What was the conflict between Boniface VIII and Philip IV of France?

The conflict between Pope Boniface VIII and King Philip IV of France involved the king’s attempts to tax the clergy without papal consent, leading to Boniface’s issuance of the papal bull Clericis laicos in 1296. The bull forbade any imposition of taxes on the clergy without express license by the pope, under the penalty of excommunication. The conflict escalated with the bull Unam sanctam in 1302, which asserted papal supremacy and the submission of the temporal to the spiritual power. Finally, their dispute culminated in Philip’s agents, Guillaume de Nogaret and Sciarra Colonna, abducting the pope by holding him hostage inside his summer residence in Anagni. After two days, Boniface was rescued by local city leaders and allowed to return to Rome. However, he died soon afterward.

Boniface’s conflicts with the French king led to the papal Curia (a group of bureaus in the Vatican that assist the pope) being transferred from Rome to Avignon, France, ushering in the period known as the Avignon papacy (1309–77). This in turn led to the Great Western Schism (1378–1417), in which there were two, and later three, rival popes, each with his own following, his own Sacred College of Cardinals, and his own administrative offices.