Research topic: Boniface VIII

Boniface VIII 1235-1303, pope (1294-1303), an Italian (b. Anagni) named Benedetto Caetani; successor of St. Celestine V. As a cardinal he was independent of the factions in the papal court, and he opposed the election of Celestine. Boniface was elected on Celestine's abdication, and during his first years he was opposed by those who had suffered from Celestine's retirement—the Neapolitans, the Colonna family, and the extreme Franciscans, among them Jacopone da Todi. To preclude schism, Boniface kept Celestine imprisoned for the rest of his life. Boniface reigned in a time of crisis ... Read more