7 September

Kidnapping of Pope Boniface VIII

When the Pope was slapped down by a disgruntled landowner

An army, representing King Philip IV of France and the anti-papal Colonna family, entered Anagni in Lazio and captured Pope Boniface VIII inside his own palace on this day in 1303.  The Pope was kept in custody for three days and was physically ill-treated by his captors until the local people rose up against the invaders and rescued him.  Boniface VIII returned to Rome, but he was physically and mentally broken after his ordeal and died a month later.  The Pope had been born Benedetto Caetani in Anagni in 1230. He became Pope Boniface VIII in 1294 after his predecessor abdicated. He organised the first Catholic Jubilee Year to take place in Rome in 1300 and founded Sapienza University in the city in 1303, the year of his death.  But Boniface VIII is mainly remembered for his conflicts with Philip IV of France.  Read more…

______________________________________

Genoa Cricket and Football Club

Italy's historic first football club

Italy's oldest surviving football club was founded on this day in 1893 in Genoa.  Originally named Genoa Cricket and Athletic Club, it was established by British Consular officials and for a number of years football was a minor activity.  Initially, Italians could not be members.  Football became more its focus after an English maritime doctor, James Spensley, arrived in Genoa in 1897 and organised a match against Football Club Torinese, which had been formed in Turin in 1894. Spensley insisted the club's rules be altered to allow Italians to play.  The match took place in January 1898 and although the attendance was only around 200 spectators, it was deemed a success by those who took part, particularly the Turin side, who won.  After a return match, plans were drawn up to form an Italian Football Federation and to organise a first Italian Championship. Read more… 

Guido Bentivoglio - cardinal, historian and diplomat

17th century ambassador who set standards for modern statecraft

The cardinal, archbishop and papal nuncio Guido Bentivoglio, an important figure in the development of modern international diplomacy, died on this day in 1644 in Rome.  Born in 1579 in Ferrara, Bentivoglio’s life was notable for having helped reset the Vatican’s approach to international relations, both through his astute and pragmatic methodology and his influential writings. His most notable written work, Della Guerra di Fiandra, is regarded as setting a new standard for historical writing. Published between 1632 and 1639, it documented in great detail what Bentivolgio  had learned from his eight years as papal nuncio in Flanders after decades of civil war between Habsburg rebels and the region’s Spanish rulers.  Bentivoglio’s blend of political acumen and ecclesiastical authority enabled him to navigate the religious and political tensions of a region divided between Catholic and Protestant powers. Read more… 

_______________________________________

Giuseppe Gioachino Belli – poet

Sonnet writer satirised life in 19th century Rome

The poet Giuseppe Gioachino Belli was born on this day in 1791 in Rome and was christened Giuseppe Francesco Antonio Maria Gioachino Raimondi Belli.  He was to become famous for his satirical sonnets written in Romanesco, the dialect of Rome.  After taking a job in Civitavecchia, a coastal town about 70km (44 miles) northwest of Rome, Belli’s father moved the family to live there, but after he died - of either cholera or typhus - his wife returned to Rome with her children and took cheap lodgings in Via del Corso.  Living in poor circumstances, Belli began writing sonnets in Italian at the suggestion of his friend, the poet Francesco Spada.  In 1816, Belli married a woman of means, Maria Conti, and went to live with her in Palazzo Poli, the palace that forms the backdrop to the Trevi Fountain. This gave him the freedom to develop his literary talents. Read more…

______________________________________

Book of the Day: Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy, by John Julius Norwich

In a chronicle that captures nearly 2,000 years of inspiration and intrigue, John Julius Norwich recounts in riveting detail the histories of the most significant popes and what they meant politically, culturally, and socially to Rome and to the world. Norwich presents such popes as Innocent I, who in the fifth century successfully negotiated with Alaric the Goth, an invader civil authorities could not defeat; Leo I, who two decades later tamed (and perhaps paid off) Attila the Hun; the infamous "pornocracy" - the five libertines who were descendants or lovers of Marozia, debauched daughter of one of Rome's most powerful families; Pope Paul III, "the greatest pontiff of the 16th century," who reinterpreted the Church's teaching and discipline; and John XXIII, who in five short years starting in 1958 instituted reforms that led to Vatican II. Norwich dedicates a vivid section of this book to the dramatic 1303 showdown involving Boniface VIII. He captures the political build-up, the tension of the raid on the Anagni palace, the "slap", and the psychological collapse that led to the Pope's death just weeks later. Epic and compelling, Absolute Monarchs is an enthralling history.

John Julius Norwich was the author of more than 20 books. He began his career in the British foreign service, but resigned his diplomatic post to become a writer. He was a chairman of the Venice in Peril Fund and the honorary chairman of the World Monuments Fund. He died in 2018.

Buy from Amazon

Home