Pope Nicholas III, in an attempt to…

Pope Nicholas III, in an attempt to satisfy the reasonable demands of the Spiritual movement that had broken out in the Province of Ancona and formed a party, had in the papal bull Exiit qui seminiat of 1279 pronounced the principle of complete poverty meritorious and holy, but interpreted it in the way of a somewhat sophistical distinction between possession and usufruct.

The bull had been received respectfully by the Franciscan Bonagratia of Bologna, Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, and the next two generals, Arlotto of Prato (1285-87) and Matthew of Aqua Sparta (1287-89); but the Spiritual party, under the leadership of the Bonaventuran pupil and apocalyptic Pierre Jean Olivi, regards its provisions for the dependence of the friars upon the Pope and the division between brothers occupied in manual labor and those employed on spiritual missions as a corruption of the fundamental principles of the order.

They had not been won over by the conciliatory attitude of the next general, Raymond Gaufredi (1289-96), and of the Franciscan Pope Nicholas IV (1288-92).

The attempt made by the next pope, Pope Celestine V, an old friend of the order, to end the strife by uniting the Observantist party with his own order of hermits, the Celestines, had scarcely been more successful.

Only a part of the Spirituals had joined the new order, and the secession scarcely lasted beyond the reign of the hermit-pope.

Pope Boniface VIII has annulled Pope Celestine's bull of foundation with his other acts, deposed the Franciscan general Raymond Gaufredi, and appointed a man of laxer tendency, John de Murro, in his place.

The Benedictine section of the Celestines had been separated from the Franciscan section, and the latter is formally suppressed by Boniface in 1302.

The destruction of the French army at Courtrai in 1302 has encouraged the pope to take a hard line in his dispute with Philip IV.

On November 18, Boniface issues the Papal bull Unam sanctam, which historians consider one of the most extreme statements of Papal spiritual supremacy ever made.

The original document is lost but a version of the text can be found in the registers of Boniface VIII in the Vatican Archives.

The Bull has arisen due to the Pope's conflict with Philip over attempts of each to prevent the other from receiving money from taxes.

Most significantly, the bull proclaims, "outside of her (the Church) there is neither salvation nor the remission of sins".

It is an extreme form of the concept known as "plenitudo potestatis" or the plentitude of power; it declares—without mentioning Philip's name—that since the spiritual is greater than the temporal, secular authority must be subject to the spiritual; to oppose papal authority is to oppose God himself.

that those who resist the Roman Pontiff are resisting God's ordination.

The bull also declares that the Church must be united, that the Pope is the sole and absolute head of the Church: "Therefore, of the one and only Church there is one body and one head, not two heads like a monster."

The Bull also states, "We are informed by the texts of the gospels that in this Church and in its power are two swords; namely, the spiritual and the temporal."

In other words, opposition to the authority of the pope is opposition to God himself and invites a violent end.