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 BONIFACE

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BONIFACE

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 in- dependence 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 re- gained 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 prin- cipal members of his own obedience, e. g. Richard II of England (139G), 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 1390, 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 un- accredited 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 Wyclif 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 in- cumbent. The Parliament confirmed and extended more than once the statutes of Provisors and Prte- munire, of Edward III. Boniface protested vigor- ously, particularly in 1391, but in the end found him- self unable to execute his grants without the king's consent and sanction. "Thus ended", says Lingard (ad. an. 1393), "this long and angry controversy en- tirely to the advantage of the Crown." Niverthi'lcss, at the Synod of London (1396), the Englisli Cliurih condemned the anti-papal teachings of Wyclif. and in 1398 the University of xford, 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 ex- communicate even those who obeyed the statutes

of Provisors. In Germany the electors had deposed at Rhense (20 August, 1400) the unworthy Wences laus, King of the Romans, and had chosen in his place Rupert, Duke of Bavaria and Rhenish Count Palatine. In 1403 Boniface abandoned his uncer- tain attitude towards both, approved the deposition of Wenceslaus as done by papal authority, and recog- nized 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 canon- ized 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 Raynaldus for being bitter and unjust (acerbus et iniquus). 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, extraor- dinary 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. Boni- face sought nothing for himself and died poor. He is also charged with nepotism and he certainly pro- vided 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 kno\vn as annates perpetuw, 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.

Dietrich (Theodericus) von Niem, De Scisnuite libri 111, ed. Erler (Leipzig, 1890); Gobelinus Persona, Cosmi- dromius {Cosmodromium), ed. Jansen (1904); Raynaldus, Ann. eccl. ad. ann. 1389-1 Wi, containing many important documents; others are found in D'Achery, Spicilegium (Paris, 1655), MARTfcNE AND DuRAND, Thesaur. nov. anecdoturum (Paris, 1717); Vet. Script, coll. ampliss. (Paris, 1724); Vita Bonifalii IX, in MnRATORi. Rer. Ital. Script., Ill, ii. 830 son.; Liber Pontificalis, ed. Duchesne, II, 507, 530, 549; the his- tories of the city of Rome by Gregorovius and by Von Reu- mont; Jungmann, Dissert. Selectm (1886) VI, 272; Creighion, A History of the Papacy during the Period of the Reformation (London, 1892) I, 98-161; Pastor, History of the Papacy; Lingard. History of England, III, c. iv; Erler, Die histor- ischen Schriften Dielrichs von Nieheim (Leipzig. 1887); Hefelf, Conciliengesch., VI, 812 sqq.; N. Valois, La France et le grand schisme d'Occidenl (Paris, 1896-1902); Rocquain, La Cour de Rome et I'esprit de riforme avant Luther (Paris, 1897); M. Jan- sen, Papst Bonifatius IX, und seine. Beziehungen zur deutschen Kirche (Freiburg, 1904). For the Bulls of Boniface concerning Hungary see Mon. Vaticana hist, regni Hunij. illustr. (Buda- pest, 1S88), .Ser. I. Ill, 1389-96; for Bohemia, Krofta, Acta Urh. VI. et Bonif . IX, p. I. in Mon. Vaticana res gestas BoheinitB illustra7ilia (Prague, 1003), V.

Thomas Oestreich

Boniface Association (Bonifatiusverein), one of the most successful Catholic societies of Germany, owes its origin to a suggestion made by DoUinger