Greetings to all the friends of Vanilla, today
we will talk about a controversial Pope, whose name has remained famous over the centuries. A
Pope mentioned by Dante, at the center of a battle with the King of France and many of his vassals.
It is nice to know his story, let's discover it together. The year of our Lord 1303 - a small army
with the insignia of the King of France is marching towards Anagni. Guglielmo of Nogaret and
Sciarra Colonna are leading the soldiers, who arrive in the city and enter without
even firing a shot. The local lords have decided to betray Pope Boniface VIII and to
hand him over to the emissaries of Philip the Handsome, who lay siege to the palace
where the Pontif is barricaded. These moments will be recorded in history. The door
collapses. Boniface is sitting holding a crucifix in his hand. Sciarra Colonna and
Guglielmo of Nogaret climb the stairs to the first floor. When they find him, impassive and
with his usual arrogant expression, the clock of history marks September 7th. On one side is the spiritual guide of the Christian
world, on the other are a French noble, who needs to free himself from a Papal bull,
and an Italian aristocrat seeking vengeance. The episode we speak of, is the
famous slap of Anagni, the climax of nine years of struggles between Philip
the Handsome and Boniface VIII. The slap was such a huge shock that it made Boniface head
towards death. But let's start at the beginning. Before continuing, I wish to remind you that
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we will mail to your home every three months. Benedetto Caetani, the future Boniface VIII, is
born in Anagni around the year 1230, son of Roffredo Caetani and Emilia Patrasso di Guercino. His
family is one of the richest and most influential of the time, and his maternal uncle Leonardo
Patrasso introduces him to the ecclesiastical community when he is still a lad. In 1254, he begins
studying Canon law in Todi, where his other uncle, Pietro Caetani, is Bishop. Then he receives a degree
from the University of Bologna. He is ambitious and intelligent. He climbs the hierarchies of the
Roman Curia, becomes the Secretary of Simon de Brion, future Pope Martin IV, and is a member of
important Papal delegations in France and England. According to Martin IV, Benedetto is a man
with profound wisdom, reliable, having great farsightedness, diligence and circumspection; all virtues which, among other things, lead
him to becoming a Cardinal in 1281. On July 5th, 1294, Pope Celestine V is elected. With the
patronage of Charles II of Anjou, he moves the Pontifical court to Naples. Celestine, though,
had accepted the position unwillingly - he is a humble monk dedicated to poverty, without any
political experience - and from the start he wishes to abdicate. Benedetto, with his profound
knowledge of ecclesiastical law, perceives a great opportunity for himself and finds a legal
loophole to comply with the wish of the Pope. Celestine officially renounces the Papacy on
December 13, 1294 and, ten days later, the conclave meets at Castel Nuovo. Cardinal
Caetani wins the election; he chooses the name of Boniface VIII. As first
act of his pontificate, Benedetto transfers the Papal court to Rome,
he makes Anagni his operative center and offers ecclesiastical positions
to his friends and relatives, as is usual at the time. The matter which most
worries him, though, is how to defend himself from the French Cardinals who had
opposed his election and could use Celestine V as an anti-Pope. The only solution is to lock
up his predecessor and keep him under close surveillance... The emissaries of Charles II of
Anjou arrest the poor Celestine V on behalf of Boniface VIII and imprison him in the
fortress of Fumone, a property of the Caetani family, where he dies on May 19,
1296 of natural causes, but there is, however, a suspicion that the new Pope
has a hand in his death. Boniface is convinced that the Pontif is above everything
else, including the temporal power and even kings who, if baptized, like any other believer,
should submit to his authority. In the nine years of his ecclesiastical mandate this
theocratic concept of the papacy - which had existed in the past though not to such extremes -
is utilized to meddle in European politics. His first intervention is in the Sicilian question.
After the vespers of 1282, the island passes into the hands of the Aragonese. The Angioini
of Naples want to repossess it and the Pope decides to support them. On June 12th of 1295,
Giacomo II of Aragona gives in to the Vatican and renounces Sicily in favour of Charles II
of Anjou, but the local population rebels and Boniface is obliged to crown an Aragonese.
The diplomatic fiasco will be repeated also in France, where he has to face Philip IV
known as "the Handsome"... Between 1292 and 1294, the Papal throne had remained vacant
and, in those two years, the French and English Sovereigns had financed their wars
by taxing their respective national churches; a practice which, without an express papal
authorization, was absolutely forbidden. On February 24th of 1296, Boniface decides
to reinstate the status quo by issuing the bull "Clericis Laicos", in which he reaffirms
that laymen who exact taxes from the clergy would be excommunicated. The English King Edward I
unwillingly accepts but Philip the Handsome is more cunning and prohibits the exportation
of money from France. This move, in practice, impedes the transfer of the revenues of the French
church (the richest of that time) to the coffers of the Vatican. Bonifacio has no choice and, in
exchange for the annulment of the prohibition allows Philip to tax the clergy even without
the authorization of the Holy See. The Pope has personal matters to resolve also in
Rome, first among them, the revenge against Pietro and Giacomo Colonna, two
Cardinals who had opposed his election. There are ill feelings between the Colonnas
and the Caetanis, so Boniface tries to weaken the influence of the rival family
by buying some properties in the Roman countryside where the Colonnas are
the main land owners. The latter find themselves surrounded by the Caetanis
and react by stealing a carriage with about 200.000 florins of the Pope,
who threatens to excommunicate the guilty persons and thus obtains the
return of the treasure. The Colonnas move on to stronger methods and unite,
under one flag, all the opposers of the Pope. On May 10, 1297, the group signs, in the
presence of a notary public, the "Manifest of Lunghezza" a document containing twelve points
which relegates Boniface VIII to the role of usurper of the Throne of St. Peter. "We do not
believe that you are the legitimate Pope. We denounce this illegitimacy to the Holy College
and ask it to hold a consultation and remedy it".. The event is an outrage, because, besides
insinuating that Benedetto Caetani deceived Celestine V to push him to abdicate, the text
describes the Pontif as one of the most vile and dissolute man who ever existed, as a
blasphemer, a swearer, an adulterer and a simoniac (those who buy and sell
ecclesiastical positions). The answers of Boniface are two bulls with which he takes
away the cardinalship from Pietro and Giacomo, excommunicates all the members of the Colonna
family and orders the confiscation of all their property. From words they move on to weapons
and the faction against the Pope hopes for an intervention of Philip the Handsome, but the French
King has just concluded an agreement on taxation of the clergy and prefers to remain out of it. Lacking
the backing of Philip, the Colonnas take a step back and open peace negotiations. In September of
1298, Pietro and Giacomo face Boniface VIII; dressed as repentants and bare footed,
they bow at his feet, they recognize him as legitimate Pontif and submit to the Papal
Authority. Boniface shows mercy: he cancels the excommunications and pardons them in exchange
for control over the city of Palestrina, the stronghold where the Colonnas have concentrated
the greater part of their territory. Pietro and Giacomo accept and believe that they have solved
the matter. They do not know that the anger of the Pope has not been placated ... In the spring of 1299,
the soldiers of the Holy See go to Palestrina, they transfer the population to the valley, they
destroy the city and cover the land with salt, so that, as Boniface wrote in a letter,
nothing is left, not even the title and definition of "city". The Colonnas understand
that a change of air is needed and seek refuge in France under the protection of Philip the
Handsome. In the meantime, 1300 is close and that round number has a certain
effect, as if Christians should expect something extraordinary. Boniface
takes advantage of this atmosphere and institutes the first Jubilee year,
during which people can obtain remission from their sins by going to Rome on
pilgrimage. About 300.000 people arrive in the city - to the point that
the right hand side has to be kept when crossing the St. Angelo bridge -
the Vatican finances register record incomes and the Pontif manages to
consolidate his prestige. At the beginning of the new century, he turns his
gaze to Florence, where the two Guelph factions are battling
for control of the city, he sends Carlo of Valois to overthrow the White Government
in favour of the Black. In 1302, a White delegation travels to Rome to speak
with him and, among the Ambassadors, there is also Dante Alighieri who, maybe on
orders of the Pope, is withheld in the Vatican with absurd excuses while, back home, the new
mayor of Florence, obviously a Black Guelph, condemns him to death in absentia and to exile
for life. Dante matures such a strong hate towards Boniface VIII that he does him the honour, if
thus we can define it, to include him in the Divine Comedy - canto XIX of the Inferno, level
of the simoniacs - before he is even dead. In October of 1301, contrasts are reignited
with Philip the Handsome, who arrests the Abbot Bernard Saisset, one of Boniface's
proteges, and accuses him of high treason. The Pope reacts with the bulls
Salvador mundi and Asculta Fili, in which he invalidates the agreements on taxation of
the clergy and invites the King and the French Bishops to particate in a synod to clarify, once and
for all, the relations between the Holy See and the French crown. Boniface wants to repeat what
he has already said in the past - that Monarchs should submit to Papal authority - but Philip
does not have the same idea and wants to govern without any interference. The two positions are
irreconcilable and an open clash is inevitable. April 10, 1302, witnesses the summoning of the
first General Assembly in history, where the representatives of clergy, nobility and the French
Third State agree to oppose Boniface's position. In reply, on November 18, 1302, the Pope issues
the most famous of his bulls, the Unam Sanctam, in which, for the first time since the beginning
of his papacy, he explains in clear terms, that all Christians, including Kings, must obey
the Pope, because, if baptized, they too are followers of Christ. The argument
can be settled in only two ways, with the excommunication or the surrender of Philip,
but the Sovereign invents a third solution: the most difficult one, the most outrageous...
Put Boniface VIII on trial. On June 14, 1302, the General State begin the preliminary
investigation of the case and such an anti-Papal fervor is ignited that the
impossible is brought forth. Besides mentioning the illegitimacy of the succession
of Celestine V - accompanied by a grotesque story in which the then Cardinal Caetani,
pretends to be the divine will and, at night, murmurs to the ex-Pope to abdicate -
some say that Boniface is a glutton, that he once attacked a cook because he had been
served only six courses, that he continuously curses, that he does not believe in divine
judgement and, therefore, does not have to confess his sins to anyone. The most absurd
stories are reported such as, for example, the one in which he sees a poor chaplain imploring
the help of Christ and answers him: Idiot! Jesus was a man like us and if he did not
save himself, how can he save you? Even a Benedictine monk comes forward, a
certain Giacomo da Palombara, who gives this testimony: "He continually declared that it
was not a sin if men had carnal relations with women, married or not, and even with males,
but that, instead, anything that men like is lawful". Boniface VIII is certainly not a
saint, but we must keep in mind that behind the trial initiated by Philip the Handsome,
is the handiwork of the Colonnas, who also in the past had formulated defamatory accusations
through the Manifesto of Lunghezza. While this is happening in Paris, in Rome, the Pontif is
preparing a bull of excommunication, the Super Petri solio, to be published on September 8th
of 1303. The excommunication on its own is not a problem but Philip knows that it would render
legitimate a rebellion of the population against him and decides to organiza a punitive
expedition headed by Sciarra Colonna and Guglielmo di Nogaret. The two emissaries reach
Anagni on September 7th and enter the Palace where Boniface VIII had barricated himself.
Insults and abuse follow with Sciarra Colonna expressing against the Pontif all his hate,
both personal and for the contrasts between the two families. Legend has it that, tired of
words, the nobleman takes off his glove and does what no one had ever done: SLAPS the highest
authority of the Christian world... We do not know if it is a symbolic slap, intended
to be an affront to the spiritual power, or a real slap, but it is certain that
Boniface is humiliated. Nogaret starts searching for the bull of excommunication
and destroys it, then he returns to the Pope and finds him at the mercy of Sciarra
whose intention is to kill him. The French man wants him to remain alive to undergo the
shame of the trial and, somehow, placates the wrath of his companion. After three days
of imprisonment, the population of Anagni rebels, ousts the emissaries of the King with
the help of the Orsini family and frees Boniface who, broken in spirit and in body, returns
to Rome and dies on October 11, 1303. With the death of the Pope, the Colonnas can
recuperate all the land and restore their influence in Italy, but the true winner is
Philip the Handsome who, in the following years, would control the Church with the
Avignon Captivity and put an end to the Order of the Templars by trading the posthumous
trial of Boniface VIII for the death sentences of the Knights. Why is Boniface a controversial
Pope? From an historical stand point, Benedetto Caetani did the same things of his predecessors.
Other Popes before him had tried to affirm the superiority of spiritual power over
the temporal one and his only mistake - and this is among the reasons why he is
remembered as one of the most controversial Pontifs - was to have challenged the wrong
persons, in the wrong way, at the wrong time. Before you run away, let me remind you
that this video was loaded with the very fast fiber of Spadhausen. If you want to
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