By December of 1294 Celestine knew he had made a mistake in becoming Pope and being under the control of King Charles so he abdicated. But little did he know that his decision had been forced by deception. The person who has deceived Celestine was Cardinal Caetani who wanted to become Pope himself. While Celestine slept, the Cardinal used a small pipe that led to his chambers to speak to the troubled Pope in the voice of God warning him to step down from office.

The papal conclave to elect the new pope opened on the 23rd of December and within a day the new pope was elected. It was Benedetto Caetani, the same Cardinal that had conspired to remove his predecessor. Caetani chose the name Boniface and became Boniface VIII.

Pope Boniface VIII was crowned in Rome at St. Peter's.

Pope Boniface saw his predecessor Celestine as a threat and someone who could be elected as an antipope. An order was issues for Celestine's arrest but he had escaped to the woods. Alerted to the danger Celestine tried flee by ship but was forced back and arrested. He lived out the rest of his life in the remote castle of Fumone.

To help pay for a war with England, the French king Philippe IV, imposed a tax on the wealthy church clergy. In response Pope Boniface issued Bull Clericus Laicos, banning any taxation of the clergy in France and England. In return the French king banned any money leaving France destined for Rome without his permission. In England King Edward called for a law to be passed that removed royal protection from any clergy that refused to pay. This meant anyone could rob the Church and would not be held to account.

Pope Boniface VIII made King Louis IX of France a saint of the Church twenty-seven years after his death whilst on crusade in the Holy Land. ¹

King Edward released John Balliol from the Tower of London and placed him into the custody of Pope Boniface to be held in papal residence. This arrangement ended a few years later and Balliol retired to his family's ancestral home in Picardy.

Pope Boniface nominated 1300 as a holy year and declared those that visited St. Peter's and confessed their sins would be forgiven. This caused a huge number of people to take a pilgrimage to Rome and equally huge amounts of money to be spent.

Pope Boniface sent a letter to King Edward I demanding that he should withdraw from Scotland. Edward ignored the letter, but because the campaign was not a success, the English soon left for England anyway. ¹

Boniface, the Pope, died a few weeks after being held captive by supporters of the French King over taxation disputes. ¹