Pope boniface viii biography of william
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by Jamie Parker-Ward
Christmas and the days around it hold a symbolic importance as a moment of transition. In Christian theology, it is the moment that God becomes man in the form of Christ, who would later bring salvation to all. It is no wonder then that Christmas was often picked as the date for similar moments of transition. One of the most famous instances is the coronation of Charlemagne on Christmas Day in 800 A.D. at Aachen.[1] King William I of England would later mimic Charlemagne by hosting his coronation on Christmas Day 1066, representing the beginning of Norman rule in England.[2]
On 24 December 1294, Benedetto Caetani, born into a noble family in Anagni near Rome, was elected Pope Boniface VIII.[3] He succeeded the later canonised Pope Celestine V, who had resigned from the office after a brief 5-month spell in charge.[4] Celestine was not the first papal resignation. Benedict IX had resigned twice in the eleventh century, including one occasion o
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Pope Boniface VIII
Head of the Catholic Church from 1294 to 1303
Pope Boniface VIII (Latin: Bonifatius PP. VIII; born Benedetto Caetani; c. 1230 – 11 October 1303) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 until his death in 1303. The Caetani family was of baronial origin, with connections to the papacy. He succeeded Pope Celestine V, who had abdicated from the papal throne. Boniface spent his early career abroad in diplomatic roles.
Boniface VIII put forward some of the strongest claims of any pope to temporal as well as spiritual power. He involved han själv often with foreign affairs, including in France, Sicily, Italy, and the First War of Scottish Independence. These views, and his chronic intervention in temporal affairs, led to many bitter quarrels with Albert I of Germany, Philip IV of France, and Dante Alighieri, who expected the pope to soon arrive at the eighth circle of Hell in his Divine Comedy, among
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Pope Boniface VIII was Rector of St.Lawrence Church Towcester before he was elevated to the positionof Pope.
Benedetto Caetani (Benedict Cajetan) was born about 1235 in Anagni and died in Rome 1303. Benedetto had studied Canon and Civil law in Italy, and had been made a canon successively at Anagni, Todi, Paris, Lyons, and Rome. In 1265 he accompanied Cardinal Ottobuono Fieschi to England, when he could have visited Towcester.
On 23 January 1295 he was consecrated in Rome as Pope Boniface VIII. He was a patron of learning, founding an educational institute in Rome in 1303.
Boniface published his "Unam Sanctam" in 1303 in which he made the controversial statement that princes as well as others are subject to the jurisdiction of the Roman pontiff in both temporal and spiritual matters.
His other important publication in 1298 was the "Liber sextus" According to a contemporary eyewitness, Giovanni Villani [citation needed] "he was the most clever canonist of his time, more feared t