Everything Everywhere Daily · Tuesday, September 15, 2026
Guillaume de Nogaret, Philip IV's advisor, developed a case against Pope Boniface VIII and orchestrated his seizure in Anagni in September 1303. This 'Outrage of Anagni' humiliated the Pope and marked a significant shift in power between secular rulers and the Papacy.
“Philip's most important advisor in the confrontation was Guillaume de Nogaret, a lawyer and royal official.”
“In September 1303, de Nogaret and a group of armed allies led by the Italian nobleman Sciarra Colonna entered the town of Anagni, located southeast of Rome, where Boniface was staying. They seized the Pope and held him prisoner.”
“The incident represents an extraordinary reversal in relations between kings and Popes. Only a century earlier, Pope Innocent III had exercised tremendous influence over Europe's monarchs. Now, agents of the French king had physically seized the Pope.”