Pope Boniface VIII, originally Benedetto Caetani, was elected pope in 1294 after Pope Celestine abdicated, possibly at Caetani's instigation. Boniface both consolidated and expanded Church power, including the political and spiritual role of the pope. Dante strongly disagreed, seeing the emperor as the legitimate primary secular authority. Through the influence of French Prince Charles of Valois, Boniface supported the overthrow of Florence's ruling white guelph faction, leading to Dante's exile. Even though Boniface was still alive, in Divine Comedy 's Inferno, Dante shows the pope, in his own guise, as already being not only dead but damned, indicating he is as great a sinner as any secular ruler would be. He places the pope in the circle of the simonists (Inf. 19.49-63).
http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/textpopup/inf1901.html
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