Pope nicholas iii dante's inferno
Character Analysis
We Bet They Called Him "Bony-Face" In Elementary School
Even though Pope Boniface VIII never physically shows up in the Inferno, he's a major figure, both in Dante’s political life and as a symbol of sin.
Boniface would have served nicely as Dante’s prime antagonist if only our poet been able to include him in his story. Don’t think that Dante excluded Boniface from Hell out of some outpouring of generosity. This Pope not only betrayed Dante’s beloved White Guelphs, but had Dante personally exiled. (In case you were wondering, Ciacco tells this story in prophecy form in Canto VI.)
The only reason Dante didn’t include him was that at the time of Dante’s writing, Pope Boniface VIII was still alive.
Biography of pope boniface viii The Inferno describes the journey of a fictionalised version of Dante himself through Hell , guided by the ancient Roman poet Virgil. In the poem, Hell is depicted as nine concentric circles of torment located within the Earth; it is the "realm [ The poem begins on the night of Maundy Thursday on March 24 or April 7 , , shortly before the dawn of Good Friday. The poet finds himself lost in a dark wood selva oscura , [ 6 ] astray from the "straight way" diritta via , [ 7 ] also translatable as 'right way' of salvation. He sets out to climb directly up a small mountain, but his way is blocked by three beasts he cannot evade: a lonza [ 8 ] usually rendered as ' leopard ' or ' leopon ' , [ 9 ] a leone [ 10 ] lion , and a lupa [ 11 ] she-wolf.But such is Dante’s genius that he can flesh out a character for his readers without actually having him once show his face. However, his name makes a number of appearances. Five, to be exact.
Boniface’s role as an emblem of deceit begins with the first obscure allusion to him in Canto III. In the circle of the neutrals, Dante spies a soul he calls the one "who made the great refusal." Scholars have conjectured this character to be Pope Celestine V, the incumbent pope before Boniface (learn more).
History tells us that the only reason Boniface came to office was that Celestine suddenly and unexpectedly resigned. Rumors flew that Boniface planted doubts into Celestine’s head in the months prior to his abdication.
Pope boniface viii dantes inferno The Caetani family was of baronial origin, with connections to the papacy. He succeeded Pope Celestine V , who had abdicated from the papal throne. Boniface spent his early career abroad in diplomatic roles. Boniface VIII put forward some of the strongest claims of any pope to temporal as well as spiritual power. These views, and his chronic intervention in temporal affairs, led to many bitter quarrels with Albert I of Germany , Philip IV of France , and Dante Alighieri , who expected the pope to soon arrive at the eighth circle of Hell in his Divine Comedy , among the simoniacs.If this is true, as Dante no doubt believes, it demonstrates an insincere use of language. That’s right—a fraudulent sinner! Since Boniface’s words are uttered to gain him a position of political power, that would mean eighth circle, sixth pouch.
Simony Says
The last three mentions of Boniface (in a simile concerning the panderers, by the Simonist Pope Nicholas III, and by fraudulent counselor Guido da Montefeltro) in the Inferno all point to his questionable practice of selling indulgences or absolution.
Hmmm, selling the Word? Simony? This one was slightly more predictable in that Pope Nicholas III actually tells us that he’s waiting for Boniface to replace him in his fiery hole:
I stood as does the friar who confesses
the foul assassin who, fixed fast, head down,
calls back the friar, and so delays his death;
and he cried out: "Are you already standing,
already standing there, o Boniface?
The book has lied to me by several years.
Pope boniface viii dantes inferno full Benedetto Caetani, a talented and ambitious scholar of canon law, rose quickly through the ranks of the church and was elected pope, as Boniface VIII, soon after the abdication of Pope Celestine V in There were rumors that Boniface had intimidated Celestine into abdicating so he could become pope himself. Boniface's pontificate was marked by a consolidation and expansion of church power, based on the view--expressed in a papal bull Unam sanctam --that the pope was not only the spiritual head of Christendom but also superior to the emperor in the secular, temporal realm. Dante, by contrast, firmly held that the pope and emperor should be co-equals with a balance of power between the pope's spiritual authority and the emperor's secular authority. Boniface's political ambitions directly affected Dante when the pope--under the false pretense of peace-making--sent Charles of Valois, a French prince, to Florence; Charles' intervention allowed the black guelphs to overthrow the ruling white guelphs, whose leaders--including Dante, in Rome at the time to argue Florence's case before Boniface--were sentenced to exile.Are you so quickly sated with the riches
for which you did not fear to take by guile
the Lovely Lady, then to violate her?"
And I became like those who stand as if
they have been mocked, who cannot understand
what has been said to them and can’t respond. (Inf.
XIX, )
Because he couldn’t put his nemesis in Hell just yet, Dante has reserved a spot for him.
Have you noticed that Dante tends to look for clerics in Hell? And to take special note of their suffering? (Check out Canto VII for an example.) Pope Boniface, then, in spearheading the Church, might indeed function as a symbol for everything corrupt within Catholicism.
Simony, indulgences, barratry. Name your sin.
Pope boniface viii dantes inferno movie
We remember especially the following verses from Inferno 7 , where Dante says that he sees cardinals and popes among the misers in the fourth circle:. While this definition only speaks of purchase and sale, any exchange of spiritual for temporal things is simoniacal. Nor is the giving of the temporal as the price of the spiritual required for the existence of simony; according to a proposition condemned by Innocent XI Denzinger-Bannwart, no. Peter the power to grant the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands:. ActsRemember that the whole sticky situation in Florence—the Guelph vs. Ghibelline, White vs. Black fight—arose because of disagreements about the integrity of the Pope.