er her conception had been converted on the death of the
Holy Family into a chapel, and St. Luke had presented to it an image,
carved by his own hands, still known as our Lady of Loretto. Some angels
chancing to be at Nazareth when the Saracen conquerors approached,
fearing that the sacred relic might fall into their possession, took the
house bodily in their hands, and, carrying it through the air, after
several halts, finally deposited it at Loretto in Italy.

[Sidenote: Boniface VIII. elected pope.] So Benedetto Gaetani, whether
by such wily procurements or not, became Pope Boniface VIII., A.D. 1294.
His election was probably due to King Charles, who held twelve electoral
votes, the bitter personal animosity of the Colonnas having been either
neutralized or overcome. The first care of Boniface was to consolidate
his power and relieve himself of a rival. In the opinion of many it was
not possible for a pope to abdicate. Confinement in prison soon (A.D.
1296) settled that question. [Sidenote: Ascent of Pope Celestine to
heaven.] The soul of Celestine was seen by a monk ascending the skies,
which opened to receive it into heaven; and a splendid funeral informed
his enemies that they must now acknowledge Boniface as the unquestioned
pope. [Sidenote: Quarrel of Boniface and the Colonnas.] But the princely
Colonnas, the leaders of the Ghibelline faction in Rome, who had
resisted the abdication of Celestine to the last, and were, therefore,
mortal enemies of Boniface, revolted. He published a bull against them;
he excommunicated them. With an ominous anticipation of the future--for
they were familiar with the papal power, and knew where to touch it to
the quick--they appealed to a "General Council." Since supernatural
weapons did not seem to avail, Boniface proclaimed a crusade against
them. The issue answered his expectations. Palestrina, one of their
strongholds, which in a moment of weakness they had surrendered, was
utterly devastated and sown with salt. The Colonnas fled, some of them
to France. There, in King Philip the Fair, they found a friend, who was
destined to avenge their wrongs, and to inflict on the papacy a blow
from which it never recovered.

[Sidenote: Pecuniary necessities of Rome.] This was the state of affairs
at the commencement of the quarrel between Philip and Boniface. The
Crusades had brought all Europe under taxation to Rome, and loud
complaints were everywhere made against the drain of money into