sons
Philippe
le Bel'
(ed.
(ed.
Thomas Carlyle
.
.
.
Et ideo domine clerice
linguam vestram ooercite et agnoscite
legem legibus, consuetudinibus, et
? ? privilegiis vestris et libertatibus datis,
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? CHAP. VIII. ] BONIFACE VIII. AND PTTTT/TP THE FAIR. 383
to pay tribute to Csesar, and to render assistance to their
king and kingdom against an unjust attack. 1
It is then clear, as we have said, that Boniface VIII. had
been compelled to withdraw from the two positions which
he had taken up: the claim that he had the right to inter-
vene authoritatively in the conflicts between the northern
countries, and the claim to forbid the taxation of the clergy :
the Bull " Noveritis Nos " does represent a very complete
withdrawal.
It is not our part here to describe the history of the events
between 1297 and 1301, when the relations between Boniface
Vlil. and Philip the Fair again became openly hostile. We
find Boniface VIII. complaining in January 1299 that his
1 Dupuy, ' Histoiro du Diflerend,'
*c. , ' Preuves,' p. 21: " Sancta Mater
Ecclesia, sponsa Christi, non solum
ex clericis, sed etiam ex laicia: imo
sacra testante Scriptura sicut est unus
Dominus, una fides, una baptisma, sic
a primo usque ad ultimum, ex omnibus
Christi fidelibus, una est Ecclesia, ipsi
Christo, coelesti sponso, anulo fidei
desponsata, quam ipse a servitute
peccati, et jugo veteria legis, ac
dominio hostia antiqui, per mortem
auam misericorditer liberavit; qua
libertate gaudere voluit omnes illos,
tam laicos quam clericos. . . . Et quia
clerici in Ecclesia, ut patet per predicta,
aunt, et merito, et numero potiores,
non debent, non possunt, nisi forsitan
per abusum sibi appropriare, quasi
aliis excludendo, ecclesiaaticam liber-
tatem, loquendo de libertate, qua
Christus nos sua gratia liberavit.
Multse vero sunt libertates aingu-
lares, non universalis Ecclesise, sponsio
Christi, sed solum ejus ministrorum,
qui cultui divino ad sedificationom
populi sunt, vel esse debent spirituali-
bus deputati: quse quidem libertates
per statuta Romanorum Pontificum, de
benignitate vel saltem permissione
Principum secularium sunt concessse,
quse quidem libertates, sic concessse
vel permissse ipsia Regibus suorum
gubernationem ac defensionem auferre
non possunt: nec ea quse dicta. " guber-
nationi et defensioni necessaria, seu
expedientia, deliberato bonorum ac
prudentium consilio judicantur, dicente
Domino Pontificibus Templi, ' Reddite
ergo quse sunt Csssaris, Csesari, et quse
sunt Dei, Deo. '
Et quia turpis est pars quse suo
non congruit universo, et membrum
inutile, et quasi paralyticum, quod
corpori suo subsidium ferre recusat,
quicunque sive clerici, sive laici, sive
nobiles, sive ignobiles, qui capiti suo,
vel corpori, hoo est domino Regi et
regno . . . auxilium ferre recusant,
semetipsos partes incongruas, et mem-
bra inutilia, et quasi paralytica de-
monstrant.
Et quis, sapiens et intelligens hsec,
non incidit in vehementem stuporem,
audiens vicarium Jesu Christi prohi-
? ? bentem tributum dari Csesari, et sub
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? 384 TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. [PABT ri.
grant of the first fruits had been misinterpreted and misused,
and in April of the same year that Philip would not surrender
the " Eegalia " of the diocese of Eheims, which he had occu-
pied during its vacancy.
It was in December 1301 that the storm broke. Three
letters, or bulls, contain the record of this. On 4th December
Boniface had issued the Bull, " Salvator Mundi," by which
he suspended, at the discretion of the Holy See, all the
special "privilegia" and favours which he had conferred
upon Philip, on the ground that they had been abused to
the great injury of the churches and ecclesiastics of the
kingdom of Prance. 1
On 5th December Boniface wrote to Philip that he had
heard that he had caused the Bishop of Pamiers to be brought
before him, and had committed him to the custody of the
Archbishop of IJarbonne. He therefore asks and exhorts and
commands Philip to set the bishop at liberty, and to permit
him to come to Eome, and warns him that unless he can
show some reasonable cause for his action, he must be held
to have incurred the sentence imposed by the canons on
those who laid their hands on a bishop. 2
1 Boniface VIII. Register, 4422
(" Salvator Mundi "): " Nos igitur
attondentee quod nonnulla privilegia,
indulgentias et gratias carissimo in
Christo filio nostro Philippo Regi
Fran corum illustri ej usque succes-
soribus, et specialiter pro defensione
regni sui sub certis formis duximus
concedenda, et gratiose aliqua con-
oessimus clericis et laicis, qui de suo
et successorum suorum stricto consilio
fuerint vel majori parti eorum: quo-
rum privilegiorum, gratiarum, indul-
gentiarum et concessionum occasione,
per abusum, ecclesiis et ecclesiarum
prelatis ac personis religiosis et secu-
laribus dicti regni magna dispendia et
gravamina sunt illata, et gravia scan-
dala sunt exorta et i nan tea possunt
oriri : ac precaventes ne tali pretextu
supradictse ecclesise, prelati ac personse
ecclesiasticse plus graventur, provi-
dimus super hoc salubre remedium.
Unde ilia omnia quantum ad omnem
ipso rum effectum, de fratrum nostro-
rum consilio, usque ad predicti sedia
bene placitum diximus suspendenda:
ilia maximo que occasione guerrarum,
quibus dicti regni status pacifieus
turbabatur tunc temporis, fuere con-
cessa. "
* Id. id. , Register, 4432 (" Secundum
divina "): " Sane ad nostrum pervenit
auditum, quod tu venerabilem fratrem
nostrum Appamiarum Episcopum per-
sonaliter ad prsesentiam tuam deduci
fecisti sub tuorum cauta custodia,
utinam non invitum ! Quem sub
colore securitatis personse ipeius, cus-
todiendum dixeris eommisisse fratri
nostro Narboniensi Archiepiscopo,
Metropolitano ipsius. Magnitudinem
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? CHAP. VIII. ] BONIFACE VHI. AND PHILIP THE FAIR. 385
On the same day Boniface issued the Bull " Asculta Fili,"
in which he enumerated his complaints against Philip, and
asserted his authority in very strong terms. He begins with
the assertion that God had placed him over all kings and
kingdoms, with authority to destroy and to build up, and
he warns Philip not to allow any one to persuade him that
he had no superior, and that he was not subject to the head
of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. He who should pertina-
ciously assert this was an infidel and outside of the fold of
the good Shepherd. 1
The principal complaints which he made against the conduct
of Philip were that he was oppressing his subjects, the clergy,
the counts and nobles, the communities and the whole people
of his kingdom; that he prevented the Holy See from exer-
cising its legal rights with regard to vacant dignities, benefices,
canonries, and prebends ; that he compelled prelates and
other ecclesiastical persons to appear in his courts, in regard
to personal questions, rights, and goods, which were not held
from him by feudal tenure, while laymen had no authority
in such cases ; that he did not permit the free exercise of the
spiritual sword against those who injured the clergy, or the
igitur tuam rogamii s et hortamur
attente, per apostolica tibi scripts
maudantes, quatenus eumdem epis-
copum, cujus volumus habere prsesen-
tiam, abire libera, et ad nostram prse-
sentiam securum venire permittas,
omniaque bona mobilia etc. . . . sibi
restitui facias . . . neo in antea ad
similia per te vel tuos occupatrices
manus extendas ; habiturus te taliter
in premissis, quod majestatem non
offendas Divinam, nec sedis apostolica
dignitatem, neo oporteat nos aliud
remedium adhibere: sciturus, quod,
nisi ad excusationem tuam aliquid
rationabilem coram nobis propositum
fuerit vel ostensum, et premissis Veritas
suffragetur, quin incurreris sententiam
canonis, propter injectionem temeraria-
rum manuum in dictum episcopum,
non videmus. "
VOL. V.
1 Id. id. , 4424 ("Asculta Fili")i
" Sane fili, cur ista direxerimus, immi-
nente necessitate et urgente conscientia,
expressius aperimus. Constituit enim
nos Deus, licet insufficientibus mentis,
super reges et regna, imposito nobis
jugo apostolicse servitutis, ad evellen-
dum, destruendum, edificandum atque
plantandum, sub ejus nomine et doo-
trina, et ut, gregem pascentes domini-
cum, consolidemus infirmos, sanemus
segrota, alligemus fracta, et reducamus
abjecta, vinumque infundamus et
olium vulneribus sanciatis. Quare,
fili carissime, nemo tibi suadeat, quod
superiorem non habeas et non subsis
sammo ierarchse ecclesiastics e ierarchise,
nam desipit qui sic sapit, et pertina-
citer hoc amrmans, convincitur infi-
delis, nec est intra boni pallor is
ovile. "
? ? 2B
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? 386
[PAB. T II.
TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS.
exercise of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in monasteries of which
he claimed to hold the guardianship. 1
After enumerating other complaints about abuses against
which he had made constant remonstrance in vain, he an-
nounced that he had therefore summoned the archbishops,
bishops, abbots, and some other ecclesiastical persons from
France that he might consult with them in November of the
following year, and determine what should be done for the
amendment of these things, and the good of the kingdom.
He invites Philip to send some faithful men who knew him
well, to take part in the consultation, but warns him that
they will proceed without his representatives if they did not
eome. 2
1 Id. id. id. : " Nec possumus cum
non debeamus, prseterire silentio quin
ea per quse oculos Divinse majestatis
offendis, nos perturbas, gravas sub-
ditos, ecclesias et ecclesiasticas socu-
laresve personas opprimis et affligas,
nec non pares, eomites, et barones,
aliosque nobiles, et universitates ac
pepulum dicti regni, multisque diversis
angustiis scandalises, tibi apertius
exprimamus. Profecto ergo hactenus
servasso nos novimus ordinem caritatis.
. . . Te, opportunis studiis et temporibus,
inducendo, ut errata corrigeris. . . .
Sea quod te correxeris, quod in te
salutis semina sata, ut vellemus, fruc-
ticaverint, non videmus. . . . Et ut
aliqua explicabiliter inferamus : ecoe
quod licet pa teat manifesto, ac explo-
red juris existat, quod in ecclesiasticis
dignitatibus, personatibus et bene-
ficiis, canonicatibus et prebendis vacan-
tibus in curia vel extra curiam Roma-
nam, pontifex summam et potiorem
obtinet potestatem, ad te tamen hujus-
modi ecclesiarum, dignitatum, persona-
tum, beneficiorum, canonicatuum, col-
latio non potest quomodolibet perti-
nere nec pertinet. . . . Nihilominus tu,
metas et terminos tibi positos irreve-
renter excedens, et factus impatiens
super hoc, injuriose obvias ipsi sedi.
ej usque collationes, canonice factas,
executioni mandari non sustines, sed
impugnas, quamvis tuas, qualiter
cunque factas, precedere dinoscuntur.
Prelatos insuper et alias personas
ecclesiasticas, tam religiosas quam
seculares regni tui, etiam super per-
sonal i bus actiordbus, juribus, et immo-
bilibus bonis, quse a te non tenentur
in feudum, ad tuum judicium pertrahis
et coarctas, et inquestas fieri facias, et
detineri tales, licet in clerioos et per-
sonas ecclesiasticas nulla sit laicis
attributa potestas: prseterea contra
injuriatores et molestatores prelato-
rum et personarum ecclesiasticarum
eos spirituali gladio qui eis com-
petit uti libere non permittis;
nec jurisdictionem eis competentem
in monasteriis seu locis ecclesiasticis,
quorum recipis guardiam vel custo-
? ? diam, vel a predecessoribus tuis reoep-
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? CHAP. VIII. ] BONIFACE VHI. AND PHILIP THE PAIR. 387
These claims of Pope Boniface met with the most violent
resistance. The claim of authority was indeed expressed in
the bull in sufficiently strong terms, but it was apparently
almost immediately represented as being more extreme than
it actually was. A spurious form of the bull was produced,
in which Boniface VIII. was represented as having claimed
that the king was subject to him in temporal as well as spiritual
things. 1 Boniface was charged with heresy, in a statement
attributed to Pierre Dubois. The author contends that the
Pope was endeavouring to take from Philip those rights of
supreme jurisdiction and freedom from all other authority
in temporal matters which he had possessed for a period of
more than a thousand years. If the popes claimed that they
had at one time possessed temporal authority over the Kings
of France, they had lost them by prescription. He contends
also that if the Donation of Constantine had any validity,
which he doubts, it could be revoked by the emperor. 2
piscopos, episcopos, ac dilectos filios
electos et Cisterciensis, Cluniacensis,
Premonstratensis, nec non sancti Dyo-
nisii in Franc ia, Parisiensis diocesis,
et majoris Turonensis, ordinis Sancti
Benedicts, monasteriorum abbates, et
capitula ecclesiarum cathedralium regni
tui, ac magistros in theologia et in
jure canonico et civili, et nonnullas
alias personas ecclesiasticas oriundaa
de regno predicto, per alias nostras
patentes litteras, certo modo ad nos-
trum presentiam evocamus. . . . Cum
quibus, sicut cum personis apud to
suspicione carentibus, quin potius
acceptis et gratis, ac diligentibus nomen
tuum, et affectantibus statum pros-
perum regni tui, tractare consultius
et ordinare salubrius valeamus que ad
premissorum emendationem, tuamque
directionem, quietem atque salutem
ac bonum et prosperum regimen ipsius
regni videbimus expedire. Si tuam
itaque rem agi putaveris, eodem tem-
pore per te vel fideles viros et providos,
tuse conscios voluntatis, ac diligenter
instructos, de quibus plene valeas
habere fiduciam, Wis poteris interesse,
alioquin tuam vel ipsorum absentiam
divina replente presentia, in premisais
et ea contingentibus ac aliis, prout
superna nobis ministraverit gratia et
expedire videbitur, procedcmus. "
Cf. id. id. , 4425 and 4426.
1 Dupuy, ' Histoire du Differend,'
&o. , ' Preuves,' p. 44 (Deum Time):
" Scire te volumus quod in spiritua-
libus et temporalibus nobis subes.
Beneflciorum et prebendarum ad te
collatio nulla spectat: et si aliquorum
vacantium custodiam habeas, fructus
coram successoribus reserves: et si
quse contulisti, collationem hujusmodi
irritam decernimus, et quantum de
facto processerit, revocamus. Aliud
autem credentes, hereticos reputamus. "
>> Dupuy, * Histoire du Differend,
*
' Preuves ' (p. 44), ' Deliberatio ma-
gistri Petri de Bosco ': " Quod autem
Papa sic scribens nitons et intendens,
? ? sit et debeat hereticus reputari, per
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? 388 TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. [PABT n.
In February 1302 Philip summoned what -we know as the
first meeting of the States General of France, and the terms
in which he called them together are very noteworthy.
He announces his desire to take counsel with the prelates,
barons, and his other loyal subjects on certain difficult
matters which concerned the liberty of himself, of the
churches, and of all the inhabitants of the kingdom. 1 Un-
fortunately the proceedings of the meeting of the States
General are only known to us in the letters addressed by the
clergy to Boniface Vlil. , and by the nobles to the cardinals,
but these are sufficient for our present purpose. They both
voluerit, et regi Christanissimo ecclesise
defensori satisfacere super tanta injuria.
. . . Nonne Papa concupiscit et rapit,
et aufert de novo scienter summam
regis libertatem, quse semper fuit et
est nulli subesse et toti regno imperare
sine reprehensionis humans e timore.
Prseterea negari non potest, quin
semper post distincta primo rerum
dominia invasio rerum occupatarum
aliis maxime per tempus a quo memoria
hominum non existit possessarum, et
prescriptarum fuerit, est peccatum
mortale. Rex autem supremam juris-
dictionem et libertatem suorum tem-
poralium ultra mille annos possedit.
. . . Prseterea Papa non potest supre-
mum dominium regni Francise vindi-
care, nisi quia summus sacerdos est.
Sed cont, si esset ita. Hoc beato Petro
et singulis ejus euccessoribus compe-
tisset qui in hoc nihil reclamarunt,
nihil vindicaverunt ? Reges Francise
hoc possidentes et prescribentes tolle-
rarunt per mille ducentos septuaginta
annos. Possessio vero centenaria,
etiam sine titulo, hodie per novem con-
stitutionem dicti Papro sufficeret ad
prescribendum contra ipsum et eccle-
siam Romanam, ao etiam contra im-
perium secundum leges imperial es.
. . . Et si ecclesia Romana et imperator,
subjectionem, si quam habuissent,
quod non est verum, per centum annos
reges possidere libertatem et prescri-
bere permii rendo, totum jus suum
amississet. . . . Prseterea si Papa modo
statueret prescriptiones sibi non ob-
stare, ergo similiter aliis non obstarent,
maxime principibus qui superiores non
recognoscunt. Et sic imperator Con-
stantinopolitanus, qui eidem dedit
totum patrimomum quod habebat,
cum hujus donatio quia nimis magna
facta per legitimum administratorem
verum imperii, sicut sunt episcopi et
alii prelati, non tenuerunt, ut juris
civilis doctores, et prescriptio non
obstat, secundum ipsum apparet, quod
donator vel imperator Alemannise loco
ejus per Papam subrogatus totam
hujusmodi donationem posset revo-
care. "
1 ' Documents relatifs aux rotate
Generaux . . .
sons Philippe le Bel'
(ed. G. Pioot, Paris, 1901): " I. Philip-
pus . . . super pluribus ardius ncgociis,
? ? nos, statum, libertates nostras, ao regni
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? CHAP. VIII. ] BONIFACE vm. AND PHILIP THE FAIR. 389
relate how the king declared to them that in his letter
Boniface had claimed that the kingdom of France was held
from him, while the King of France had always, in tem-
poral matters, been subject to God only. They were equally
disturbed by the fact that Boniface had, as we have seen,
summoned the clergy to consult with him at Eome as to
the alleged oppression of the clergy and people of France by
the king. 1 The clergy implored the Pope to revoke his
summons,2 while the nobles addressed themselves to the
cardinals, and requested them to take counsel how these
ill-considered and irregular proceedings might be turned to
a good end. 3
It is evident that the real or pretended claim of Boniface
Vm. to temporal sovereignty over the King of France was
repudiated at once not only by the laity, but by the clergy
in France, but it is important to see how their actions and
declarations were met in Eome. The cardinals replied to the
nobles by positively asserting that the Pope had never
written to the king that he was superior to him "tempor-
ally," and that the Archdeacon of Narbonne, who had carried
1 Id. , V. (Letter of the Clergy):
' Idem Dominus Rex proponi fecit
ounctis audientibus palam et publiee,
sibi ex parte vestra fuisse inter alia
per predictos Archidiaconum et litteras
intimatum, quod de regno suo, quod
a Deo solo ipse et predecessores aui
tenere hactenus recognitisunt, tem-
poraliter vobis subesse, illudque a
vobis tenere deberet. "
Id. , VI. (Letter of the Nobles) :
" Premiers entre les autres choses que
au dit roi notre sire furent envoye? es
par messages et par lettres, il est
contenu, que du royaume de France,
que notre sire li roi et li habitans du
royaume ont toujours dit estre soubget
en temporalite? de Dieu tant seulement,
si comme c'est chose notoire a` tout
le monde, il en devroit estre soubget
a luy temporellement et de luy le
devoit et doit tenir. "
? Id. , V. : " Hino in promptu ad
Sanctitatis Vestra providentis s cir-
cumspectam in hoc summse necessitatis
articulo duximus requirendum, flebi-
libus vocibus et lachrymosis singultibus
paternam demon t i a m implorantes, quod
salubre remedium in premissis, per
quod . . . status occlesise Gallicans e in
pulcritudine paois et quietis optate
remaneat, prospiciatur nobis, nostris-
que statibus, revocando vestra voca-
tionis edictum. "
>> Id. , VI. : " Pourquoy nous vous
prions et requerons tant affectueuse-
ment, comme nous pouvons que, comme
vous soyez establis e appeliez en partie
au gouvernement de l'Eglise, e chascun
de vous en ceste besoigne veillez tel
conseil mettre, e tel remede, que ce
qui est par si legier e par si desordenne?
mouvement commande? , soit mis a`
bon point et a` bon esta^t. "
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? 390 TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. [PABT n.
the Pope's letter, had made no such statement by word or
letter ; the statement of Peter Floto to this effect was there-
fore false. 1
We have also emphatic statements made by the Cardinal
of Porto and by Boniface himself in a Consistory held at
Eome, presumably in the summer of 1302. The first repu-
diates the allegation that the Pope had said in his letter that
the King of France held his kingdom from the Church, but
he sets out a somewhat far-reaching statement about the
papal authority. It is obvious, he says, that the Pope judges
every temporal matter, if it is related to a question of sin ;
he admits, indeed, that while spiritual jurisdiction belongs to
the Pope, temporal jurisdiction belongs to the emperor and
kings ; but he adds that one must consider the question of
temporal jurisdiction not only from the standpoint of action
and custom, but also from that of law. By strict law (de
jure) temporal jurisdiction belongs to the supreme Pontiff,
the vicar of Christ and of Peter, but as far as its exercise is
concerned it does not belong to him, and therefore the King
of France has nothing to complain of. 2
1 Id. , V3I. : " Et volumus vos pro
oerto tenere quod predictus dominus
noster summus pontifex nunquam
soripsit regi predicto quod de regno
suo sibi subesse temporaliter illudque
ab eo tenere deberet; et providus vir,
magister Jacobus, archidiaconus Nar-
bonensis, notarius et nuntius domini
nostri predicti, sicut constanter affir-
mat, ipai domino regi hoc ipsum vel
simile nunquam verbaliter nuntiavit,
aut scripto, unde propositio quam fecit
Petrus Mot, in prsesentia dicti domini
regis, prelatorum et vestra, et aliorum
multorum, arenosum et falsum habuit
fundamentum, et ideo necesse est
quod cadat edificium, quod edifica-
bitur super illud. "
? ' Histoire du Difierend," ' Preuves '
(p. 76): " Referunt aliqui quod con-
tinebatur in ilia lettera, quod dominus
rex deberet recognoscere se tenere
reguum suum ab ecclesia, propter
Deum. Cesset murmur quia nunquam
fuit scriptum in ilia littera, vel man-
datum ex parte summi pontificis, et
f rat rum, quod deberet recognoscere se
tenere regnum suum ab aliquo, et
credo ilium qui fuit missus talem
virum qui non exoessit fines mandati
sibi commissi. . . . (Page 76. ) Item
planum est quod nullus debet vocare
in dubium quin posset judicare (Papa)
de omni temporali, ratione peccati. . . .
Sunt enim dos s jurisdictiones, spiritua-
lis, et temporalis : jurisdictionem spiri-
tualem principaliter habet summus
pontifex, et ilia fuit tradita a Christo,
Petro, et summis Pontrificibus succes-
soribus ejus: jurisdictionem tempo-
ralem habent imperator et alii reges;
tamen de omni temporali habet cog-
noscere summus pontifex et judicare
ratione peccati; unde dico quod juris -
dictio temporalis potest considerari
? ? prout competit alicui ratione actus
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? CHAP, vm] BONIFACE VTH. AND PHTTJP THE FAIR. 391
Boniface VIII. , after a violent invective against Peter
Floto, denounced his falsification or perversion of the letter
which he had written to the king, and his assertion that
Boniface had bidden the king to acknowledge that he held
his kingdom from him. Forty years, he said, he had been
learned in the law, and knew very well that there were two
powers established by God; he had no intention to usurp
the jurisdiction of the king, but the king must admit that he
and all other Christian men were subject to him in any matter
where sin was concerned. 1
It would then seem to be plain that whatever may have
been Boniface's real intention, and whatever he may have
meant in the Bull, " Asculta Fili," its actual result had been
that the whole French people as represented in the States
General, clergy, nobles, and commons, had emphatically
repudiated the notion that the Pope possessed any temporal
authority in France, and the cardinals positively asserted
that the Pope had made no such claim. The Cardinal of
Porto and Boniface seem to concur, but it was significant that
the former maintained that the Pope did hold temporal as
well as spiritual authority, " de jure," and that Boniface
maintained that all matters which were related to any ques-
tion of sin were under his jurisdiction.
Boniface had not yet said his last word, and in the Bull
et usus, vel prout competit alicui de
jure, unde jurisdietio temporalis com-
petit summo pontifici qui est vicarius
Christi et Petri de jure. . . . Sed juris-
dietio temporalis, quantum ad usum,
et quantum ad executionem actus non
competit ei. . . . Unde videtur modo
quod Dominus rex Francorum non
habet materiam conquerendi. "
1 Id. id. (p. 77): " Iste Petrus
(Floto) litteram nostram quam de
consensu, et consilio fratrum nostrorum,
non repentina, sed repetita delibera-
tione totius coilegii: et ex conventione
et convento habito cum nunciis regiis
non (nos ? ) miseramus ei, ex eo quod
dixerant nobis prius scribatur, sed hoc
regi falsavit; seu falsa de ea eonfbrit,
quia nescimus bene an litteram falsa-
verit, nam litterse predicts e fuerunt
celatee baronibus et prelatis ; imposuit
nobis quod nos mandaveramus regi,
quod recognosceret regnum a nobis.
Quadraginta anni sunt quod nos sumus
experti in jure et scimus quod due
sunt potestates ordinatrc a Deo. Quia
ergo debet credere, vel potest, quod
tanta fatuitas, tanta insipientia sit
vel fuerit in capite nostro ? Diximus
quod in nullo volumus usurpare juris-
dictionem regis, et sic frater noster
Portuensis dixit. Non potest negare
rex seu quicunque alter fldelis, quin
sit nobis subjectus ratione peocati. "
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? 392 TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. [PABT II.
" Unam Sanctam," issued in November 1302, he set out the
relations of the spiritual and temporal powers in more ex-
plicit terms than in the Bull " Asculta Fili. "
He begins by describing the unity of the Church, and
maintains that there is only one Head of the Church--that
is, Christ--and the vicar of Christ--that is, Peter and his
successors: those who, like the Greeks, say that they are
not under Peter, are not Christ's sheep. There are two swords,
the spiritual and the temporal, but these are both in the
power of St Peter and the Church, the one to be used by the
priest, the other by the king, but at the command ("ad
nutum ") of the priest, for the one sword must be under the
other, and the temporal authority must be subject to the
spiritual (spirituali subjici potestati). The spiritual power is
superior in dignity to the temporal, and it has therefore
authority to " institute " the temporal, and to judge it if it
is not good, and thus is fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah :
" Behold, I set thee to-day over nations and kingdoms. "
Therefore, if the earthly power goes astray, it is judged by
the spiritual, but the spiritual can only be judged by God,
and not by man. This authority, that is, of the Pope, al-
though it is given to a man, and exercised by a man, is a
divine authority; he that resists it, resists the ordinance of
God ; it is necessary to salvation to be subject to the Eoman
Pontiff. 1
1 Boniface VIII. Registrum, 6382
i" Unam Sanctam "): " Igitur ecclesiso
unius et unicse, unum corpus, unum
caput, non duo capita quasi monstrum,
Christus scilicet, et Christi Vicarius
Petrus, Petrique successor, dicente
Domino ipsi Petro, * Pasce oves meas *;
meas, inquit, et generalitor, non singu-
lariter has vel illas, per quod com-
misisse sibi intelligitur universas. Sive
ergo Grscci sive alii, se dicant Petro,
eisque successoribus, non esse com-
missos, fateantur necesse est se de
ovibus Christi non esse, dicente Domino
in Johanne, unum ovile, unum et
unicum esse Pastorem. In hac ejusque
potestate duos esse gladios, spiritualem
videlicet et temporalem, Evangelicis
dictis instruimur. Nam dicentibus
apostolus * ecce gladii duo hie,' in
occlesia scilicet, quum apostoli loque-
rentur, non respondit Dominus nimis
esse, sed satis. Certe qui in potestate
Petri temporalem gladium esse negat,
male verbum attendit proferentis,
' converte gladium tuum in vaginam. '
Uterque ergo in po testate ecclesie,
spiritualis scilicet gladius et materialis,
sed is quidem pro ecclesia, ille vero ab
ecclesia exercendus, ille sacerdotis, is
manu regum et militum, sed ad nutum
et patientiam sacerdotis.
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? CHAP, vm. ] BONIFACE VIII. AND PHILIP THE FADS. 393
What was then the actual position of Boniface VIII. as
it is represented in the Bulls " Asculta Fili" and " Unam
Sanctam " ? The answer is not quite easy. If we compare his
language with that of the Canonists, which we have considered
in a previous chapter, it may at first sight seem to be the
same ; he maintains that both swords belong to the spiritual
power, and that the spiritual power both instituted and
can judge it, and in the Bull " Asculta Fili " he asserts that
he is the " Superior " of the King of France. These phrases
are capable of being interpreted as implying the same prin-
ciples of those of Hostiensis, but they do not necessarily do
this. His language is at least much more guarded than that
of the extreme papalist tracts which we are about to examine,
and that of Ptolemy of Lucca with which we have already
dealt.
Oportet autem gladium esse sub
gladio, et temporalem auctoritatem
spirituali subjici potestati. Nam quum
dicat apostolus, ' non est potestas nisi
a Deo, qusi autem a Deo sunt, ordinata
sunt,' non ordinata essent nisi gladius
esset sub gladio, et tanquam inferior
reduceretur per alium in suproma.
Nam secundum beatum Dionynium,
lex divinitatis est, infima per media
in suprema reduci. Non ergo secundum
ordinem universi, omnia seque ao im-
mediate, sed infima per media, inferiora
per superiora, ad ordinem reducuntur.
Spiritualem autem, et dignitate,
et nobilitate, terrenam quamlibet pre-
cellere potestatem oportet tanto clarius
nos fateri, quanto spiritualia temporalia
antecellunt: quod etiam ex decimarum
datione, et benedictione, et sanctifica-
tione, ex ipsius potestatis acceptione,
ex ipsarum rerum gubernatione Claris
oculis intuemur. Nam veritate tes-
tante, spiritualia potestas terrenam
potestatem instituere habet, et judi-
care si bona non fuerit. Sic de ecclesia,
et ecclesiastica potestate, verificatur
vaticinium Jeremie, ' Ecce constitui
te hodie, super gentes et regna,' et
cetera qua} sequuntur. Ergo si deviat
terrena potestas, judicabitur a potestate
spirituali, sod si deviat spiritualis
minor, a suo superiore. Si vero su-
prema, a solo Deo, non ab homine
potest judicari, testante apostolo,
' spiritualis homo judicat omnia, ipse
autem a nenime judicatur. '
Est autem hie auctoritas, etsi data
sit homini et exercetur per hominem,
non humana, sed potius divina potestas,
ore divina Petro data, sibique, suisque
successoribus in ipso Christo, quem
confessus fuit potra firmata, dioente
domino ipsi Petro, ' Quodcunque liga-
veris,' Ac.
Quicunquo igitur huic potestati a
Deo sio ordinate resistit, Dei ordina-
tioni resistit, nisi duo, sicut maniceus
fingat esse principia, quod falsum et
hereticum judicamus. Quia testante
Moyse, non in principiis sed in prin-
cipio, coilum Deus creavit et terram.
Porro subesse Romano pontifici, omni
? ? humane creature declaramus, dicimus,
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? 394
CHAPTER IX.
BONIFACE VH. AND PHILIP THE FAIR. "CONTRO-
VERSIAL LITERATURE, I. "
The conflict between Philip and Boniface produced a signifi-
cant pamphlet literature, both in support and in criticism
of Boniface's position, and it is in these pamphlets that we
have the most highly developed statement of the extreme
papal position, and the most explicit repudiation of that
position.
The first work whioh we must examine is a fragment of
an anonymous pamphlet printed by Dr E. Scholz. This work
may, indeed, belong to an earlier date--to the years 1296-7,--
for it refers more than once to the dispute about the taxa-
tion of the clergy and the Bull " Clericis Laicos. " If, how-
ever, this was the time and occasion of the tract, it discusses
the principles of the relations of the Temporal and Spiritual
Powers under terms which anticipate the conflict of 1302.
The authorship is unknown, but Dr Scholz is inclined to
think that it may be by Henry of Cremona, with whose work,
' De Potestate Papae,' we shall presently deal.
The writer asserts that it was heresy to say that papal
constitutions with regard to temporal possessions in the
various kingdoms and other States had no authority over the
laity, for Jesus Christ, even as man, possessed the fulness
of power in temporal and spiritual things, and He committed
the fulness of power to Peter, whom he established as head
of the Church militant. The Eoman Pontiff is the vicar of
God, and has authority over kings and kingdoms ; he trans-
ferred the empire from the Greeks to the Germans, he deposed
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? CHAP. IX. ] BONIFACE VII. AND PHILIP THE FAIR. 395
the king of the Franks and the Emperor Frederick II. To
say that the Pope has not the fulness of power in spiritual
and temporal things would be to resist the divine ordinance ;
there are, indeed, divers orders and powers, ecclesiastical and
secular, but in the last resort it is the supreme Pontiff in
whom they are all united. To speak of two heads of the one
body of Christ is to speak of a monster. 1
These passages represent the main argument of the tract
1 Anon. Fragment in R. Scholz,
' Publizistik zui Zeit Philipps dos
Schfinen,' &c. , p. 471. " Non ponunt
laici os in ccalum dicendo seu blas-
phemando, quod Papales constitutiones,
editi super temporalibus bonis seu
rebus quse consistunt infra regna,
ducatus, comitatus, vel territoria ipso-
rum laicorum, ipsos laicos non astrin-
gunt. Nam hoc asserere et tenere
esset hereticum et a fide orthodoxa
alienum.
Constat enim quod Dominus Jesus
Christus etiam tamquam homo habuit
plenitudinem potestatis in tempora-
libus et spiritualibus, qui dicit post
assumptam humanitatem : ' Data est
mini omnis potestas in coelo et in terra,
*
Matt, ultimo; qui omne ponit nihil
excipit. .
linguam vestram ooercite et agnoscite
legem legibus, consuetudinibus, et
? ? privilegiis vestris et libertatibus datis,
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? CHAP. VIII. ] BONIFACE VIII. AND PTTTT/TP THE FAIR. 383
to pay tribute to Csesar, and to render assistance to their
king and kingdom against an unjust attack. 1
It is then clear, as we have said, that Boniface VIII. had
been compelled to withdraw from the two positions which
he had taken up: the claim that he had the right to inter-
vene authoritatively in the conflicts between the northern
countries, and the claim to forbid the taxation of the clergy :
the Bull " Noveritis Nos " does represent a very complete
withdrawal.
It is not our part here to describe the history of the events
between 1297 and 1301, when the relations between Boniface
Vlil. and Philip the Fair again became openly hostile. We
find Boniface VIII. complaining in January 1299 that his
1 Dupuy, ' Histoiro du Diflerend,'
*c. , ' Preuves,' p. 21: " Sancta Mater
Ecclesia, sponsa Christi, non solum
ex clericis, sed etiam ex laicia: imo
sacra testante Scriptura sicut est unus
Dominus, una fides, una baptisma, sic
a primo usque ad ultimum, ex omnibus
Christi fidelibus, una est Ecclesia, ipsi
Christo, coelesti sponso, anulo fidei
desponsata, quam ipse a servitute
peccati, et jugo veteria legis, ac
dominio hostia antiqui, per mortem
auam misericorditer liberavit; qua
libertate gaudere voluit omnes illos,
tam laicos quam clericos. . . . Et quia
clerici in Ecclesia, ut patet per predicta,
aunt, et merito, et numero potiores,
non debent, non possunt, nisi forsitan
per abusum sibi appropriare, quasi
aliis excludendo, ecclesiaaticam liber-
tatem, loquendo de libertate, qua
Christus nos sua gratia liberavit.
Multse vero sunt libertates aingu-
lares, non universalis Ecclesise, sponsio
Christi, sed solum ejus ministrorum,
qui cultui divino ad sedificationom
populi sunt, vel esse debent spirituali-
bus deputati: quse quidem libertates
per statuta Romanorum Pontificum, de
benignitate vel saltem permissione
Principum secularium sunt concessse,
quse quidem libertates, sic concessse
vel permissse ipsia Regibus suorum
gubernationem ac defensionem auferre
non possunt: nec ea quse dicta. " guber-
nationi et defensioni necessaria, seu
expedientia, deliberato bonorum ac
prudentium consilio judicantur, dicente
Domino Pontificibus Templi, ' Reddite
ergo quse sunt Csssaris, Csesari, et quse
sunt Dei, Deo. '
Et quia turpis est pars quse suo
non congruit universo, et membrum
inutile, et quasi paralyticum, quod
corpori suo subsidium ferre recusat,
quicunque sive clerici, sive laici, sive
nobiles, sive ignobiles, qui capiti suo,
vel corpori, hoo est domino Regi et
regno . . . auxilium ferre recusant,
semetipsos partes incongruas, et mem-
bra inutilia, et quasi paralytica de-
monstrant.
Et quis, sapiens et intelligens hsec,
non incidit in vehementem stuporem,
audiens vicarium Jesu Christi prohi-
? ? bentem tributum dari Csesari, et sub
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? 384 TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. [PABT ri.
grant of the first fruits had been misinterpreted and misused,
and in April of the same year that Philip would not surrender
the " Eegalia " of the diocese of Eheims, which he had occu-
pied during its vacancy.
It was in December 1301 that the storm broke. Three
letters, or bulls, contain the record of this. On 4th December
Boniface had issued the Bull, " Salvator Mundi," by which
he suspended, at the discretion of the Holy See, all the
special "privilegia" and favours which he had conferred
upon Philip, on the ground that they had been abused to
the great injury of the churches and ecclesiastics of the
kingdom of Prance. 1
On 5th December Boniface wrote to Philip that he had
heard that he had caused the Bishop of Pamiers to be brought
before him, and had committed him to the custody of the
Archbishop of IJarbonne. He therefore asks and exhorts and
commands Philip to set the bishop at liberty, and to permit
him to come to Eome, and warns him that unless he can
show some reasonable cause for his action, he must be held
to have incurred the sentence imposed by the canons on
those who laid their hands on a bishop. 2
1 Boniface VIII. Register, 4422
(" Salvator Mundi "): " Nos igitur
attondentee quod nonnulla privilegia,
indulgentias et gratias carissimo in
Christo filio nostro Philippo Regi
Fran corum illustri ej usque succes-
soribus, et specialiter pro defensione
regni sui sub certis formis duximus
concedenda, et gratiose aliqua con-
oessimus clericis et laicis, qui de suo
et successorum suorum stricto consilio
fuerint vel majori parti eorum: quo-
rum privilegiorum, gratiarum, indul-
gentiarum et concessionum occasione,
per abusum, ecclesiis et ecclesiarum
prelatis ac personis religiosis et secu-
laribus dicti regni magna dispendia et
gravamina sunt illata, et gravia scan-
dala sunt exorta et i nan tea possunt
oriri : ac precaventes ne tali pretextu
supradictse ecclesise, prelati ac personse
ecclesiasticse plus graventur, provi-
dimus super hoc salubre remedium.
Unde ilia omnia quantum ad omnem
ipso rum effectum, de fratrum nostro-
rum consilio, usque ad predicti sedia
bene placitum diximus suspendenda:
ilia maximo que occasione guerrarum,
quibus dicti regni status pacifieus
turbabatur tunc temporis, fuere con-
cessa. "
* Id. id. , Register, 4432 (" Secundum
divina "): " Sane ad nostrum pervenit
auditum, quod tu venerabilem fratrem
nostrum Appamiarum Episcopum per-
sonaliter ad prsesentiam tuam deduci
fecisti sub tuorum cauta custodia,
utinam non invitum ! Quem sub
colore securitatis personse ipeius, cus-
todiendum dixeris eommisisse fratri
nostro Narboniensi Archiepiscopo,
Metropolitano ipsius. Magnitudinem
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? CHAP. VIII. ] BONIFACE VHI. AND PHILIP THE FAIR. 385
On the same day Boniface issued the Bull " Asculta Fili,"
in which he enumerated his complaints against Philip, and
asserted his authority in very strong terms. He begins with
the assertion that God had placed him over all kings and
kingdoms, with authority to destroy and to build up, and
he warns Philip not to allow any one to persuade him that
he had no superior, and that he was not subject to the head
of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. He who should pertina-
ciously assert this was an infidel and outside of the fold of
the good Shepherd. 1
The principal complaints which he made against the conduct
of Philip were that he was oppressing his subjects, the clergy,
the counts and nobles, the communities and the whole people
of his kingdom; that he prevented the Holy See from exer-
cising its legal rights with regard to vacant dignities, benefices,
canonries, and prebends ; that he compelled prelates and
other ecclesiastical persons to appear in his courts, in regard
to personal questions, rights, and goods, which were not held
from him by feudal tenure, while laymen had no authority
in such cases ; that he did not permit the free exercise of the
spiritual sword against those who injured the clergy, or the
igitur tuam rogamii s et hortamur
attente, per apostolica tibi scripts
maudantes, quatenus eumdem epis-
copum, cujus volumus habere prsesen-
tiam, abire libera, et ad nostram prse-
sentiam securum venire permittas,
omniaque bona mobilia etc. . . . sibi
restitui facias . . . neo in antea ad
similia per te vel tuos occupatrices
manus extendas ; habiturus te taliter
in premissis, quod majestatem non
offendas Divinam, nec sedis apostolica
dignitatem, neo oporteat nos aliud
remedium adhibere: sciturus, quod,
nisi ad excusationem tuam aliquid
rationabilem coram nobis propositum
fuerit vel ostensum, et premissis Veritas
suffragetur, quin incurreris sententiam
canonis, propter injectionem temeraria-
rum manuum in dictum episcopum,
non videmus. "
VOL. V.
1 Id. id. , 4424 ("Asculta Fili")i
" Sane fili, cur ista direxerimus, immi-
nente necessitate et urgente conscientia,
expressius aperimus. Constituit enim
nos Deus, licet insufficientibus mentis,
super reges et regna, imposito nobis
jugo apostolicse servitutis, ad evellen-
dum, destruendum, edificandum atque
plantandum, sub ejus nomine et doo-
trina, et ut, gregem pascentes domini-
cum, consolidemus infirmos, sanemus
segrota, alligemus fracta, et reducamus
abjecta, vinumque infundamus et
olium vulneribus sanciatis. Quare,
fili carissime, nemo tibi suadeat, quod
superiorem non habeas et non subsis
sammo ierarchse ecclesiastics e ierarchise,
nam desipit qui sic sapit, et pertina-
citer hoc amrmans, convincitur infi-
delis, nec est intra boni pallor is
ovile. "
? ? 2B
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? 386
[PAB. T II.
TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS.
exercise of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in monasteries of which
he claimed to hold the guardianship. 1
After enumerating other complaints about abuses against
which he had made constant remonstrance in vain, he an-
nounced that he had therefore summoned the archbishops,
bishops, abbots, and some other ecclesiastical persons from
France that he might consult with them in November of the
following year, and determine what should be done for the
amendment of these things, and the good of the kingdom.
He invites Philip to send some faithful men who knew him
well, to take part in the consultation, but warns him that
they will proceed without his representatives if they did not
eome. 2
1 Id. id. id. : " Nec possumus cum
non debeamus, prseterire silentio quin
ea per quse oculos Divinse majestatis
offendis, nos perturbas, gravas sub-
ditos, ecclesias et ecclesiasticas socu-
laresve personas opprimis et affligas,
nec non pares, eomites, et barones,
aliosque nobiles, et universitates ac
pepulum dicti regni, multisque diversis
angustiis scandalises, tibi apertius
exprimamus. Profecto ergo hactenus
servasso nos novimus ordinem caritatis.
. . . Te, opportunis studiis et temporibus,
inducendo, ut errata corrigeris. . . .
Sea quod te correxeris, quod in te
salutis semina sata, ut vellemus, fruc-
ticaverint, non videmus. . . . Et ut
aliqua explicabiliter inferamus : ecoe
quod licet pa teat manifesto, ac explo-
red juris existat, quod in ecclesiasticis
dignitatibus, personatibus et bene-
ficiis, canonicatibus et prebendis vacan-
tibus in curia vel extra curiam Roma-
nam, pontifex summam et potiorem
obtinet potestatem, ad te tamen hujus-
modi ecclesiarum, dignitatum, persona-
tum, beneficiorum, canonicatuum, col-
latio non potest quomodolibet perti-
nere nec pertinet. . . . Nihilominus tu,
metas et terminos tibi positos irreve-
renter excedens, et factus impatiens
super hoc, injuriose obvias ipsi sedi.
ej usque collationes, canonice factas,
executioni mandari non sustines, sed
impugnas, quamvis tuas, qualiter
cunque factas, precedere dinoscuntur.
Prelatos insuper et alias personas
ecclesiasticas, tam religiosas quam
seculares regni tui, etiam super per-
sonal i bus actiordbus, juribus, et immo-
bilibus bonis, quse a te non tenentur
in feudum, ad tuum judicium pertrahis
et coarctas, et inquestas fieri facias, et
detineri tales, licet in clerioos et per-
sonas ecclesiasticas nulla sit laicis
attributa potestas: prseterea contra
injuriatores et molestatores prelato-
rum et personarum ecclesiasticarum
eos spirituali gladio qui eis com-
petit uti libere non permittis;
nec jurisdictionem eis competentem
in monasteriis seu locis ecclesiasticis,
quorum recipis guardiam vel custo-
? ? diam, vel a predecessoribus tuis reoep-
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? CHAP. VIII. ] BONIFACE VHI. AND PHILIP THE PAIR. 387
These claims of Pope Boniface met with the most violent
resistance. The claim of authority was indeed expressed in
the bull in sufficiently strong terms, but it was apparently
almost immediately represented as being more extreme than
it actually was. A spurious form of the bull was produced,
in which Boniface VIII. was represented as having claimed
that the king was subject to him in temporal as well as spiritual
things. 1 Boniface was charged with heresy, in a statement
attributed to Pierre Dubois. The author contends that the
Pope was endeavouring to take from Philip those rights of
supreme jurisdiction and freedom from all other authority
in temporal matters which he had possessed for a period of
more than a thousand years. If the popes claimed that they
had at one time possessed temporal authority over the Kings
of France, they had lost them by prescription. He contends
also that if the Donation of Constantine had any validity,
which he doubts, it could be revoked by the emperor. 2
piscopos, episcopos, ac dilectos filios
electos et Cisterciensis, Cluniacensis,
Premonstratensis, nec non sancti Dyo-
nisii in Franc ia, Parisiensis diocesis,
et majoris Turonensis, ordinis Sancti
Benedicts, monasteriorum abbates, et
capitula ecclesiarum cathedralium regni
tui, ac magistros in theologia et in
jure canonico et civili, et nonnullas
alias personas ecclesiasticas oriundaa
de regno predicto, per alias nostras
patentes litteras, certo modo ad nos-
trum presentiam evocamus. . . . Cum
quibus, sicut cum personis apud to
suspicione carentibus, quin potius
acceptis et gratis, ac diligentibus nomen
tuum, et affectantibus statum pros-
perum regni tui, tractare consultius
et ordinare salubrius valeamus que ad
premissorum emendationem, tuamque
directionem, quietem atque salutem
ac bonum et prosperum regimen ipsius
regni videbimus expedire. Si tuam
itaque rem agi putaveris, eodem tem-
pore per te vel fideles viros et providos,
tuse conscios voluntatis, ac diligenter
instructos, de quibus plene valeas
habere fiduciam, Wis poteris interesse,
alioquin tuam vel ipsorum absentiam
divina replente presentia, in premisais
et ea contingentibus ac aliis, prout
superna nobis ministraverit gratia et
expedire videbitur, procedcmus. "
Cf. id. id. , 4425 and 4426.
1 Dupuy, ' Histoire du Differend,'
&o. , ' Preuves,' p. 44 (Deum Time):
" Scire te volumus quod in spiritua-
libus et temporalibus nobis subes.
Beneflciorum et prebendarum ad te
collatio nulla spectat: et si aliquorum
vacantium custodiam habeas, fructus
coram successoribus reserves: et si
quse contulisti, collationem hujusmodi
irritam decernimus, et quantum de
facto processerit, revocamus. Aliud
autem credentes, hereticos reputamus. "
>> Dupuy, * Histoire du Differend,
*
' Preuves ' (p. 44), ' Deliberatio ma-
gistri Petri de Bosco ': " Quod autem
Papa sic scribens nitons et intendens,
? ? sit et debeat hereticus reputari, per
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? 388 TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. [PABT n.
In February 1302 Philip summoned what -we know as the
first meeting of the States General of France, and the terms
in which he called them together are very noteworthy.
He announces his desire to take counsel with the prelates,
barons, and his other loyal subjects on certain difficult
matters which concerned the liberty of himself, of the
churches, and of all the inhabitants of the kingdom. 1 Un-
fortunately the proceedings of the meeting of the States
General are only known to us in the letters addressed by the
clergy to Boniface Vlil. , and by the nobles to the cardinals,
but these are sufficient for our present purpose. They both
voluerit, et regi Christanissimo ecclesise
defensori satisfacere super tanta injuria.
. . . Nonne Papa concupiscit et rapit,
et aufert de novo scienter summam
regis libertatem, quse semper fuit et
est nulli subesse et toti regno imperare
sine reprehensionis humans e timore.
Prseterea negari non potest, quin
semper post distincta primo rerum
dominia invasio rerum occupatarum
aliis maxime per tempus a quo memoria
hominum non existit possessarum, et
prescriptarum fuerit, est peccatum
mortale. Rex autem supremam juris-
dictionem et libertatem suorum tem-
poralium ultra mille annos possedit.
. . . Prseterea Papa non potest supre-
mum dominium regni Francise vindi-
care, nisi quia summus sacerdos est.
Sed cont, si esset ita. Hoc beato Petro
et singulis ejus euccessoribus compe-
tisset qui in hoc nihil reclamarunt,
nihil vindicaverunt ? Reges Francise
hoc possidentes et prescribentes tolle-
rarunt per mille ducentos septuaginta
annos. Possessio vero centenaria,
etiam sine titulo, hodie per novem con-
stitutionem dicti Papro sufficeret ad
prescribendum contra ipsum et eccle-
siam Romanam, ao etiam contra im-
perium secundum leges imperial es.
. . . Et si ecclesia Romana et imperator,
subjectionem, si quam habuissent,
quod non est verum, per centum annos
reges possidere libertatem et prescri-
bere permii rendo, totum jus suum
amississet. . . . Prseterea si Papa modo
statueret prescriptiones sibi non ob-
stare, ergo similiter aliis non obstarent,
maxime principibus qui superiores non
recognoscunt. Et sic imperator Con-
stantinopolitanus, qui eidem dedit
totum patrimomum quod habebat,
cum hujus donatio quia nimis magna
facta per legitimum administratorem
verum imperii, sicut sunt episcopi et
alii prelati, non tenuerunt, ut juris
civilis doctores, et prescriptio non
obstat, secundum ipsum apparet, quod
donator vel imperator Alemannise loco
ejus per Papam subrogatus totam
hujusmodi donationem posset revo-
care. "
1 ' Documents relatifs aux rotate
Generaux . . .
sons Philippe le Bel'
(ed. G. Pioot, Paris, 1901): " I. Philip-
pus . . . super pluribus ardius ncgociis,
? ? nos, statum, libertates nostras, ao regni
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? CHAP. VIII. ] BONIFACE vm. AND PHILIP THE FAIR. 389
relate how the king declared to them that in his letter
Boniface had claimed that the kingdom of France was held
from him, while the King of France had always, in tem-
poral matters, been subject to God only. They were equally
disturbed by the fact that Boniface had, as we have seen,
summoned the clergy to consult with him at Eome as to
the alleged oppression of the clergy and people of France by
the king. 1 The clergy implored the Pope to revoke his
summons,2 while the nobles addressed themselves to the
cardinals, and requested them to take counsel how these
ill-considered and irregular proceedings might be turned to
a good end. 3
It is evident that the real or pretended claim of Boniface
Vm. to temporal sovereignty over the King of France was
repudiated at once not only by the laity, but by the clergy
in France, but it is important to see how their actions and
declarations were met in Eome. The cardinals replied to the
nobles by positively asserting that the Pope had never
written to the king that he was superior to him "tempor-
ally," and that the Archdeacon of Narbonne, who had carried
1 Id. , V. (Letter of the Clergy):
' Idem Dominus Rex proponi fecit
ounctis audientibus palam et publiee,
sibi ex parte vestra fuisse inter alia
per predictos Archidiaconum et litteras
intimatum, quod de regno suo, quod
a Deo solo ipse et predecessores aui
tenere hactenus recognitisunt, tem-
poraliter vobis subesse, illudque a
vobis tenere deberet. "
Id. , VI. (Letter of the Nobles) :
" Premiers entre les autres choses que
au dit roi notre sire furent envoye? es
par messages et par lettres, il est
contenu, que du royaume de France,
que notre sire li roi et li habitans du
royaume ont toujours dit estre soubget
en temporalite? de Dieu tant seulement,
si comme c'est chose notoire a` tout
le monde, il en devroit estre soubget
a luy temporellement et de luy le
devoit et doit tenir. "
? Id. , V. : " Hino in promptu ad
Sanctitatis Vestra providentis s cir-
cumspectam in hoc summse necessitatis
articulo duximus requirendum, flebi-
libus vocibus et lachrymosis singultibus
paternam demon t i a m implorantes, quod
salubre remedium in premissis, per
quod . . . status occlesise Gallicans e in
pulcritudine paois et quietis optate
remaneat, prospiciatur nobis, nostris-
que statibus, revocando vestra voca-
tionis edictum. "
>> Id. , VI. : " Pourquoy nous vous
prions et requerons tant affectueuse-
ment, comme nous pouvons que, comme
vous soyez establis e appeliez en partie
au gouvernement de l'Eglise, e chascun
de vous en ceste besoigne veillez tel
conseil mettre, e tel remede, que ce
qui est par si legier e par si desordenne?
mouvement commande? , soit mis a`
bon point et a` bon esta^t. "
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? 390 TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. [PABT n.
the Pope's letter, had made no such statement by word or
letter ; the statement of Peter Floto to this effect was there-
fore false. 1
We have also emphatic statements made by the Cardinal
of Porto and by Boniface himself in a Consistory held at
Eome, presumably in the summer of 1302. The first repu-
diates the allegation that the Pope had said in his letter that
the King of France held his kingdom from the Church, but
he sets out a somewhat far-reaching statement about the
papal authority. It is obvious, he says, that the Pope judges
every temporal matter, if it is related to a question of sin ;
he admits, indeed, that while spiritual jurisdiction belongs to
the Pope, temporal jurisdiction belongs to the emperor and
kings ; but he adds that one must consider the question of
temporal jurisdiction not only from the standpoint of action
and custom, but also from that of law. By strict law (de
jure) temporal jurisdiction belongs to the supreme Pontiff,
the vicar of Christ and of Peter, but as far as its exercise is
concerned it does not belong to him, and therefore the King
of France has nothing to complain of. 2
1 Id. , V3I. : " Et volumus vos pro
oerto tenere quod predictus dominus
noster summus pontifex nunquam
soripsit regi predicto quod de regno
suo sibi subesse temporaliter illudque
ab eo tenere deberet; et providus vir,
magister Jacobus, archidiaconus Nar-
bonensis, notarius et nuntius domini
nostri predicti, sicut constanter affir-
mat, ipai domino regi hoc ipsum vel
simile nunquam verbaliter nuntiavit,
aut scripto, unde propositio quam fecit
Petrus Mot, in prsesentia dicti domini
regis, prelatorum et vestra, et aliorum
multorum, arenosum et falsum habuit
fundamentum, et ideo necesse est
quod cadat edificium, quod edifica-
bitur super illud. "
? ' Histoire du Difierend," ' Preuves '
(p. 76): " Referunt aliqui quod con-
tinebatur in ilia lettera, quod dominus
rex deberet recognoscere se tenere
reguum suum ab ecclesia, propter
Deum. Cesset murmur quia nunquam
fuit scriptum in ilia littera, vel man-
datum ex parte summi pontificis, et
f rat rum, quod deberet recognoscere se
tenere regnum suum ab aliquo, et
credo ilium qui fuit missus talem
virum qui non exoessit fines mandati
sibi commissi. . . . (Page 76. ) Item
planum est quod nullus debet vocare
in dubium quin posset judicare (Papa)
de omni temporali, ratione peccati. . . .
Sunt enim dos s jurisdictiones, spiritua-
lis, et temporalis : jurisdictionem spiri-
tualem principaliter habet summus
pontifex, et ilia fuit tradita a Christo,
Petro, et summis Pontrificibus succes-
soribus ejus: jurisdictionem tempo-
ralem habent imperator et alii reges;
tamen de omni temporali habet cog-
noscere summus pontifex et judicare
ratione peccati; unde dico quod juris -
dictio temporalis potest considerari
? ? prout competit alicui ratione actus
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? CHAP, vm] BONIFACE VTH. AND PHTTJP THE FAIR. 391
Boniface VIII. , after a violent invective against Peter
Floto, denounced his falsification or perversion of the letter
which he had written to the king, and his assertion that
Boniface had bidden the king to acknowledge that he held
his kingdom from him. Forty years, he said, he had been
learned in the law, and knew very well that there were two
powers established by God; he had no intention to usurp
the jurisdiction of the king, but the king must admit that he
and all other Christian men were subject to him in any matter
where sin was concerned. 1
It would then seem to be plain that whatever may have
been Boniface's real intention, and whatever he may have
meant in the Bull, " Asculta Fili," its actual result had been
that the whole French people as represented in the States
General, clergy, nobles, and commons, had emphatically
repudiated the notion that the Pope possessed any temporal
authority in France, and the cardinals positively asserted
that the Pope had made no such claim. The Cardinal of
Porto and Boniface seem to concur, but it was significant that
the former maintained that the Pope did hold temporal as
well as spiritual authority, " de jure," and that Boniface
maintained that all matters which were related to any ques-
tion of sin were under his jurisdiction.
Boniface had not yet said his last word, and in the Bull
et usus, vel prout competit alicui de
jure, unde jurisdietio temporalis com-
petit summo pontifici qui est vicarius
Christi et Petri de jure. . . . Sed juris-
dietio temporalis, quantum ad usum,
et quantum ad executionem actus non
competit ei. . . . Unde videtur modo
quod Dominus rex Francorum non
habet materiam conquerendi. "
1 Id. id. (p. 77): " Iste Petrus
(Floto) litteram nostram quam de
consensu, et consilio fratrum nostrorum,
non repentina, sed repetita delibera-
tione totius coilegii: et ex conventione
et convento habito cum nunciis regiis
non (nos ? ) miseramus ei, ex eo quod
dixerant nobis prius scribatur, sed hoc
regi falsavit; seu falsa de ea eonfbrit,
quia nescimus bene an litteram falsa-
verit, nam litterse predicts e fuerunt
celatee baronibus et prelatis ; imposuit
nobis quod nos mandaveramus regi,
quod recognosceret regnum a nobis.
Quadraginta anni sunt quod nos sumus
experti in jure et scimus quod due
sunt potestates ordinatrc a Deo. Quia
ergo debet credere, vel potest, quod
tanta fatuitas, tanta insipientia sit
vel fuerit in capite nostro ? Diximus
quod in nullo volumus usurpare juris-
dictionem regis, et sic frater noster
Portuensis dixit. Non potest negare
rex seu quicunque alter fldelis, quin
sit nobis subjectus ratione peocati. "
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? 392 TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. [PABT II.
" Unam Sanctam," issued in November 1302, he set out the
relations of the spiritual and temporal powers in more ex-
plicit terms than in the Bull " Asculta Fili. "
He begins by describing the unity of the Church, and
maintains that there is only one Head of the Church--that
is, Christ--and the vicar of Christ--that is, Peter and his
successors: those who, like the Greeks, say that they are
not under Peter, are not Christ's sheep. There are two swords,
the spiritual and the temporal, but these are both in the
power of St Peter and the Church, the one to be used by the
priest, the other by the king, but at the command ("ad
nutum ") of the priest, for the one sword must be under the
other, and the temporal authority must be subject to the
spiritual (spirituali subjici potestati). The spiritual power is
superior in dignity to the temporal, and it has therefore
authority to " institute " the temporal, and to judge it if it
is not good, and thus is fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah :
" Behold, I set thee to-day over nations and kingdoms. "
Therefore, if the earthly power goes astray, it is judged by
the spiritual, but the spiritual can only be judged by God,
and not by man. This authority, that is, of the Pope, al-
though it is given to a man, and exercised by a man, is a
divine authority; he that resists it, resists the ordinance of
God ; it is necessary to salvation to be subject to the Eoman
Pontiff. 1
1 Boniface VIII. Registrum, 6382
i" Unam Sanctam "): " Igitur ecclesiso
unius et unicse, unum corpus, unum
caput, non duo capita quasi monstrum,
Christus scilicet, et Christi Vicarius
Petrus, Petrique successor, dicente
Domino ipsi Petro, * Pasce oves meas *;
meas, inquit, et generalitor, non singu-
lariter has vel illas, per quod com-
misisse sibi intelligitur universas. Sive
ergo Grscci sive alii, se dicant Petro,
eisque successoribus, non esse com-
missos, fateantur necesse est se de
ovibus Christi non esse, dicente Domino
in Johanne, unum ovile, unum et
unicum esse Pastorem. In hac ejusque
potestate duos esse gladios, spiritualem
videlicet et temporalem, Evangelicis
dictis instruimur. Nam dicentibus
apostolus * ecce gladii duo hie,' in
occlesia scilicet, quum apostoli loque-
rentur, non respondit Dominus nimis
esse, sed satis. Certe qui in potestate
Petri temporalem gladium esse negat,
male verbum attendit proferentis,
' converte gladium tuum in vaginam. '
Uterque ergo in po testate ecclesie,
spiritualis scilicet gladius et materialis,
sed is quidem pro ecclesia, ille vero ab
ecclesia exercendus, ille sacerdotis, is
manu regum et militum, sed ad nutum
et patientiam sacerdotis.
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? CHAP, vm. ] BONIFACE VIII. AND PHILIP THE FADS. 393
What was then the actual position of Boniface VIII. as
it is represented in the Bulls " Asculta Fili" and " Unam
Sanctam " ? The answer is not quite easy. If we compare his
language with that of the Canonists, which we have considered
in a previous chapter, it may at first sight seem to be the
same ; he maintains that both swords belong to the spiritual
power, and that the spiritual power both instituted and
can judge it, and in the Bull " Asculta Fili " he asserts that
he is the " Superior " of the King of France. These phrases
are capable of being interpreted as implying the same prin-
ciples of those of Hostiensis, but they do not necessarily do
this. His language is at least much more guarded than that
of the extreme papalist tracts which we are about to examine,
and that of Ptolemy of Lucca with which we have already
dealt.
Oportet autem gladium esse sub
gladio, et temporalem auctoritatem
spirituali subjici potestati. Nam quum
dicat apostolus, ' non est potestas nisi
a Deo, qusi autem a Deo sunt, ordinata
sunt,' non ordinata essent nisi gladius
esset sub gladio, et tanquam inferior
reduceretur per alium in suproma.
Nam secundum beatum Dionynium,
lex divinitatis est, infima per media
in suprema reduci. Non ergo secundum
ordinem universi, omnia seque ao im-
mediate, sed infima per media, inferiora
per superiora, ad ordinem reducuntur.
Spiritualem autem, et dignitate,
et nobilitate, terrenam quamlibet pre-
cellere potestatem oportet tanto clarius
nos fateri, quanto spiritualia temporalia
antecellunt: quod etiam ex decimarum
datione, et benedictione, et sanctifica-
tione, ex ipsius potestatis acceptione,
ex ipsarum rerum gubernatione Claris
oculis intuemur. Nam veritate tes-
tante, spiritualia potestas terrenam
potestatem instituere habet, et judi-
care si bona non fuerit. Sic de ecclesia,
et ecclesiastica potestate, verificatur
vaticinium Jeremie, ' Ecce constitui
te hodie, super gentes et regna,' et
cetera qua} sequuntur. Ergo si deviat
terrena potestas, judicabitur a potestate
spirituali, sod si deviat spiritualis
minor, a suo superiore. Si vero su-
prema, a solo Deo, non ab homine
potest judicari, testante apostolo,
' spiritualis homo judicat omnia, ipse
autem a nenime judicatur. '
Est autem hie auctoritas, etsi data
sit homini et exercetur per hominem,
non humana, sed potius divina potestas,
ore divina Petro data, sibique, suisque
successoribus in ipso Christo, quem
confessus fuit potra firmata, dioente
domino ipsi Petro, ' Quodcunque liga-
veris,' Ac.
Quicunquo igitur huic potestati a
Deo sio ordinate resistit, Dei ordina-
tioni resistit, nisi duo, sicut maniceus
fingat esse principia, quod falsum et
hereticum judicamus. Quia testante
Moyse, non in principiis sed in prin-
cipio, coilum Deus creavit et terram.
Porro subesse Romano pontifici, omni
? ? humane creature declaramus, dicimus,
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? 394
CHAPTER IX.
BONIFACE VH. AND PHILIP THE FAIR. "CONTRO-
VERSIAL LITERATURE, I. "
The conflict between Philip and Boniface produced a signifi-
cant pamphlet literature, both in support and in criticism
of Boniface's position, and it is in these pamphlets that we
have the most highly developed statement of the extreme
papal position, and the most explicit repudiation of that
position.
The first work whioh we must examine is a fragment of
an anonymous pamphlet printed by Dr E. Scholz. This work
may, indeed, belong to an earlier date--to the years 1296-7,--
for it refers more than once to the dispute about the taxa-
tion of the clergy and the Bull " Clericis Laicos. " If, how-
ever, this was the time and occasion of the tract, it discusses
the principles of the relations of the Temporal and Spiritual
Powers under terms which anticipate the conflict of 1302.
The authorship is unknown, but Dr Scholz is inclined to
think that it may be by Henry of Cremona, with whose work,
' De Potestate Papae,' we shall presently deal.
The writer asserts that it was heresy to say that papal
constitutions with regard to temporal possessions in the
various kingdoms and other States had no authority over the
laity, for Jesus Christ, even as man, possessed the fulness
of power in temporal and spiritual things, and He committed
the fulness of power to Peter, whom he established as head
of the Church militant. The Eoman Pontiff is the vicar of
God, and has authority over kings and kingdoms ; he trans-
ferred the empire from the Greeks to the Germans, he deposed
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? CHAP. IX. ] BONIFACE VII. AND PHILIP THE FAIR. 395
the king of the Franks and the Emperor Frederick II. To
say that the Pope has not the fulness of power in spiritual
and temporal things would be to resist the divine ordinance ;
there are, indeed, divers orders and powers, ecclesiastical and
secular, but in the last resort it is the supreme Pontiff in
whom they are all united. To speak of two heads of the one
body of Christ is to speak of a monster. 1
These passages represent the main argument of the tract
1 Anon. Fragment in R. Scholz,
' Publizistik zui Zeit Philipps dos
Schfinen,' &c. , p. 471. " Non ponunt
laici os in ccalum dicendo seu blas-
phemando, quod Papales constitutiones,
editi super temporalibus bonis seu
rebus quse consistunt infra regna,
ducatus, comitatus, vel territoria ipso-
rum laicorum, ipsos laicos non astrin-
gunt. Nam hoc asserere et tenere
esset hereticum et a fide orthodoxa
alienum.
Constat enim quod Dominus Jesus
Christus etiam tamquam homo habuit
plenitudinem potestatis in tempora-
libus et spiritualibus, qui dicit post
assumptam humanitatem : ' Data est
mini omnis potestas in coelo et in terra,
*
Matt, ultimo; qui omne ponit nihil
excipit. .
