Pope Boniface IX (1389-1404)

The pope who rebuilt the Papal States

When Tomacelli was elected in 1389, Rome was ungovernable. The papacy had only just returned from Avignon, the Roman commune had established autonomous institutions—the banderesi—Latium had escaped papal control, and an antipope reigned in Avignon with the support of France. Fifteen years later, at his death, the situation had been reversed: Rome obeyed, Castel Sant'Angelo had been rebuilt as a papal fortress, and all of Latium was once again in the hands of the pope in Rome.^[7]

This reconstruction was no minor detail. Without a secure territorial base, the Roman pope of the schism risked becoming a pontiff without a city, dependent on neighboring lords. By refounding the Papal States, Boniface IX gave the Roman line the material strength that would allow it to survive until the Council of Constance and the restoration of unity in 1417.

The controversial pope of the reform to come

The other side of his importance is negative, but equally decisive. The fiscal machinery he developed—the almost industrial sale of dispensations, graces, and benefices—deeply shocked Christendom, especially in Germany. The pontificate of Boniface IX became one of the concrete arguments that, a century before Luther, fueled the demand for reform of the Church in head and members.^[8]

“The unworthy practices of an excessively rigid fiscalism discredited the Roman Curia, especially in Germany, and made the pontificate of Boniface IX the very symbol of the Church in need of reform.” — Arnold Esch, Bonifacio IX, Enciclopedia dei Papi^[9]

Boniface IX therefore matters twice over: for what he built—a restored Papal State—and for what he revealed—a curia whose financial abuses would eventually call forth the great movement of Catholic reform.

Table of principal sources

The historiography of Boniface IX rests on several major sources that must be properly ranked: contemporary chroniclers are often partisan, and the harshest moral judgments come from opponents of Roman fiscalism.

What is certain

Many facts are firmly established: Pietro Tomacelli was a Neapolitan from an impoverished baronial family; he was created cardinal by Urban VI; he was elected on November 2, 1389, and died on October 1, 1404; he consistently refused to abdicate or recognize the antipope in Avignon; he broke the commune of Rome in 1398; he rebuilt Castel Sant'Angelo; he reconquered the Papal States; he crowned Ladislaus king of Naples in 1390; he canonized Saint Bridget of Sweden in 1391; and he introduced perpetual annates.^[10][11][12]

The exact title adopted by Ignispedia is therefore Pope Boniface IX (1389-1404), with dates that immediately identify him within the long sequence of schism-era pontiffs.

What remains disputed

Several points call for caution. His date of birth is not known with certainty: sources range between 1350 and 1355.^[13][14] The precise genealogy of the Tomacelli family varies between authors, and the sometimes asserted connection to the Cybo family of Genoa is a late and uncertain reconstruction. Above all, the harshest moral judgments come from Dietrich von Nieheim, an insider but also a polemicist, whom the Catholic Encyclopedia describes as “not an impartial writer.”^[15] This article must therefore report these accusations as documented allegations, without treating them either as slanders to be dismissed or as a definitive verdict.

Pietro Tomacelli, a Neapolitan in Urban VI's curia

Pietro Tomacelli belonged to an old baronial family of Naples that had become poor.^[16] He did not fit the profile of a great learned cleric: his opponents would reproach him for his lack of theological culture. But he possessed a decisive quality in the context of the schism: he was Neapolitan, and therefore close to the Kingdom of Naples, whose military and political support would be vital to the Roman papacy.

His ecclesiastical career unfolded under Urban VI, the pope of the rupture. Created cardinal-deacon in 1381, then cardinal-priest around 1385, Tomacelli belonged to the new Roman college that Urban VI had formed after the defection of the French cardinals who had gone over to Avignon.^[17][18] From the outset, therefore, he was a man of the Roman cause.

The Roman conclave of November 1389

After Urban VI died on October 15, 1389, the cardinals loyal to Rome assembled and quickly elected Tomacelli, who took the name Boniface IX. The election took place on November 2, 1389; he was consecrated and crowned on November 9, 1389.^[19][20] The speed of the election reflected a need: after Urban VI's chaotic pontificate, the Roman line needed a man capable of governing without antagonizing Naples, the Romans, and the Italian allies.

Choosing an affable Neapolitan rather than another unyielding figure was a deliberate political act. Where Urban VI had alienated his own cardinals, Boniface IX presented himself as a pope with whom agreements could be reached.

Two popes, two obediences

To understand the pontificate, one must keep the map of the schism in mind. Since 1378, two men had claimed to be pope:

• the Roman line—Urban VI, then Boniface IX—supported by central Italy, the Kingdom of Naples, the Empire, England, Hungary, Poland, and Scandinavia;
• the Avignon line—Clement VII, then Benedict XIII—supported by France, Scotland, and parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Italy.^[21]

The Church today recognizes the Roman line as legitimate, not for geographical reasons, but because Urban VI's election in 1378 had been conducted by the competent cardinals and publicly recognized before being challenged.^[22] Boniface IX inherited this legitimacy and defended it without the slightest concession.

Clement VII, then Benedict XIII: the Avignon obedience

At the beginning of the pontificate, the Avignon antipope was Clement VII (Robert of Geneva), whom Boniface IX excommunicated shortly after his election.^[23] Clement VII died on September 16, 1394. Instead of seizing the opportunity to heal the schism, the Avignon cardinals immediately elected the Aragonese Pedro de Luna as Benedict XIII (September 28, 1394).^[24] The schism therefore continued into another generation.

The rejection of the “three ways”

The finest minds of the age—led by the theologians of Paris—proposed three paths out of the crisis: cession (both claimants would abdicate to permit a single election), compromise (the matter would be decided by arbitration), or a general council. Boniface IX rejected all three.^[25] Arnold Esch even judges that he was completely out of his depth on this issue: he did not understand why the greatest minds of his time had devised these paths.^[26]

This rigidity had its own logic: for Boniface IX, there were not two doubtful popes to be distinguished, but one true pope—himself—and a usurper. Abdicating would mean acknowledging that the question remained open. Yet this logic, defensible in law, blocked every political solution and allowed the schism to become entrenched.

Pressure to abdicate

Calls for his resignation came from every quarter: King Richard II of England, the Diet of Frankfurt (1397), and King of the Romans Wenceslaus.^[27][28] Boniface IX rejected them all. Britannica summarizes that, under him, the conciliar movement made no progress.^[29] Unity would return only after his death, through the Council of Constance (1414-1418).

The end of the Roman commune (1398)

The most spectacular success of the pontificate was the suppression of the free commune of Rome in June 1398.^[30] Boniface IX abolished the office of the banderesi, magistrates of the autonomous commune, freed the office of senator from statutory restrictions, and henceforth appointed every official from a single list of papal origin.^[31]

The proof of his success lies in the events themselves: when Niccolò Colonna and Pietro Mattuzzi attempted a coup against papal authority on January 14, 1400, they met with the indifference of the population, and the undertaking failed.^[32] Rome had shifted to the pope's side.

Castel Sant'Angelo and the fortification of Rome

Only after 1398, and not as early as 1395 as was once believed, did Boniface IX undertake the reconstruction of Castel Sant'Angelo and the fortification of the senatorial palace on the Capitoline Hill.^[33] Hadrian's former mausoleum became a true papal citadel, guarding the bridge over the Tiber and controlling access to the Vatican. The Roman papacy thus acquired a military stronghold that it would retain for centuries.

The reconquest of the Papal States

Beyond Rome, Boniface IX methodically regained control of the Papal States. Operations against the Breton companies ended in May 1398; Perugia capitulated in June 1398; and the Colonna submitted in 1401.^[34]

“Thus, for the first time since 1378, all of Latium was once again in the hands of the Roman pope.” — Arnold Esch, Bonifacio IX, Enciclopedia dei Papi^[35]

This reconquest underpins Esch's interpretation: Boniface IX was the true refounder of the modern Papal States. What Boniface VIII had asserted in law, and the Avignon captivity had lost in fact, Boniface IX restored on the ground.

Ladislaus of Durazzo crowned king (1390)

Neapolitan policy was the cornerstone of Boniface IX's strategy. Against the Avignon-backed claimant, Louis II of Anjou, the pope recognized the young Ladislaus of Durazzo, son of Charles III, as the legitimate king of Naples.^[36] He had him crowned in Gaeta on May 29, 1390, and supported him for a decade with troops, subsidies, and embargo decrees against his enemies.^[37]

This choice was not merely dynastic. Naples was the indispensable ally of the Roman papacy: keeping Naples within the Roman obedience secured Rome's southern flank and denied Avignon a foothold in southern Italy. Ladislaus's loyalty, in return, gave Boniface IX military strength that he desperately lacked.

The jubilee of 1390

The jubilee—the Holy Year offering a plenary indulgence to pilgrims to Rome—had been instituted by Boniface VIII in 1300, initially at hundred-year intervals, then reduced to fifty years by Clement VI in 1350. Urban VI had decided to reduce the interval again, to thirty-three years, in memory of the years of Christ's life, and scheduled a jubilee for 1390.^[38][39] Boniface IX celebrated it, drawing crowds to Rome from Germany, Hungary, Poland, Bohemia, and England.^[40]

The great influx of 1400

In 1400, one hundred years after the first jubilee, immense popular fervor drove pilgrims toward Rome despite the plague. Boniface IX had initially announced on March 15 that he would not proclaim a Holy Year; faced with the influx, however, he ultimately granted new jubilee indulgences, under restrictive clauses, and used the occasion to strengthen his authority and finances.^[41] The jubilee of 1400 particularly attracted pilgrims from France.^[42]

The jubilees alone illustrate the two faces of the pontificate: a genuine religious fervor within Christendom, harnessed and monetized by a curia short of money.

This is the source of Boniface IX's poor reputation. To finance his wars, alliances, and reconquest of the Papal States, he developed curial taxation of unprecedented intensity. Before examining the details, one point must be made clear: these practices concerned discipline and administration, not dogma. No error of faith was involved; these were real and serious abuses of government, but of a different order from the Church's teaching.

Perpetual annates

Boniface IX was the first pope to institute perpetual annates (annatæ perpetuæ): the Roman Curia retained half of the first year's income from every benefice it conferred.^[43] The measure transformed an exceptional contribution into a permanent and systematic source of revenue. Esch even notes that, in some cases, both “common services” and “annates” were collected, although in principle the two taxes were mutually exclusive.^[44]

Expectative graces and legal uncertainty

The pope also multiplied expectative graces—the promise of a benefice not yet vacant—accompanied by clauses of preference (anteferri) and antedating (data anterior).^[45] The result was complete legal uncertainty: the same benefice could be promised to several candidates, with each additional clause requiring a new payment. Dietrich von Nieheim accused the chancery of selling the same favors several times a week.^[46]

“An inordinate love of money, dishonest traffic in benefices, the sale of dispensations…” — accusation by Dietrich von Nieheim, reported by the Catholic Encyclopedia^[47]

Caution is required: this witness was a declared opponent of Roman fiscalism, and the Catholic Encyclopedia warns that “he is not an impartial writer.”^[48] The underlying reality—the expansion of taxes—is nevertheless confirmed by more measured sources such as Esch.^[49]

Tomacelli nepotism

Taxation was compounded by widespread nepotism. Esch identifies by name some fifty members of the Tomacelli family who received ecclesiastical or administrative offices.^[50] Children in the family received prebends at the ages of six, seven, or fourteen; the pope's brothers, Giovannello and Andrea, governed as rectors of key provinces of the Papal States.^[51] The government of the Church thus became intertwined with the service of a family.

How should this be understood?

Three clarifications prevent misinterpretation. First, these abuses were disciplinary, not doctrinal: they did not undermine the validity of the pontificate or the teaching of the Church. Second, they can partly be explained by the state of war: a schism-era pope deprived of half of Christendom's traditional revenues had to finance the very survival of the Roman line. Finally, and above all, they were objectively serious: the near-systematic sale of spiritual offices was a form of simony, and the Church itself would condemn it. The lesson is not to minimize them, but to understand how the same pontificate could save the Papal States and dishonor the curia.

The canonization of Saint Bridget of Sweden (1391)

The pontificate was not only about politics and taxation. On October 7, 1391, Boniface IX canonized Saint Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373), the great mystic and founder of the Order of the Most Holy Savior, through the bull Ab origine mundi.^[52][53] The canonization of such a demanding visionary in the midst of the crisis shows that the pope, although criticized for his finances, nevertheless exercised the Petrine magisterium validly and fruitfully. Bridget's sainthood was moreover reaffirmed by the Council of Constance in 1415.^[54]

Universities and foundations

Boniface IX also fostered intellectual life: he founded the universities of Ferrara (1391) and Fermo (1398) and confirmed that of Erfurt (1392).^[55][56] These foundations remind us that, even weakened by the schism, the Roman papacy continued to exercise its ordinary role as a universal authority that created, confirmed, and protected the institutions of the Church.

Relations with England

On the matter of benefices, Boniface IX clashed with England. Under Richard II, Parliament confirmed the Statutes of Provisors (1390) and Praemunire (1393), which restricted the pope's power to appoint to English benefices and to summon English subjects before foreign courts.^[57][58] On this issue, the pope had to contend with a united royal front: the age in which Rome freely provided for English churches was drawing to a close.

A legitimate pope despite his shadows

The case of Boniface IX is valuable for the Catholic faith because it rules out two opposite errors. The first would be to believe that every true pope is a saint: Boniface IX was a legitimate pope and a questionable administrator. The second would be to believe that a pope's abuses destroy his legitimacy or that of the Church: the holiness of the Church does not depend on the personal holiness of every pastor, but on Christ's promise.

“And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” — The Gospel according to Saint Matthew, 16:18 (Douay-Rheims)^[59]

His contemporaries themselves knew how to distinguish these two levels, as Esch summarizes:

“Contemporaries and posterity always and exclusively admired in him the secular prince; to the same degree, they condemned and despised him as the spiritual head of the Church.” — Arnold Esch, Bonifacio IX, Enciclopedia dei Papi^[60]

This severe twofold assessment does not detract from the validity of his properly ecclesial acts: his canonizations, foundations, and episcopal appointments are received by the Church as acts of a true pope.

Preparing the end of the schism

Paradoxically, by refounding the Papal States and holding Rome, Boniface IX made the end of the schism possible. Without a materially consolidated Roman papacy, the Council of Constance might not have had a base from which to rebuild unity around Rome in 1417. The pope who rejected the “three ways” unwittingly prepared the ground for the one that succeeded.

Boniface IX was therefore a figure of transition: neither the radiant dawn of Catholic reform nor the barren night of the schism. Within the constraints of an immense crisis, he held fast, rebuilt, financed—and handed down to his successors a Roman line strong enough to survive until unity was restored.

• Pope Urban VI (1378-1389)—his predecessor, whose disputed election opened the schism.
• Pope Innocent VII (1404-1406)—his immediate successor in the Roman line.
• The Western Schism (1378-1417)—the essential context for understanding the two obediences.
• The Avignon Papacy—the exile that prepared the rupture of 1378.
• Pope Gregory XI—the pope who returned to Rome in 1377, the last pope before the schism.
• Pope Boniface VIII—founder of the first jubilee (1300) and of the temporal power that Boniface IX restored.
• Pope Clement VI—pope of the 1350 jubilee and the fifty-year interval.
• Saint Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373)—the mystic canonized by Boniface IX in 1391.