The Slap of Anagni Knocks Off The Pope’s Hat
Slap! Pope Boniface VIII was hit in the face by one of his enemies.
Can you even imagine someone striking the pope today? It happened in 1303 while he was in the middle of getting kidnapped.
Pope Boniface VIII was elected pope in 1294, and he intended to reassert a bit of papal authority over the kings of Europe. Specifically, he wanted to stop kings from taxing his bishops. This wasn’t a new policy; the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 had forbidden taxation of the clergy by secular leaders: kings, dukes, counts, etc.
In 1296, Pope Boniface VIII issued the bull Clericis laicos, which warned rulers that they would be excommunicated if they taxed the clergy without the permission of the pope. This irritated King Philip IV of France, because he needed that sweet, sweet tax money to pursue his wars against his neighbors. So, he taxed The Church anyway.
This really got the pope riled up. He wrote an angry letter to the king, which began:
“Listen, my son… Reform yourself.”
That condescension set the stage for increased tension. The excommunication would follow. This lowly king was not respecting the authority of the pope, the number one boss of everyone in Christendom. To make sure nobody forgot that he was top dog, Pope Boniface VIII added many precious jewels and an extra crown to the papal tiara to demonstrate the prestige of his office.
While a fancier hat was good for optics, new decrees were even better. In 1302 he proclaimed the primacy of the pope with the bull Unam sanctam, which asserted the supremacy of the spiritual power of the pope over the secular authority of all kings.
That did it for King Philip IV. He decided that he needed a new pope, so he called a council to depose Pope Boniface VIII. Pope Boniface VIII was not about to go to France and be deposed, so he decided instead to take his summer break at his hometown of Anagni, a day’s ride east of Rome.
King Philip IV dispatched his henchmen to go down to Italy, kidnap the pope, and drag him up to France to be deposed. A small army entered the town, burst into the pope’s palace, and arrested him.
During the scuffle, the pope received a slap on the face from his kidnappers. All of these people were Catholics and were supposed to hold both the office and the person of the pope in high esteem. This assault showed that their allegiance was to their king, not the successor of St Peter.
The pope was held in captivity for three days, after which the townspeople of Anagni busted into the palace and freed the pope. Pope Boniface VIII returned to Rome but died a few weeks later due to shock from the attack.
The Slap of Anagni in 1303 marks a turning point in the history of the struggle for control between secular powers and The Church. After growing in power and prestige throughout the High Middle Ages (the 1100s and 1200s), the 1300s would be a time of diminishing authority and influence for the papacy.
This might have been one small smack for man, but it was one giant leap for Christendom. Some see it as a turning point, the beginning of a new era in medieval history. After hired goons busted into the pope’s palace to kidnap him, the result was less awe for the papal office, despite the fancier hat.
While maybe not quite at the level of prestige as the pope, some companies have living saints walking the corridors of the office today.
Maybe it’s the founder whose company outgrew her, and now she occupies a “brand ambassador” role with little authority. Maybe it’s the graybeard who invented the technology the company was built on 20-30-40 years ago, now in an emeritus professor role in some back office full of dusty books and littered with scattered electronics. Or maybe it’s just the sweet older lady at the front desk, always greeting everyone with a smile and a laugh.
While beloved by the people, these office saints are not safe. When the company is bought and new management is brought in, the new managers are often charged with making cuts.
If you’re charitable, you might not blame the new guys for eliminating roles that might no longer be necessary, with no malice to the people in those roles. If you’re a cynic, you suspect the new brooms just want to sweep away anyone who might challenge their authority.
Maybe the new managers know not what they do. Maybe they don’t think they have a choice. Maybe they really are acting with malice.
Whatever the reasoning, this sort of disrespect can send ripples throughout the company. Many long-timers may start to think this is no longer the place they’ve loved and devoted their lives to anymore. They might decide to leave and take their institutional knowledge and longstanding customer relationships with them.
Are the new managers aware of the disruption that they cause? Maybe they’re not and would have made different decisions if they knew. Or maybe it was part of their plan from the start. Maybe it was necessary - needed for survival - and the company will be better once past this rough patch. Maybe it was petty - personal, not business - and you don’t want to be a part of wherever this leads.
Whatever the reason, the place isn’t what it was. On your drive home, blast "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash and decide what’s right for you.
