The bull "Unam and the king's rejoinder, both parties seem to have lost their temper. This was followed by the celebrated bull "Ausculta Fili," at which the king's indignation knew no bounds. He Fili.” had it publicly burned in Paris at the sound of a trumpet; assembled the States-General; and, under the advice of his lawyers, skilfully brought the issue to this: Does the king hold the realm of France of God or of the Pope? Without difficulty it might be seen how the French clergy would be compelled to act; since many of them held fiefs of the king, all were in fear of the intrusion of Italian ecclesiastics into the rich benefices. France, therefore, supported her monarch. On his side, Boniface, in the bull "Unam sanctum," asserted his The bull power by declaring that it is necessary to salvation to believe sanctam.” that "every human being is subject to the pontiff of Rome." Philip, foreseeing the desperate nature of the approaching conflict, and aiming to attach his people firmly to him by putting himself forth as their protector against priestly tyranny, again skilfully appealed to their sentiments by denouncing the Inquisition as an atrocious barbarity, an outrage on human rights, violating all law, resorting to new and unheard-of tortures, and doing deeds at which men's minds revolt with horror. In the South of France this language was thoroughly understood. The lawyers, among whom William de Nogaret Will'am de Nogaret. was conspicuous, ably assisted him; indeed, his whole movement exhibited the extraordinary intelligence of his advisers. It has been affirmed, and is perhaps not untrue, that De Nogaret's father had been burned by the Inquisition. The great lawyer was bent on revenge. The States-General, under Action of his suggestions, entertained four propositions:-1. That Boni- General. face was not the true Pope; 2. That he was a heretic; 3. That he was a simoniac; 4. That he was a man weighed down with crimes. De Nogaret, learning from the Colonnas how to touch the Papacy in a vital point, demanded that the whole subject should be referred to a "General Council," to be summoned by the king. A second meeting of the States-General was held. William de Plaisian, the Lord of Vezenoble, ap- Accusations against the peared with charges against the Pope. Out of a long list, Pope. many of which could not possibly be true, some may be men VOL. II. G the States tioned: that Boniface believed neither in the immortality nor incorruptibility of the soul, nor in a life to come, nor in the real presence in the Eucharist; that he did not observe the fasts of the Church-not even Lent; that he spoke of the cardinals, monks, and friars as hypocrites; that the Holy Land had been lost through his fault; that the subsidies for its relief had been embezzled by him; that his holy predecessor, Celestine, through his inhumanity had been brought to death h; that he had said that fornication and other obscene practices were no sin; that he was a sodomite, and had caused clerks to be murdered in his presence; that he had enriched himself by simony; that his nephew's wife had borne him two illegitimate sons. These, with other still more revolting charges, were sworn to upon the Holy Gospels. The king appealed to a "General Council and to a legitimate Pope." There was but The quarrel had now become a mortal one. one course for Boniface to take, and he took it. He excommunicated the king. He deprived him of his throne, and anathematized his posterity to the fourth generation. The bull was to be suspended in the porch of the Cathedral of Anagni on September 8; but William de Nogaret and one of the Colonnas had already passed into Italy. They hired a troop of banditti, and on September 7th attacked the pontiff in his palace at Anagni. The doors of a church which protected him were strong, but they yielded to fire. The brave old man, in his pontifical robes, with his crucifix in one hand and the keys of St. Peter in the other, sat down on his throne and confronted his assailants: his cardinals had fled through a sewer. His seizure So little reverence was there for God's vicar upon earth, that by De NoSciarra Colonna raised his hand to kill him on the spot; garet, and his death. but the blow was arrested by De Nogaret, who, with a bitter taunt, told him that here, in his own city, he owed his life to the mercy of a servant of the King of France-a servant whose father had been burned by the Inquisition. The pontiff was spared only to be placed on a miserable horse, with his face to the tail, and led off to prison. They meant to transport him to France to await the General Council. He was rescued, returned to Rome, was seized and imprisoned again. On the 11th of October he was dead. of Benedict Thus, after a pontificate of nine eventful years, perished Boniface VIII. His history and his fate show to what a gulf Roman Christianity was approaching. His successor, Benedict XI., had but a brief enjoyment of power; long enough, however, to learn that the hatred of the King of France had not died with the death of Boniface, and that he was determined not only to pursue the departed pontiff's memory beyond the grave, but also to effect a radical change in the Papacy itself. A basket of figs was presented to Benedict by a veiled female. She had brought them, she said, from the Abbess of St. Petronilla. In an unguarded moment the pontiff ate of Poisoning them without the customary precaution of having them pre- XI. viously tasted. Alas! what was the state of morals in Italy! A dysentery came on; in a few days he was dead. But the Colonnas had already taught the King of France how one should work who desires to touch the popedom; the event that had just occurred was the preparation for putting their advice into operation. The king came to an understanding with Understanding Bernard de Goth, the Archbishop of Bordeaux. Six con- between the king and ditions were arranged between them :-1. The reconciliation the Archbetween the Church and the king; 2. The absolution of all bishop of persons engaged in the affair of Boniface; 3. Tenths from the clergy for five years; 4. The condemnation of the memory of Boniface; 5. The restoration of the Colonnas; 6. A secret article; what it was time soon showed. A swift messenger carried intelligence to the king's partisans in the College of Cardinals, and Bernard became Clement V. "It will be long before we see the face. of another Pope in Rome!" exclaimed the Cardinal Matteo Orsini, with a prophetic instinct of what was coming when the conspiracy reached its developement. His prophecy was only too true. Now appeared what was that sixth, that secret article negotiated between King Philip and De Goth. Clement took up his residence at Avignon, in Removal of France. The tomb of the Apostles was abandoned. The Eter- to Avignon. nal City had ceased to be the metropolis of Christianity. But a French prelate had not bargained with a French king for the most eminent dignity to which a European can aspire without having given an equivalent. In as good faith as he Bordeaux. the Papacy tem trial of face. The accusations against him. 84 Post-mortem Trial of Boniface. could to his contract, in as good faith as he could to his present pre-eminent position, Clement V. proceeded to discharge his share of the obligation. To a certain extent King Philip was animated by an undying vengeance against his enemy, whom he considered as having escaped out of his grasp, but he was also actuated by a sincere desire of accomplishing a reform in the Church through a radical change in its constitution. He was resolved that the pontiffs should be accountable to the kings of France, or that France should more directly influence their conduct. To reconcile men to this, it was for him to show, with the semblance of pious reluctance, what was the Post-mor-state to which morals and faith had come in Rome. The trial Pope Boni- of the dead Boniface was therefore entered upon, A.D. 1310. The Consistory was opened at Avignon, March 18. The proceedings occupied many months; many witnesses were examined. The main points attempted to be established by their evidence seem to have been these :-" That Boniface had declared his belief that there was no such thing as divine law— what was reputed to be such was merely the invention of men to keep the vulgar in awe by the terrors of eternal punishment; that it was a falsehood to assert the Trinity, and fatuous to believe it; that it was falsehood to say that a virgin had brought forth, for it was an impossibility; that it was falsehood to assert that bread is transubstantiated into the body of Christ; that Christianity is false, because it asserts a future life, of which there is no evidence save that of visionary people." It was in evidence that the Pope had said, "God may do the worst with me that he pleases in the future life; I believe as every educated man does, the vulgar believe otherwise. We have to speak as they do, but we must believe and think with the few." It was sworn to by those who had heard him disputing with some Parisians that he had maintained "that neither the body nor the soul rose again." Others testified that "he neither believed in the resurrection nor in the sacraments of the Church, and had denied that carnal gratifications are sins." The Primicerio of St. John's at Naples deposed that, when a cardinal, Boniface had said in his presence, "So that God gives me the good things of this life, I The Accusations against him. 85 care not a bean for that to come. A man has no more a soul than a beast. Did you ever see any one who had arisen from the dead?" He took delight in deriding the blessed Virgin; "for," said he, "she was no more a virgin than my mother." As to the presence of Christ in the Host, "it is nothing but paste." Three knights of Lucca testified that when certain venerable ambassadors, whose names they gave, were in the presence of the Pope at the time of the jubilee, and a chaplain happened to invoke the mercy of Jesus on a person recently dead, Boniface appalled all around by exclaiming, "What a fool, to commend him to Christ! He could not help himself, and how can he be expected to help others? He was no Son of God, but a shrewd man and a great hypocrite." It might seem impossible to exceed such blasphemy; and yet the witnesses went on to testify to a conversation which he held with the brave old Sicilian admiral, Roger Loria. This devout sailor made the remark, in the Pope's presence, that if, on a certain occasion, he had died, it was his trust that Christ would have had mercy on him. To this Boniface replied, "Christ! he was no Son of God; he was a man, eating and drinking like ourselves; he never rose from the dead; no man has ever risen. I am far mightier than he. I can bestow kingdoms and humble kings." Other witnesses deposed to having heard him affirm, "There is no harm in simony. There is no more harm in adultery than in rubbing one's hands together." Some testified to such immoralities and lewdness in his private life that the pages of a modern book cannot be soiled with the recital. sents to ab the prose In the meantime, Clement did all in his power to save the Philip conblackened memory of his predecessor. Every influence that stain from could be brought to bear on the revengeful or politic king was cution. resorted to, and at last with success. Perhaps Philip saw that he had fully accomplished his object. He had no design to destroy the Papacy; his aim was to revolutionize it,—to give to the kings of France a more thorough control over it; and, for the accomplishment of that purpose, to demonstrate to what a condition it had come through the present system. Whatever might be the decision, such evidence had been brought |