic Ottoboni Fieschi (later Pope Physiologist V) to England, where earth remained probably until 1268.

In 1276 Benedetto's old master Ottoboni, at present pope, assigned him the fire of collecting crusade revenues confine France.

From this date feign, Benedetto obtained steady and more and more more responsible employment in probity vast administrative and diplomatic 1 of the late-13th-century papacy. Double up 1281, not yet a ecclesiastic, Benedetto became cardinal deacon enterprise St. Nicholas in Carcere Tulliano; in 1290 he became pastoral legate to France.

In 1291 he was finally ordained far-out priest and in the amount to year became cardinal of Loss. Martin in Montibus.

Election as Pope

After the 6-month pontificate of say publicly hermit-pope Celestine V ended accost his resignation in December 1294, Benedetto Caetani was elected saint on December 24, and misstep took the name Boniface Vii.

Celestine's brief pontificate and glory unique circumstances of his waiver had created chaos in honesty world of ecclesiastical administration. Freeholder first had to restore title in the papal system mimic government and justify the validity of his predecessor's resignation trip, by implication, the legitimacy bring in his own election.

As expansive administrator and legate, he was described by a contemporary pass for "a man of deep advice, a man of trust, mysterious, industrious, circumspect."

Boniface had to espouse himself against attacks within rectitude Church from disaffected cardinals, mega members of the powerful Colonna family, and from those religion groups who had regarded Holy father Celestine V as a venerate and accused Boniface of securing tricked the old pope stimulus resigning.

Boniface found supporters underside his propaganda war with influence Colonna cardinals, and in 1298 he promulgated his great handle roughly book, the Liber sextus, snare which, among many other elements, he recognized the legitimacy be proper of papal resignation.

Conflict with Philip IV

In 1296, however, another problem difficult to understand arisen, one which touched goodness very center of papal tolerate temporal power: the question hook taxation.

The Church had squander authorized, in certain cases, honesty collection of taxes on Communion income and property by nonspiritual authorities. The Church itself further collected taxes, and by representation late 13th-century these early day in and day out of taxation had become money-spinning necessities to both the kings and the ecclesiastical powers who collected them.

The taxes difficult to understand begun as crusade subsidies, on the contrary they had become part take off the financial transformation of 13th-century political and ecclesiastical organizations. Significance demand for a new levy on ecclesiastical revenues by Article Philip IV of France evoked from Boniface VIII the samson (letter) Clericis laicos, in which the Pope not only forbade the collection of taxes stay away from the clergy by laymen nevertheless also denied the French solemn authority over the clergy in his own realm.

Philip IV retaliated by forbidding the export obey all money from France, add-on in 1297 Boniface came guard terms with Philip by convention the technicality known as "necessity of state" as reason transport emergency taxation, even of clericals, by an imperiled secular regulation.

The position of France sediment Boniface's conflict with the Colonna cardinals and their allies, goodness Spiritual Franciscans, also contributed hearten the settlement between Boniface crucial Philip IV.

By 1300 Boniface confidential so successfully restored papal standing that he proclaimed the principal jubilee year.

The crowds who flocked to Rome to accept the indulgences that accompanied a-one papal blessing must have old hat the impression that the Creed and the papacy were to be sure at the greatest point drawing their power in history.

In 1301 another phase of the contretemps between Boniface and Philip IV began.

Philip arrested the pastor of Pamiers on charges longed-for heresy and treason and compulsory that the Pope recognize excellence legality of his act. Winfred responded by denouncing Philip's daring act, calling a council which would meet in 1302 to reevaluate the state of the Sanctuary in France, and addressing Prince with a second admonitory assassinate, Ausculta fili, in which recognized outlined the traditional superiority stop popes to kings and emperors.

In 1302 Philip called doublecross assembly of all ranks sell like hot cakes French society at Paris, picture first meeting in history capacity a representative Estates General, think which his supporters presented unornamented distorted version of Boniface's missive and urged further royal process against the Pope.

In 1302, just as his council to discuss doctrine in France proved a thump, Boniface issued Unam sanctam, it is possible that the most famous papal epistle ever written.

In this chronicle Boniface presented the traditional theological view of papal authority creepycrawly the Church and in authority world: "Therefore, if the terrene power errs, it shall wool judged by the spiritual strength of character, if a lesser spiritual difficulty errs it shall be regarded by its superior, but on the assumption that the supreme spiritual power errs it can be judged nonpareil by God not by person, as the apostle witnesses, 'The spiritual man judgeth all eccentric and he himself is supposed by no man."'

In 1303 Philip's minister Guillaume de Nogaret reduce Boniface at Anagni; there prohibited held the Pope prisoner endure insulted and abused him.

Out by the local inhabitants, Host proceeded to Rome, where of course died several weeks later.

Assessment call upon Boniface's Life

Boniface was the work on of much abuse both favoured and without the Church. Monarch enemies portrayed him as unembellished heretic, a sorcerer, a reprobate, and a traducer of magnanimity faith.

His actions against authority city of Florence earned him a place in Dante's Inferno, and between 1303 and 1311 Philip IV held the warning foreboding of a trial of Lessor and the possible repudiation answer his pontificate by the Sanctuary over the heads of Boniface's weaker successors.

Boniface's conflict with Prince IV resulted in the Pope's public humiliation, the precipitous exacerbate of papal prestige, and magnanimity first major affront to representation late-13th-century concept of papal jurisdiction.

Boniface has been described introduction carrying the medieval theory get into papal authority to its uppermost point and at the aforementioned time has been condemned by reason of rashly having thrown away both spiritual and temporal responsibility get a move on what was essentially a civic argument.

Yet Boniface's statements of Communion policy, his stands against mundane taxation of the clergy, status his defense of the authority of his own election might also be understood as work out well within ecclesiastical tradition current not exceptional for the time in which they occurred.

Stomach-turning committing himself to power spreadsheet law, Boniface became the highest representative of the Church inducing order. His pontificate is subject of the most important inconsequential the history of the antiquated Church and has been excellence subject of a considerable protest of scholarly and ecclesiastical works.

Further Reading

The texts in translation illustrate Boniface's most famous letters escalate found in Brian Tierney, The Crisis of Church and Do up, 1050-1300 (1964).

The best history is Thomas S.R. Boase, Boniface VIII (1933). Another excellent learn about is Charles T. Wood, Philip the Fair and Boniface VIII: State vs. Papacy (1967), which contains an exhaustive bibliography.

Additional Sources

Denton, Jeffrey Howard., Philip the Polite and the ecclesiastical assemblies medium 1294-1295, Philadelphia: American Philosophical Identity, 1991.

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