The situation in Europe in the fourteenth century was that of a feudal society, where the role of the church was not simply to govern the faith of its subjects, not even to ensure the righteousness of souls, the power that the church claimed was earthly. France was under the reign of King Philip IV, nicknamed the beautiful, a king of absolutist court and with few pretensions to bow to any other power, even if this was the power of God on earth. In Rome, the other protagonist was the Pope Boniface VIII, a pope with a somewhat special vision of divine powers. In this article dedicated to Anagni’s Affront, Slap in the Face of a Pope, we are going to tell you how the events occurred, what motivated this affront and what consequences it would bring.
Anagni’s Affront, Slap a Pope | The protagonists
To better understand what happened in the Anagni’s affront, we have to know a little more in depth each of the protagonists. The need for this knowledge lies in the fact that knowing the type of temperament that each one had and the real pretensions for which they decided to make or edit certain laws, are fundamental to understand perfectly how France could go from being one of the most loyal servants of the power of rome to become enemies.
Anagni’s Affront, Slap in the Face of a Pope: The Protagonists | The Pope Boniface VIII
Boniface VIII, he was ranked 193rd as Pope of the Catholic Church. Benedict Gaetani, born in the Papal States in 1235, belonging to a noble family of Spanish origin that settled in Italy. A cultured man, he studied in Bologna and Paris where he specialized in Canon Law.
when the pope Celestine V5 months after its proclamation in the city of L’Aquila, He resigns the papacy, according to the Pope himself, due to illness, for not being able to manage the kingdom of God, for wanting to return to his life of meditation, for being over 80 years old. He quickly named himself his successor would be Benedetto GaetaniOr what is the same Boniface VIII.
Appointed Pope on Christmas Day 1294, he was a man very arrogant and angrya capable man but with a great defect, the lack of diplomacy, he lacked tact, becoming a person very arrogant and intransigent, a way of being that generated more than one enmity.
The main wish of Pope Boniface was to maintain as outside the power of the Pope over all Christianity, including the kings as it had happened until now.
His successive clashes with the King of France, Philip IV the Handsome, caused a before and after in the conception of power. From this moment on, the power that the Pope had always had over all Christians, including the Kings, took a radical turn, now the rights both over men and over land will go directly to the jurisdiction of the King, the clergy in France were set apart. Pope Boniface VIII, died in Rome on October 11, 1303, a few days after being released by the King of France.
But if we want to know something more, we will say out of curiositythat the painting of the streets and the first road safety regulations, was an idea of Pope Boniface.
In the celebration of the Holy Year, people literally threw themselves into the streets to get to St. Peter’s Square, this caused hundreds of outrages, since the carriages were often caught between human tides. After the numerous dead that the Holy Year left behind, the Pope ordered that a white line be marked in the center of the Vatican streets, on the left side the carriages would circulate and on the right side of the line, pedestrians.
Although it is a curiosity, this is the reason why The English drive on the left It really was a Roman circulation rule, which Pope Boniface VIII recovered and is still respected in the United Kingdom. In the rest of Europe and after the French Revolution This rule was modified throughout the Napoleonic Empire, But this is an other history.
Anagni’s Affront, Slap in the Face of a Pope: The Protagonists | King Philip IV of France
King Philip IV of France, born at Fontainebleau on July 1, 1268, second son of King Philip III and Isabel of Aragon. He was characterized by the rigidity and severity of him, a completely impassive man.
Louis, the heir to the French throne and Philip’s elder brother, died in 1276 of poison when he was only 11 years old. It was then that Philip became heir to the thronebecoming a reality when his father, the king, died and he was proclaimed king on January 6, 1286.
The tastes of the French king were typical of the time of the condition, so he liked hunting and parties in the palace. It is said that he was a king pious and proud of his lineage. Politically, he surrounded himself with great advisers who, in addition to sharing his own ideas, strengthened the king’s power.
He was a concerned king clean up the finances of the crown, creating among others the Court of AuditorsO well charging special taxes citizens who did not want to do military service, so part of that money was used to hire mercenaries, who, in addition to knowing how to fight, enriched the state coffers.
This was the main reason for disagreement between the King of France and Pope Boniface VIII, when the King of France, in that collection process, forced the French clergy to pay taxes, something from which they were exempt. Bonifacio saw this gesture as a provocation.
King Philip IV of France is owed the suppression of the Templar Order in 1307, After seven years of harsh trials, 15,000 men were tried, including the Grand Masters of the Order, such as Jacques deMolay, who was burned in Paris as a heretic. The king will persecute and send all the Templars to prison after going through a process of torture, until in 1314, he considers himself extinct.
In the next update we will deal in depth with the event that took place in Angni, naming the story as Anagni’s Affront, the slap to a Popein addition to his imprisonment.
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