23 January 1295¹
Benedetto Caetani elected pope, gains fame when he's placed in Hell by Dante.
Caetani, as Boniface VIII, was a bad pope. He pissed off Philip the Fair, the king of France, who claimed authority over the selection of French bishops and Church revenue in France. Boniface also made a worse enemy - a writer. Never piss off someone who can write stuff down about you! Dante Alighieri was a member of Florence's ruling faction and strongly opposed to papal political pretensions. Boniface got him exiled from Florence, but Dante got the final revenge by placing him in the eighth circle of Hell in The Inferno. Take that, Boniface!
Boniface died in 1303 with one notable achievement on his résumé: he canonized Louis IX of France, the first and only French king to be made a saint. And if he hadn't done that, people in the Midwest would have named their city something completely different.
¹ Yes, I know I skipped yesterday. Sorry. Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901, and the Allies landed at Anzio in 1944. Happy now?
Caetani, as Boniface VIII, was a bad pope. He pissed off Philip the Fair, the king of France, who claimed authority over the selection of French bishops and Church revenue in France. Boniface also made a worse enemy - a writer. Never piss off someone who can write stuff down about you! Dante Alighieri was a member of Florence's ruling faction and strongly opposed to papal political pretensions. Boniface got him exiled from Florence, but Dante got the final revenge by placing him in the eighth circle of Hell in The Inferno. Take that, Boniface!
Boniface died in 1303 with one notable achievement on his résumé: he canonized Louis IX of France, the first and only French king to be made a saint. And if he hadn't done that, people in the Midwest would have named their city something completely different.
¹ Yes, I know I skipped yesterday. Sorry. Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901, and the Allies landed at Anzio in 1944. Happy now?
posted by Greg | 3:30 PM
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