Send us a text

After a summer hiatus “’Tis But A Scratch: Fact & Fiction About the Middle Ages” is back—well, not actually quite yet. I am busily working on the final two episodes of our series on the medieval papacy, “From Bishop of Rome to the Papal Monarchy.” I should have episode three on the Gregorian Reform and the Investiture Controversy out in a week or so.  But to tide you over, here is an episode on a related subject from a different podcast, “BEEF with Bridget Todd.” In it, Bridget Todd tells the story of the feud between Christendom’s two most powerful rulers at the turn of the fourteenth century, Pope Boniface VIII and King Philip the Fair of France, a conflict that would determine the fate of the late medieval papacy. Making it even more relevant to this podcast, the script is by yours truly, Prof. Richard Abels. 

On September 7, 1303, William of Nogaret, chief legal advisor and fixer for King Philip IV of France, and Sciarra Colonna, a member of a powerful Italian family, led an armed band into the town of Anagni in the hills east of Rome. They had been told that Pope Boniface VIII had gone to the papal palace in Anagni, the town in which the pope had been born, to prepare a bull of excommunication against the French King.  Nogaret’s mission was to seize the pope and compel him either to renounce the papacy on the spot or be brought back to France to stand trial before a general council.  Colonna, whose grievances were personal and familial, had his own agenda. He was prepared to kill the man who claimed to be God’s vicar on earth if he proved stubborn. 

What later was to known as the Outrage of Anagni pitted the most powerful secular ruler in Christendom against the head of the Church to which he belonged.  Pope Boniface VIII was the spiritual leader of Christendom and claimed supreme God-given authority over the princes of the earth. As pope, he was also ruler of the papal states in Italy and the CEO of the largest and wealthiest, if most diffuse, corporation in Western Europe, a corporation that had extensive offices in France. It may not surprise you that the root of the conflict was a dispute over money. But it’s best to begin with who these two men were and what the relationship between Church and State was in Western Europe in the late thirteenth century. 

BEEF with Bridget Todd. BEEF is an original scripted non-fiction storytelling podcast that focuses on famous historical rivalries, mostly between innovators in pop culture and business. 

Award-winning host Bridget Todd tells the stories of legends in their fields and how they tried to stomp out their competition only to find that their enemies become the driving force behind their success, ultimately changing the world as we know it. Past episodes have covered feuds such as the rivalry between basketball players Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, 19th-century British explorers of the Nile Sir Richard Burton and Capt. John Hanning Speke, and Marc Antony and Octavian Caesar. They even have an episode on Beer vs Gin: England’s Favorite Beverages.

This episode also includes some truly insightful observations by Dr. Cecilia Gaposchkin of Dartmouth College. And the podcast’s acclaimed host, Bridget Todd, is excellent as usual. I hope you enjoy it. And if you do, you might want to check out other episodes of “BEEF with Bridget Todd.” It isn’t a medieval podcast, but if you enjoy history and story-telling, I think you will like it.  You can listen to it wherever you get your podcasts. 

Listen on Podurama https://podurama.com

Intro and exit music are by Alexander Nakarada

If you have questions, feel free to contact me at [email protected]