Unit 1 - "Unam Sanctum"

Author: Pope Boniface VIII – Born in Anagni, Pope from December 1294 to his death in 1303, organized the first Roman Catholic jubilee year, believed in strong spiritual and temporal power for the papacy.

Date/Context: By 1294, when Boniface VIII assumed the papacy, canon law in which the pope himself could make legal decisions was quite large. He had printed a book on canon law, including 88 of his own legal decisions. This book is still used today for scholars of canon law.

Summary: Pope Boniface VIII, the devout Catholic he obviously was, believed that there was only one holy Catholic apostolic church. If anyone says they not subject to Peter and his successors, he writes, then they are not ‘sheep of Christ’. He describes the ‘two swords’ that are in the power of the Church: spiritual authority and temporal authority. He says that spiritual authority is used by the Church by the hand of the priest, and that temporal authority is used for the church by the hand of kings and knights. He concludes by says that every man must by subdued to the bishop of Rome for his own salvation.

Key Quotes: “We therefore declare, say, and affirm that submission on the part of every man to the bishop of Rome is altogether necessary for his salvation”