Editing Pope Boniface VIII (section)

=== Conflicts in Sicily and Italy ===
Boniface VIII put forward some of the strongest claims of any pope to temporal as well as spiritual power. He involved himself often with foreign affairs. In his [[Papal bull]] of 1302, ''[[Unam sanctam]]'', Boniface VIII stated that since the Church is one, since the Church is necessary for salvation, and since Christ appointed Peter to lead it, it is "absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman pontiff".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/B7UNAM.HTM|author=Pope Boniface VIII|title=Unam Sanctam}}</ref> 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 wrote his treatise ''[[De Monarchia]]'' to dispute Boniface's claims of papal supremacy.

When [[Frederick III of Sicily]] attained his throne after the death of his father [[Peter III of Aragon]], Boniface tried to dissuade him from accepting the throne of [[Sicily]]. When Frederick persisted, Boniface excommunicated him in 1296, and placed the island under [[Interdict (Catholic canon law)|interdict]]. Neither the king nor the people were moved.<ref name=Oestereich>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02662a.htm Oestereich, Thomas. "Pope Boniface VIII." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 4 March 2016</ref> The conflict continued until the [[Peace of Caltabellotta]] in 1302, which saw Pedro's son Frederick III recognized as king of Sicily while [[Charles II of Naples|Charles II]] was recognized as the [[List of monarchs of Naples|king of Naples]]. To prepare for a Crusade, Boniface ordered [[Venice]] and [[Genoa]] to sign a truce; they fought each other for three more years, and turned down his offer to mediate peace.

Boniface also placed the city of [[Florence]] under an interdict and invited the ambitious [[Charles, Count of Valois]] to enter [[Italy]] in 1300 to end the feud of the [[Guelphs and Ghibellines|Black and White Guelphs]], the poet [[Dante Alighieri]] being in the party of the Whites. Boniface's political ambitions directly affected Dante when the pope invited Count Charles to intervene in the affairs of Florence. Charles's intervention allowed the Black Guelphs to overthrow the ruling White Guelphs, whose leaders, including the poet Dante, allegedly in Rome at the time to argue Florence's case before Boniface, were sentenced to exile. Dante settled his score with Boniface in the first canticle of the ''[[Divine Comedy]]'', the ''[[Inferno (Dante)|Inferno]]'', by damning the pope, placing him within the [[Malebolge|circles of Fraud]], in the ''bolgia'' (ditch) of the [[simony|simoniacs]]. In the ''Inferno'', [[Pope Nicholas III]], mistaking the Poet for Boniface, is surprised to see the latter, supposing him to be ahead of his time.<ref>Dante Alighierli, Divine Comedy, Inferno, 19.49–63</ref>