Editing Pope Benedict XI (section)

==Papacy==
===Papal election===
{{main|Papal conclave, 1303}}
The conclave to elect the successor of Boniface VIII was held in the [[Archbasilica of St. John Lateran|Basilica of Saint John Lateran]] and the [[College of Cardinals]] desired an appropriate candidate who would not be hostile towards [[Philip IV of France|King Philip IV of France]]. After one ballot in a conclave that lasted a day, Boccasini was elected as pope.

===Actions===
He was quick to release King Philip IV from the [[excommunication]] that had been put upon him by Boniface VIII. Nevertheless, on 7 June 1304, Benedict XI excommunicated Philip IV's implacable minister [[Guillaume de Nogaret]] and all the Italians who had played a part in the seizure of his predecessor at Anagni. Benedict XI also arranged an armistice between Philip IV of France and [[Edward I of England]].

After a brief pontificate that spanned a mere eight months, Benedict XI died suddenly at [[Perugia]]. As original reports had it, suspicion fell primarily on Nogaret with the suspicion that his sudden death was caused by [[poison]]ing.<ref name="Catholic">{{Catholic|wstitle=Pope Benedict XI|inline=1}}</ref> There is no direct evidence, however, to either support or disprove the contention that Nogaret poisoned the pope. Benedict XI's successor, [[Pope Clement V|Clement V]] was in France when elected and never journeyed to [[Rome]]. His successors resided principally in [[Avignon]], inaugurating the period known as the [[Avignon Papacy]]. He and the French popes who succeeded him were completely under the influence of the kings of France.

Benedict XI also celebrated two [[Papal consistory|Consistories]] for the purpose of creating new cardinals. The first, on 18 December 1303, elevated Nicholas Alberti da Prato, the Bishop of Spoleto; and William Macclesfield (Marlesfeld) of Canterbury, Prior of the English Province of the Dominicans.<ref>Macclesfeld may have been dead at the time that he was created cardinal.</ref> On 19 February 1304 he elevated Walter Winterburn of Salisbury, the confessor of King Edward I of England, who did not want to part with him, and kept him in England for some time. By the time he arrived in Perugia on 28 November 1304, Pope Benedict was dead.<ref>Bernardus Guidonis, quoted in J. Catalano, ''Sacrarum Caeremoniarum sive Rituum Ecclesiasticorum Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Libri Tres'' (Romae 1750), p. 59.</ref> Cardinal Winterburn died at Genoa on 24 September 1305.<ref>Eubel, p. 13.</ref> All three new cardinals were members of the Dominican Order.

Benedict XI was the author of a volume of sermons and commentaries on the [[Gospel of Matthew]], the [[Psalms]], the [[Book of Job]], and the [[Book of Revelation]].<ref name="Catholic"/><ref>Jacobus Echard, ''Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum recensiti'' Tomus I (Paris 1719), pp. 444-447.</ref>

===Stories===
Cardinal [[Caesar Baronius]] (1538–1607) wrote that, on the Monday of Easter week in 1304, Benedict XI was celebrating Mass, but a pilgrim interrupted it, because he wanted the pope to hear his confession. Rather than telling him to find another time or another priest to have his confession, the Pope left the Mass to hear his confession and then returned to continue the Mass.<ref>Leonard of Port Maurice. ''Counsels to Confessors''. Loreto Publications, 2008</ref> This appears to be an anecdote, appropriate for a sermon recommending frequent confession, placed in an age when twice annual confession was the norm. It is unlikely that a pilgrim would attempt to interrupt a Mass, that a priest would interrupt a Mass for some other function, or that the protocols of the papal Court would permit such an unfettered close approach to the pontiff during a sacred service.

There is also a story that, at the General Chapter of the Dominicans at Lucca in May 1288, the Provincial of the Roman Province, Thomas de Luni predicted to Boccasini that he would someday be pope. On another occasion, when he was in Venice, a friar of Torcello predicted that he would be Provincial, Master General, Cardinal and Pope.<ref>Fietta, pp. 242-243: "''Ce sont la bien entendu des legendes que ne prirent corps qu' après l' evénement, mais il ne serait pas impossible qu' elles aient eu pour origine quelque anecdote authentique''."</ref>

===Beatification===
[[File:Lorenzo maitani (attr.), monumento di benedetto XI, 1305 circa, 01.jpg|thumb|left|190px|The tomb of Benedict XI.]]
{{Infobox saint
|image           = B Benedikt XI.jpg
|honorific-prefix= [[Pope Blessed]]
|name            = Benedict XI
|birth_name      = Niccolò Boccasini
|birth_date      = 1240
|birth_place     = [[Treviso]], [[Republic of Venice]]
|death_date      = 7 July 1304 (aged 63-64)
|death_place     = [[Perugia]], [[Papal States]]
|titles          = [[Pope]]; [[Confessor]]
|venerated_in    = [[Catholic Church]]
|feast_day       = 7 July
|attributes      = [[Papal regalia and insignia|Papal vestments]]<br />[[Papal tiara]]<br />[[Religious habit|Dominican habit]]
|patronage       = [[Treviso]]
|beatified_date  = 24 April 1736
|beatified_place = [[Rome]], Papal States
|beatified_by    = [[Pope Clement XII]] }}
Benedict XI earned a reputation for holiness and the faithful came to venerate him. His tomb gained a reputation for the amount of miracles that emerged from the site. [[Pope Clement XII]] approved his cultus on 24 April 1736 which acted as his formal [[beatification]]. [[Pope Benedict XIV]] extended his veneration to the [[Republic of Venice]] in 1748 after a request from the Venetians.

====Papal numbering====
A note on the numbering: Pope [[Benedict X]] (1058–1059) is now considered an [[antipope]] by the Catholic Church. At the time of Benedict XI's election, however, Benedict X was still considered a legitimate pope, and thus the man the Catholic Church officially considers the tenth true Pope Benedict, Niccolo Boccasini, took the official number XI rather than X. This has advanced the numbering of all subsequent Popes Benedict by one digit. Popes Benedict XI-Benedict XVI are, from an official point of view, the 10th through 15th popes by that name.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}