Pope Boniface VIII

Pope Boniface VIII was born Benedetto Caetani in 1235 in Anagni, c. 50 kilometres southeast of Rome. He was the younger son of a minor noble family, the Gaetani.

Benedetto took his first steps in the religious life when he was sent to the monastery of the Friars Minor in Velletri, where he was put under the care of his uncle Fra Leonardo Patrasso. He became a canon of the cathedral in Anagni in his teens.

Benedetto Gaetani was elected pope, taking the name Boniface VIII. The conclave began on December 23, 1294, ten days after Celestine V vacated the throne. Benedetto Gaetani was elected pope the next day, Christmas Eve.

Boniface VIII was known for his ambitious nature and strong desire to assert and expand the authority of the papacy. He believed in the supremacy of the Church over secular rulers, a viewpoint that put him into conflict with various monarchs and leaders of his time. He skilfully navigated the complex political landscape of his era and sought to consolidate papal power.

One of his first acts as pontiff was to imprison his predecessor, Celestine V, in the Castle of Fumone in Ferentino, Italy, in 1295. Celestine had resigned from the papacy just five months earlier, under pressure from Boniface and other cardinals. Boniface feared that Celestine would try to reclaim the papacy, so he had him imprisoned.

Celestine died in the castle the following year, on May 19, 1296. His death was never investigated, and there are some who believe that he was murdered by Boniface. However, there is no evidence to support this claim.

Pope Boniface VIII issued “Clericis Laicos” which threatened excommunication for any lay ruler who taxes the clergy and any clergyman who pays the taxes. Despite being pious himself, the king of England, Edward 1, retorted by decreeing if the clergy did not pay, they would be stripped of all legal protection and the King’s sheriff would seize their properties. The pope backed down.

Boniface proclaimed 1300 a "jubilee" year, the first in of many such jubilees take place in Rome. He had the churches of Rome restored for the Great Jubilee of 1300, particularly St. Peter's Basilica, the Basilica of St. John Lateran, and the Saint Mary Major Basilica.

Boniface may have proclaimed the Jubilee year to gather money from pilgrims to Rome as a substitute for the missing money from France. The event was a success; Rome had never received such crowds before.

Boniface VIII was the first pope to wear the zucchetto, a small skullcap that covers the tonsure. It has since been formally worn by the Pope and his cardinals and bishops down the centuries.

Pope Boniface asserted papal authority over all temporal rulers in his bull Unam Sanctam, which he issued on November 18, 1302. King Philip IV of France responded to the papal bull the following year with a counter attack and was behind the kidnapping of the pope by some Italian noblemen. Boniface was soon released but so roughly was he treated that he died shortly afterwards.

Boniface died of kidney stones, fever and humiliation on October 11, 1303. There were rumors he had died of suicide from "gnawing through his own arm" and bashing his skull into a wall. These rumors were likely spread by his enemies, who were eager to discredit him.

In 1713, Pope Clement XI opened a canonization inquiry into Boniface VIII's life, but the inquiry was never completed. There have been no further attempts to canonize Boniface VIII since then.

Today, he is probably best remembered for his feuds with Dante Alighieri, who placed him in the Eighth Circle of Hell in his Inferno, Dante's Inferno is set in the year 1300, and Boniface VIII did not die until 1303. However, Dante was deeply opposed to Boniface's policies, and he believed that the pope was guilty of simony, which is the buying or selling of church offices. As a result, Dante placed Boniface in the eighth circle of hell, where the simoniacs are punished.