Papal Latins II

1073-1309 CE

From 1073 to 1309 CE, the Papal Latins pursued the most audacious claim in medieval politics — that the heir of a Galilean fisherman held supreme authority over all Christian rulers. Gregory VII humbled an emperor at Canossa; Urban II launched the Crusades with a sermon; Innocent III bent kings to his will. Yet Boniface VIII's confrontation with Philip the Fair ended with the pope a prisoner and the papacy exiled to Avignon.