ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Pope Boniface VIII

Okay, kiddo, let me tell you about Pope Boniface VIII.

He was like the boss of the church a long time ago, sort of like if the church was a big company and he was the CEO.

Boniface was born in Italy in the 1200s, and he became pope when he was about 60 years old. He was a smart man who knew a lot about church law and he wanted to make sure the church was in charge of everything.

One of the things he did was create a document called the Unam Sanctam, which said that the pope was in charge of everything, including kings and governments.

This was a big deal because at the time, kings and rulers were in charge of their own countries and didn't want anyone else telling them what to do. So there was a lot of disagreement and conflict between different people who wanted power.

Boniface also had problems with a guy named Philip IV, who was the king of France. Philip didn't like Boniface telling him what to do and they had a big argument over who had the most power.

In the end, Boniface lost a lot of support and was captured by some of Philip's men. He died a short time later, but his ideas about the power of the pope and the church continued to be important.

Basically, Pope Boniface VIII was an important figure in the history of the church and had some big ideas that caused a lot of disagreement and conflict.