Analysis Of Boniface's Unam Sanctam

Philip and Edward’s efforts were effective in intimidating Boniface, who worried about maintaining his influence and superiority. It is under this pressure that he issued yet another bull, Unam Sanctam, November 18 1302 after meeting with a large group of church officials. This new document was an attempt to reestablish his possession of power as the pope of the Catholic Church, sending the message that although he was not able to support his previous decree, the church and pope still remained powerful. In his Unam Sanctam, Boniface references the beliefs and actions of his predecessors along with many citations of biblical passages that supported his argument that, even though the political leaders may have had military clout, it is the …show more content…
In 1303, Philip sent William de Nogaret, along with other agents from France, to travel to Anagni, the “summer residence” of Boniface, as a part of a plan to capture and subdue the pope. De Nogaret was successful in his mission and, with fairly little resistance from other officials of the Catholic Church, was able to arrest and detain the pope. Boniface’s fate is fairly fitting considering his treatment of Celestine at the beginning of his career as pope, and this pope would meet the same end as his predecessor. Eventually after his arrest, some locals convinced Philip and de Nogaret that it would be best to let Boniface go, which they did. Not very long after, Pope Boniface VIII died, in the same year as his brief capture by the French. His death led to continued confusion and a lack of stability in the church, most notably with the beginning of the Avignon Papacy in 1305 that would last until 1378. This confusing period of Catholic history is admittedly fairly comical, at one point there were three accepted popes in power, all in different areas of Europe who, at one point, all excommunicated one