 Elected
at Rome, 2 November, 1389, as successor of the Roman
Pope, Urban VI; d. there, 1 October, 1404. Piero (Perino,
Pietro) Tomacelli came of an ancient but impoverished
baronial family of Naples. He lacked good theological
training and skill in the conduct of curial business,
but was by nature tactful and prudent. His firm charater
and mild manner did much to restore respect for the
papacy in the countries of his own obedience (Germany,
England, Hungary, Poland, and the greater part of
Italy). The Avignon Pope, Clement VII, had just crowned
(1 November, 1389) as King of Naples the French prince,
Louis of Anjou. Boniface took up the cause of the
youthful Ladislaus, heir of Charles III of Naples and
Margaret of Durazzo, had him crowned King of Naples at
Gaeta (29 May, 1390), and for the next decade aided him
efficiently to expel the Angevin forces from Italy. In
the course of his reign Boniface extinguished the
municipal independence of Rome and established the
supremacy of the pope. He secured the final adhesion of
the Romans (1398) by fortifying anew the Castle of Sant'
Angelo, the bridges, and other points of vantage. He
also took over the port of Ostia from its
cardinal-bishop. In the Papal States Boniface gradually
regained control of the chief strongholds and cities,
and is the true founder of these States as they appear
in the fifteenth century. Owing to the faithlessness and
violence of the Romans he resided frequently at Perugia,
Assisi, and elsewhere. Clement VII, the Avignon pope,
died 16 September, 1394. Boniface had excommunicated him
shortly after his own election, and in turn had been
excommunicated by Clement. In 1392 Boniface attempted,
but in vain, to enter into closer relations with Clement
for the re-establishment of ecclesiastical unity,
whereupon Boniface reasserted with vigour his own
legitimacy. Clement was succeeded at Avignon, 28
September, 1394, by Cardinal Pedro de Luna, as Benedict
XIII. Suffice it to say here that Boniface always
claimed to be the true pope, and at all times rejected
the proposal to abdicate even when it was supported by
the principal members of his own obedience, e.g. Richard
II of England (1396), the Diet of Frankfort (1397), and
King Wenceslaus of Germany (Reims, 1398).
During the reign of Boniface two jubilees were
celebrated at Rome. The first took place in 1396, in
compliance with an ordinance of his predecessor Urban
VI, and was largely frequented from Germany, Hungary,
Poland, Bohemia, and England. Several cities of Germany
obtained the privileges of the jubilee, but the
preaching of the indulgences gave rise to abuses and to
impositions on the part of unaccredited agents of the
pope, so that he was obliged to proceed against them
with severity. The jubilee of 1400 drew to Rome great
crowds of pilgrims, particularly from France. In spite
of a disastrous plague Boniface remained at his post. In
the latter part of 1399 bands of penitents, known as the
Bianchi, or Albati (White Penitents),
arose, especially in Provence and Italy. They went in
procession from city to city, clad in white garments,
with faces hooded, only the eyes being left uncovered,
and wearing on their backs a red cross. For a while
their penitential enthusiasm had some good results.
After they had satisfied their spiritual ardour at Rome,
Boniface gradually discountenanced these wandering
crowds, an easy prey of agitators and conspirators, and
finally dissolved them. In England the anti-papal
virulence of Wycliff increased the opposition of both
Crown and clergy to the methods of Boniface in the
granting of such English benefices as fell vacant in the
Roman Curia through the death or promotion of the
incumbent. The Parliament confirmed and extended more
than once the statutes of Provisors and Præmunire, of
Edward III. Boniface protested vigorously, particularly
in 1391, but in the end found himself unable to execute
his grants without the king's consent and sanction.
"Thus ended", says Lingard (ad. an. 1393), "this
long and angry controversy entirely to the advantage of
the Crown." Nevertheless, at the Synod of London (1396),
the English Church condemned the anti-papal teachings of
Wycliffe, and in 1398 the University of Oxford,
consulted by Richard II, issued in favour of Boniface an
influential document, while in 1390 and again in 1393
the spiritual peers upheld the right of the pope to
excommunicate even those who obeyed the statutes of
Provisors. In Germany the electors had deposed at Rhense
(20 August, 1400) the unworthy Wenceslaus, King of the
Romans, and had chosen in his place Rupert, Duke of
Bavaria and Rhenish Count Palatine. In 1403 Boniface
abandoned his uncertain attitude towards both, approved
the deposition of Wenceslaus as done by papal authority,
and recognized the election of Rupert. In 1398 and 1399
Boniface appealed to Christian Europe in favour of
Emperor Emmanuel, threatened at Constantinople by Sultan
Bajazet. St. Bridget of Sweden was canonized by
Boniface, 7 October, 1391. The universities of Ferrara
(1391) and Fermo (1398) owe him their origin, and that
of Erfurt its confirmation (1392). In 1404 Benedict XIII
sent the last of his embassies to Boniface, who received
the agents of Benedict 29 September, but the interview
ended unfavourably. The pope, highly irritated, took to
his bed with an attack of gravel, and died after an
illness of two days.
Contemporary and later chroniclers praise the
political virtues of Boniface, also the purity of his
life, and the grandeur of his spirit. Some, like
Dietrich of Niem, charge him with an inordinate love of
money, dishonest traffic in benefices, the sale of
dispensations, etc. But Dietrich is no impartial writer
and is blamed by Reynaldus for being bitter and unjust (acertus
et iniquis). In his gossipy pages one misses a
proper appreciation of the difficulties that surrounded
Boniface–local sources of revenue lost in the long
absence of the papacy from Rome, foreign revenue
diminished by the schism, extraordinary expenses for the
restoration of papal Rome and the reconquest of the
Papal States, the constant wars necessitated by French
ambition, the inheritance of the financial methods of
Avignon, and the obligation of conciliating
supporters in and out of Italy. Boniface sought nothing
for himself and died poor. He is also charged with
nepotism and he certainly provided generously for his
mother, brothers, and nephews. It may be said, however,
that in the semi-anarchic conditions of the time good
government depended upon such personal support as a
temporal ruler could gather and retain, i. e. could
reward, while fidelity was best secured by close
domestic ties. Boniface was the first pope to introduce
the form of revenue known as annates perpetuæ, or
reservation of one-half the first year's fruits of every
benefice granted in the Roman Court, this in addition to
other traditional expenses. It must be remembered that
at this time the cardinals claimed a large part of these
revenues, so that the Curia was perhaps more responsible
than the pope for new financial methods destined in the
next century to arouse bitter feelings against Rome,
particularly in Germany. |
