III.

11258 Battle of Corticella. Ezzelino da Romano defeats the pope’s army, and captures Brescia.

21259 Excommunication of Manfred, who has been crowned the previous year. The pope decides the question of emperorship in favour of Richard of Cornwall. Fall of the Ghibelline champion, Ezzelino da Romano.

31260 The Ghibellines regain Florence. Execution of Alberic da Romano.

41261 Death of Alexander in exile. Jacques Pantaléon, patriarch of Jerusalem, =Urban IV=.

51262 Urban, to resist Conradin, offers crown of Sicily to Charles of Anjou. The Ghibellines in Tuscany acknowledge Manfred.

61263 Milan refuses to accept Otto Visconti as archbishop of the city.

71264 Charles of Anjou appointed senator of Rome. Death of Urban.

81265 Guy Foulques, =Clement IV=. Coronation of Charles of Anjou as king of Sicily.

91269 Death of Clement. The see is vacant for over two years, owing to discord among the cardinals.

101271 Teobaldo di Visconti, =Gregory X=. Rudolf of Habsburg acknowledges papal supremacy.

111273 Gregory excommunicates the inhabitants of many north Italian cities for banding against Charles of Anjou.

121274 Fourteenth General Council at Lyons. A new crusade is preached, and a union of the Greek and Latin churches is effected. The union is never fully accepted in the Eastern Empire, and soon falls to pieces.

131276 Death of Gregory. Pietro di Tarantasia, =Innocent V=, dies in five months. Ottoboni Fiesco, =Adrian V=, dies in six weeks. Pedro Juliani, =John XX= or =XXI=.

141277 Giovani Gaetano, =Nicholas III=, “=Il Comperto=.” He belongs to the Orsini family.

151278 Cession of Romagna, the exarchate of Ravenna, and other territory, by Rudolf of Habsburg, to the pope, who acts as ruling sovereign over all his dominions. Nicholas is hostile to Charles. Nepotism practised by Nicholas.

161280 Death of Nicholas in the midst of plans to establish his family in kingdoms in Italy. Discord caused by Charles in the College of Cardinals.

171281 Simon de Brion, =Martin IV=, elected after six months, through influence of Charles. The pope retires to Orvieto.

181282 Martin excommunicates Pedro of Aragon, who has been declared king of Sicily after the “Sicilian Vespers.”

191283 The pope offers crown of Aragon to Charles of Valois.

201285 Death of Charles quiets the affairs of Sicily. Giacomo Savelli, =Honorius IV=.

211287 Honorius prevents ratification of treaty between Aragon and France. Death of Honorius, and owing to disputes, the cardinals fail for ten months to elect a new pope.

221288 Girolamo d’Ascoli, =Nicholas IV=.

231289 After liberation of Charles the Lame of Naples, the pope absolves him from all conditions, by which he obtains his freedom. The Guelf and Ghibelline contest continues fiercely in the north. Nicholas becomes enslaved to the Colonnas.

241292 Death of Nicholas. The see vacant for over two years.

251294 Election of Pietro di Murrhone, =Celestine V=, a lowly hermit. The cardinals repent, and compel him to abdicate. Benedict Cajetan, =Boniface VIII=, elected. He carries the papal pretensions further than any other pope, and prepares the way for the Reformation.

261296 Boniface begins his great struggle with Philip the Fair by issuing a bull excommunicating all princes who tax the clergy. Edward I of England outlaws all the clergy who obey this bull, and Philip retaliates by prohibiting the exportation of gold and silver out of France. Interdiction of Sicily. The Sicilians invade Calabria.

271297 Excommunication of the entire Colonna family because a member of it plundered a papal convoy.

281298 The pope proclaims a crusade against the Colonnas.

291299 Surrender of Palestrina to the papal army. It is razed to the ground.

301300 Plenary indulgence of Boniface.

311301 Boniface is prevented by the English parliament from interfering in the affairs of Scotland. Renewed quarrel with Philip over his imprisonment of the bishop of Pamiers. Charles of Valois is invited into Italy.

321302 Publication of the bull declaring that the church can have only one head.

331303 Philip burns a bull of excommunication issued by Boniface and refuses to acknowledge him as pope. Capture of Boniface by Guillaume de Nogaret. Death of Boniface. Niccolo Boccasini, =Benedict XI=. He attempts to conciliate France and the Colonna family.

341304 Benedict excommunicates those who take part in the capture of Boniface. Death of Benedict, probably by poison, at the hands of the French party.