Crisis in the Late Medieval Church

The Capture of a Pope

Philip was unwilling to face excommunication, for that could easily give his enemies within France the excuse they needed to foment open rebellion. So he again went on the offensive in order to forestall Boniface.

Still claiming to be acting in the interests of Christendom, Philip sent one William, Bishop of Nogaret, to Italy along with a small band of armed men. Once there, they raised a force of local Italians, greatly aided by the Colonna, and they together went to the village of Anagni, near Rome, where the pope was staying at the time.

There, they arrested the pope. Anagni was Boniface's ancestral home, and the moment word came that the holy father had been arrested by his enemies, the entire town turned out to stop it. A tense few days past in a stalemate, but Nogaret finally released Boniface because he realized he would never be able to get the pope out of the town.

Although Boniface was free, the ordeal took its toll on the old man, and he died about three weeks later, at Rome.

History of Western Civilization

E.L. Skip Knox
Boise State University

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