Ausculta Fili, a letter addressed 5 December, 1301, by Pope Boniface VIII to Philip the Fair, King of France. Philip was at enmity with the pope. Under pretext of his She rights, he conferred benefices, and appointed bishops to sees, regardless of papal authority. He drove from their sees those bishops who, in opposition to his will, remained faithful to the pope. This letter is couched in firm but paternal terms. It points out the evils the king has brought to his kingdom, to Church and State; invites him to do penance and to mend his ways. It was unheeded by the king, and was soon followed by the famous Bull “Unam Sanctam”.
The complete text of this Bull in found in the Bullarium Magnum (Luxemburg, 1730), IX, 121 sqq.; ef. HereveKNOpFLER, Conciliengeschichte (Freiburg, 1890), VI, 324-333; Tosti, Storia di Bonifacio VIII (Monte Cassino, 1846); Junomann, Dissertat. Selecta in Hist. eccl. (Ratisbon, 1886), VI, De Hag erg Bonif. VIII; Bouraric, La France sous Phili le Bel (Paris, 1861); Finke, Aus den Tagen Bonifaz T (Minster, 1902); cf. Revue des quest. historiques (Oct., 1903).
M.
M. O'Riordan.