BONIFACE
662
BONIFACE
years of his reign from the deposition of Benedict VI
in 974. For more than a year Rome endured this
monster steeped in the blood of his predecessors.
But the vengeance was terrible. After his sudden
death in July, 98.5, due in all probability to violence,
the body of Boniface was exposed to the insults of
the populace, dragged through the streets of the
city, and finally, naked and covered with wounds,
flung under the statue of Marcus Aurelius, which at
that time stood in the Lateran Place. The foUosving
morning compassionate clerics removed the corpse
and gave it Christian burial.
LiheT Pontificalis (ed. Duchesne), II, 257; Idem, Les premiers temps de t'ctat pontifical (2nd ed., Paris, 1904), 357, 358; Jaffe. Regest. RR. PP., I, 485; Watterich, Vita Rom. Pant., I, 66; Ferrucci, Investi^azioni storico-criiiche su la persona ed il pontificato di Bonifazio VII (Lugo. 1856); Hefele, ConcUienge^ch., IV, 632, 634; Jcngm.^nn, Dissertationes, IV, S8-91; Floss, Die PapstwaJil unter den Ottonen (Freiburg. 1858), 42; Gregorovius, III. 363. 369. 381-383; Von Reu- MONT, Gesch. der Sladt Rom, II, 293. 296.
Thom.\s Oestreich.
Boniface VIII, Pope (Benedetto GAET.ixi), b. at Anagni about 1235; d. at Kome, U October, 1303. He was the son of Loffred, a descendant of a noble family originally Spanish, but long established in Italy — first at Gaeta and later at Ariagni. Through his mother he was connected with the house of Segni, which had already given three illustrious sons to the Church, Innocent III, Gregory IX, and Alexan- der IV. Benedetto had studied at Todi and at Spoleto in Italy, perhaps also at Paris, had obtained the doctorate in canon and civil law, and been made a canon successively at Anagni, Todi. Paris, Lyons, and Rome. In 1265 he accompanied Cardinal Otto- buono Fieschi to England, whitlier that prelate had been sent to restore harmony between Henry III and the rebellious barons. It was not until about 1276 that Gaetani entered upon his career in the Curia, where he was, for some years, actively engaged as consistorial advocate and notary Apostolic, and soon acquired considerable influence. I'nder Martin IV, in 12S1, he was created Cardinal-Deacon of the title of S. Nicolo in carcerc TuUiano, and ten years later, under Nicholas IV, Cardinal-Priest of the title of SS. Silvestro e Martino ai Monti. As papal legate he served ■with conspicuous ability in France and in Sicily (H. Finke, Aus den Tagen Bonifaz VIII, Munster, 1902, 1 sqq., 9 sqq.).
On the 13th of December, 1294. the saintly but wholly incompetent hermit-pope Celestine V, who five montlis pre\'iously, as Pietro di Murrhone, had been taken from his obscure mountain cave in the wilds of the Abruzzi and raised to the highest dignity in Christendom, resigned the intolerable burden of the papacy. The act was miprecedented and has been frequently ascribed to the midue influence and pressure of the designing Cardinal Gaetani. That the elevation of the inexperienced and simple-minded recluse did not commend itself to a man of the stamp of Gaetani, reputed the greatest jurist of his age and well-skilled in all the arts of eurial diplomacy, is highly probable. But Boniface himself declared, through -Egidius Colonna, that he had at first dis- suaded Celestine from taking the step. And it has now been almost certainly established that the idea of resigning the papacy first originated in the mind of the sorely perplexed Celestine himself, and that the part played by Gaetani was at most that of a counsellor, strongly advising the pontiff to issue a constitution, either before or simultaneously with his abdication, declaring the legality of a papal resignation and the competency of the College of Cardinals to accept it. [See especially H. Schulz, Peter von Murrhone — Papst Ccelestin V — in Zeit- schrift fvir Kirchengeschichte, xvii (1897), 481 sqq.; also Finke, op. cit., 39 sqq.; and R. Scholz, Die Publizistik zur Zeit Philipps des Schbnen und Boni- faz VIII, Stuttgart, 1903, 3.] Ten days after Celes-
tine the Fifth's gran rifiulo the cardinals went into
conclave in the Castel Nuovo at Naples, and on the
24th of December, 1294, by a majority of votes
elected Cardinal Benedetto Gaetani, who took the
name of Boniface VIII. (For details of the election
see Finke, op. cit.. 44-54.) With the approval of the
cardinals, the new pope immediately revoked (27
December, 1294) all the extraordinarj' favours and
privileges which "in the fullness of his simplicity"
Celestine V had distributed with such reckless
prodigality. Then, early in Januarj' of the following
year, in spite of the rigour of the season, Boniface
set out for Rome, determined to remove the papacy
as soon as possible from the influence of the Neapoli-
tan court. The ceremony of his consecration and
coronation was performed at Rome, 23 Januarj-,
1295, amid scenes of unparalleled splendour and magnificence. King Charles II of Naples and his son Charles Martel, titular king and claimant of Hungary, held the reins of his gorgeously accoutred snow-white palfrey as he proceeded on his way to St. John Lateran, and later, with their crowns upon their heads, served the pope with the first few dishes at table before taking their places amongst the cardinals. On the following day the pontiff issued his first encyclical letter, in which, after announcing Celestine's abdication and his own accession, he depicted in the most glowing terms the sublime and indefectible nature of the Church.
The unusual step taken by Celestine V had aroused much opposition, especially among the religious parties in Italy. In the hands of the Spirituals, or Fraticelli, and the Celestines — many of whom were not as guileless as their saintly founder — the former pontiff, if allowed to go free, might prove to be a dangerous instrument for the promotion of a schism in the Church. Boniface VIII, therefore, before leav- ing Naples, ordered Celestine V to be taken to Rome in the custody of the Abbot of Monte Cassino. On the way thither the saint escaped and returned to his hermitage near Sulmona. Apprehended again, he fled a second time, and after weary weeks of roaming through the woods of Apulia reached the sea and embarked on board a vessel about to sail for Dalmatia. But a storm cast the luckless fugitive ashore at Vieste in the Capitanata, where the authorities recognized and detained him. He was brought be- fore Boniface in his palace at Anagni, kept in custody there for some time, and finally transferred to the strong Castle of Fumone at Ferentino. Here he re- mained until his death ten months later, 19 May,
1296. The detention of Celestine was a simple meas- ure of prudence for which Boniface VIII deserves no censure; but the rigorous treatment to which the old man of over eighty years was subjected — whoever may have been responsible for it — will not be easily condoned. Of this treatment there can now no longer be any question. The place wherein Celestine was confined was so narrow "that the spot whereon the saint stood when saying Mass was the same as that whereon his head lay when he reclined" (quod, ubi tenebat pedes ille sanctus, dum missam diceret, ibi tenebat caput, C|uando quiescebat), and his two companions were frequently obliged to change places because the constraint and narrowness made them ill. (In this connexion see the very important and valuable paper "S. Pierre C^lestin et ses premiers Biographes" in "Analecta Bolland.", XVI, 365- 487; cf. Finke, op. cit., 267.)
Thoroughly imbued with the principles of his great and heroic predecessors, Gregory VII and Inno- cent III, the successor of Celestine V entertained most exalted notions on the subject of papal su- premacy in ecclesiastical as well as in civil matters, and was ever most pronounced in the assertion of his claims. By his profound knowledge of the canons of the Church, his keen political instincts, great practical
