120 Boniface VIII, Pope
property to be handled by temporal authorities. The
church itself also collected taxes, and by the late 13th
century these early instances of taxation had become
lucrative necessities for the kings and the ecclesiastical
powers that collected them. The demand for a new tax on
ecclesiastical revenues by King PHILIP IV of France
prompted from Boniface VIII the bull CLERICIS LAICOSin
- In it the pope not only forbade the collection of
taxes from the clergy by the laity but also even denied the
French king authority over the clergy within his own
realm. Philip IV retaliated by forbidding the export of all
money from France; so in 1297 Boniface was forced to
come to terms with Philip by recognizing a technicality
known as “necessity of state” as reason for emergency
taxation, even of clergy.
By 1300 Boniface had seemingly successfully restored
papal prestige and proclaimed the first jubilee year. The
crowds who flocked to ROMEto receive the INDULGENCES
that accompanied a papal blessing were given the impres-
sion that the church and the papacy were naturally at the
greatest point of their power and prestige.
UNAM SANCTAMAND ITS CONSEQUENCESIn 1301 another phase of the quarrel between Boniface
and Philip IV began. Philip arrested the bishop of
Pamiers on charges of heresy and treason and demanded
that the pope recognize the legality of his act. Boniface
responded by denouncing Philip’s act, calling a council in
1302 to consider the state of the church in France. He
sent Philip another letter, in which he asserted the tradi-
tional superiority of popes to kings and emperors. In
1302 Philip called an assembly of all ranks of French
society at Paris, the first meeting in history of a represen-
tative Estates General. His supporters presented a dis-
torted version of Boniface’s letter and urged further royal
action against the pope.
In 1302, when the papal council to discuss religion
in France proved a failure, Boniface issued a bull, Unam
sanctam,perhaps the most famous papal letter ever writ-
ten, on November 18. In this document Boniface pre-
sented the traditional ecclesiastical view of papal
authority over the church and over the world, the secu-
lar. Besides stating that there was not salvation outside
the church, he claimed nearly complete power for the
pope. In 1303 Philip’s minister Guillaume de Nogaret
met Boniface at Anagni. There he held the pope pris-
oner, insulting and assaulting him. Rescued by the local
inhabitants, a broken Boniface proceeded to Rome
under the protection of the Orsini family; there he died
several weeks later on October 11, 1303, and was buriedThe papal palace built for Boniface VIII in 1297 on the Piazza del Duomo in Orvieto (Courtesy Edward English)