The name is absent

72 Dante Sexcentenary Lectures

was the growth of French influence in general, and against
this and the long arm of the French monarchy the papacy
proved unable to defend itself. The ultimate defeat and
degradation of the papacy took place during the early
period of Dante’s exile, and was the single greatest political
event that took place in Dante’s lifetime, though in terms
of personal emotion it perhaps did not mean as much to
him as the failure of Henry VII of Germany to revive the
Imperial power in Italy.

The central figure in this tragic fall of the papacy is
that of Benedetto Gaetano, Boniface VIII, 1294-1303, a
Roman noble, connected with the papal court all the best
years of his life; steeped in the ecclesiastical ambitions of
centuries, imperious, passionate, and vengeful, he was an
epitome of the loftiest ambitions and the worst methods of
the papacy. Determined to undermine the rival influence of
the Colonna family, he showered offices, castles, and lands
upon his own relatives, and thus won the undying hatred of
the Colonna family. They stirred up discontent in every
possible quarter, allied themselves with Manfred’s grandson
in Sicily, and open war resulted which Boniface declared
a crusade. The arrogant old Pope defeated them, captured
all their castles, and drove them from the land. One among
the exiles fled to the court of the king of France and be-
came a leading agent in the final overthrow of Boniface.
But before that fatal day Boniface had time to lord it over
Italy, to behold thousands of pious pilgrims from all over
Europe flock to Rome in answer to his declaration of a
Papal Jubilee, to interfere in the affairs of Florence, and
thereby directly aid in precipitating the crisis which brought
about the exile of Dante. This is the great turning-point in
Dante’s life, but into its details I will not enter for the
moment, only stopping to point out the electric contact es-

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