Editing Pope Boniface VIII (section)

=== Burial and exhumation ===
The body of Boniface VIII was buried in 1303 in a special chapel that also housed the remains of [[Pope Boniface IV]] (A.D. 608–615), which had been moved by Boniface VIII from a tomb outside the Vatican Basilica in the portico.

The body was accidentally exhumed in 1605, and the results of the excavation recorded by [[Giacomo Grimaldi]] (1568–1623), Apostolic Notary and Archivist of the Vatican Basilica, and others.<ref>A. Theiner (ed.), ''Caesaris Baronii Annales Ecclesiastici'' Tomus 23 (Bar-le-Duc 1871), under year 1303, §34, p. 333. A. L. Frothingham, Jr., "Procès-verbal by Giacomo Grimaldi of the Opening of the Tomb of Pope Boniface VIII in the Basilica of San Pietro in Vaticano in 1605", ''American Journal of Archaeology'' 4 (1888), 330–332.</ref> The body lay within three coffins, the outermost of wood, the middle of lead, and the innermost of [[pine]]. The corporal remains were described as being "unusually tall" measuring seven [[palm (unit)|palms]] when examined by doctors. The body was found quite intact, especially the shapely hands, thus disproving the myth that he had died in a frenzy, gnawing his hands, beating his brains out against the wall.<ref>Thomas Oestereich, [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02662a.htm "Pope Boniface VIII."] The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. Retrieved: 6 February 2018.</ref> The body wore ecclesiastical vestments common for Boniface's lifetime: long stockings covered legs and thighs, and it was garbed also with the [[maniple (vestment)|maniple]], [[cassock]], and pontifical habit made of black silk, as well as [[Stole (vestment)|stole]], [[chasuble]], rings, and bejeweled gloves.<ref>The body was seen several times by the Papal Master of Ceremonies, Giovanni Paolo Mucanzio, who reported the details in his ''Diary'', under 11 October 1605: Joannes Baptista Gattico, ''Acta Selecta Caeremonialia Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae ex variis mss. codicibus et diariis saeculi xv. xvi. xvii.'' Tomus I (Romae 1753), pp. 478–479. The body had been discovered accidentally during the removal of several altars from the old St. Peter's to make way for the walls and new chapels of Maderno's nave.</ref>

After this exhumation and examination, Boniface's body was moved to the Chapel of Pope Gregory and Andrew. His body now lies in the crypt (grotte) of St. Peter's in a large marble sarcophagus, inscribed BONIFACIVS PAPA VIII.<ref>{{cite book|last=Reardon|first=Wendy|title=The Deaths of the Popes. Comprehensive Accounts Including Funeral, Burial Places and Epitaphs|publisher=McFarland|pages=120–123}}. Her date of 1606 is incorrect.</ref>