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Boniface VIII issues Unam Sanctam

1302 · Rome (Rome, Italy)

In November 1302, in his conflict with Philip IV of France, Boniface VIII issues the bull Unam Sanctam. It teaches the church as one body under one head and declares that subjection to the Roman pontiff is altogether necessary for salvation for every human creature. The bull is the high water mark of medieval claims for papal authority over temporal rulers.

Tagged: Catholic

The Event

Date
1302 (exact)
Era
The Medieval Papacy; Standard periodization of Catholic history
Location
Rome; today Rome, Italy
Traditions
Catholicism
Streams
Catholic
Key figures
Boniface VIII, Philip IV of France
Key texts
Unam Sanctam

Connections

Illustration for Gregory VII issues the Dictatus Papae History Event Gregory VII issues the Dictatus Papae 1075 carries the primacy claim to its medieval height

Primary Sources

  • Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam, 1302.

Secondary Sources

  • Chadwick, Owen. A History of the Popes, 1830-1914. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998.
  • Duffy, Eamon. Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.
  • Hastings, Adrian, ed. A World History of Christianity. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999.
  • MacCulloch, Diarmaid. A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years. London: Penguin, 2009.
  • O'Malley, John W. Trent: What Happened at the Council. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2013.

Provenance: HIST-1330; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-30.

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