1261
Urban IV becomes Pope. He was the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Bishop Jacques Pantaleon. His father was a shoemaker at Tryes; he studied in Paris.

Death of Latin Emperor Baldwin II. The Genoese, allied with the Creek Michael Palaeologus, overthrew Baldwin II on July 25.

1261-1264
St. Thomas Aquinas write the Summa Contra Gentiles.

1263
Eucharistic Miracles at Orieto and Bolsena. Blood issued from the Consecrated elements. Father Peter of Prague was having difficulty in believing in the Real Presence; no doubt a residue of disbelief from the Berengarius heresy. On his way to Rome, he stopped at the Church of Santa Christina in Bolsena; he had heard of its miraculous Altar. He always prayed before Mass and asked Our Blessed Lord for the Grace to help him believe. At the time of Consecration, he elevated the Host high above his head and said the words, "THIS IS MY BODY," at that precise moment, the unleavened Bread tuned into Human Flesh, and began to bleed profusely. The Blood stained Corporal and the steps on the floor have been preserved and can still be viewed to this day!

Cardinal Foulques was sent by Pope Urban IV as Legate to England to support King Henry III.

Pope Urban IV issued at Viterbo, on March 25, his Constitution. In it he granted the laity who wear the Scapukrr of Our Lady of Ransom many Graces and Indulgences.

The Scapular is of white cloth with a picture of Our Lady of Ransom.

Bibars the Arbelester destroyed the Church in Nazareth.

1264
Pope Urban IV Decrees Corpus Christi as a Solemnity.

St. Thomas Aquinas is named Defender of the Holy Eucharist. He wrote the Liturgy for the first Corpus Christi Mass, including the hymns, Tantum Ergo and 0 Salutaris. Our Lord spoke to St. Thomas from the Crucifix he wore around his neck. Jesus said to him, "Well written, Thomas; My own. What do you desire? St. Thomas replied, "Only You, my Lord."

1265
Clement IV becomes Pope. He was a Frenchman, Cardinal Guy Foulques. He was the son of a successful judge. After studying at Paris, he became legal consultant for King St. Louis IX. He was married and had two daughters. After his wife's death, he took Holy Orders and served as Archdeacon of Le Puy. Because of the hostile atmosphere in Rome, he first resided at Perugia and then at Viterbo. He completed Pope Urban IV's policy of excluding the Hohenstaufen Dynasty from Italy and installed St. Louis IX's brother, Charles of Anjou as King of Sicily and Naples in place of the deceased Emperor Frederick II's bastard son, Manfred. Fearing that Manfred would retaliate, the Pope put pressure on Charles to arrive. After his arrival The Holy Father was instrumental in helping Charles borrow money from the Tuscan bankers secured by a thirty-year tithe from the French Church to finance the Sicilian campaign he pledged to undertake.

Birth of Allghieri Dante.

Bibars the Arbelester captured Caesarea and Jaffa.

1265-1273
St. Thomas Aquinas writes his masterpiece, the five volume, Summa Theologica.

1266
Birth of Giotto, the greatest painter of the early Renaissance.

The Battle of Benevento. Manfred, the bastard son of Frederick II was defeated and killed by French troops.

1267
The Eighth Crusade begins. This was St. Louis IX's Second Crusade, led by the pious King. St. Louis IX transported an army of 60,000 men to Tunis in Africa. Half of his amy was destroyed by pestilence and lack of provisions. St. Louis himself died of a fever. Twenty years later, the Mohammedans re-took Jerusalem, the last failure of all attempts at regaining the Holy land and the death of St. Louis IX, King of France. St. Louis, Missouri is named after him.

1267-1268
Pope Clement IV was in correspondence with the Byzantine Emperor, Michael VIII Palaeologus, who in 1261 liberated Constantinople from the Latins and who now wished the Pope to prevent the expedition King Charles was planning for the recovery of the city; the Emperor also indicated his eagerness for Church union.

1268
Death of Pope Clement IV. The Holy See is vacant for two years and nine months.

Bibars the Arbelester captured Antioch.

1269
Marco Polo returned from Venice from his time spent in the East.

1270
Death of King St. Louis IX of France, He died near Tunis on August 25. He was a man of sound common sense, possessing indefatigable energy, graciously kind and of playful humor, and constantly guarding against temptation to be imperious. His mother, Blanche of Castile, said to him when he was a small boy, "I would rather see you dead at my feet, than be guilty of a mortal sin." Many have claimed, and it is quite possible, that he never committed a mortal sin in his life! What a role model! The caricature made of him by the envoy of the Court was far from the truth: "worthless devotee, hypocritical King." These statements are ridiculous to say the least. He was a good man, a holy man. The example he set for the people in France is most admirable. He attended daily Mass, and never missed saying his prayers. Anyone named after this great Saint can consider himself blest.

Pictured above is St. Louis in Tunis during his Last Crusade.

1271
Blessed Gregory X becomes Pope.

1272
Peter of Tarantaise becomes Archbishop of Lyons. He is the future Blessed Pope Innocent V.

Edward I Longshanks becomes King of England.

1273
Eucharistic Miracles of Offida. A woman desperately trying to have a better relationship with her husband sought help from a witch who told her to go to Mass, receive Holy Communion, but not to consume the Host; but to bring it home, burn it, and place the ashes in her husband's wine. The Host began to smoke and bleed while frying in the pan. She panicked and buried the Eucharist under some hay in the barn. The resident donkey bawled and screamed until they had to remove him. The woman kept this secret for seven years, until she confessed this grave sin. The priest, investigated this grave and bizarre story and the Eucharist was found still in tact!

1274
The Ecumenical Council of Lyons II. This was the fifteenth General Council of the Church. Five hundred Bishops, seventy Abbots, and one hundred Minor prelates attempted to reunite the Greek schismatics to the Church. Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus made a profession of Faith, however only the Byzantine Church returned to Communion with Rome. The agreement with the other Greek schismatics was still worked out, but the agreement never came. All possibilities ended with the death of Emperor Michael VIII. The Holy Council also enacted General reformation acts of the morals of the clergy and Bishops; and proclaimed the Dogmatic Constitution of Filoque.

Death of St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Bonaventure. This stunned the Council.

King Philip III of France proposed to end the baneful rivalry between the military Orders of Knights, the Hospitallers and the Templars, namely their amalgamation.

1275
Pope Gregory X meets Rudolf, King of the Romans in October of this year.

1276
Blessed Innocent V becomes Pope. He was Cardinal Pierre of Tarentaise. His reign lasted from January 21 to June 22. He did manage to collaborate with St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Albert the Great in drafting a rule of studies for Dominicans.

Adrian V becomes Pope. His reign lasted a brief thirty-eight days. The only thing he did as Pope is assemble the Cardinals together in the Lateran Basilica a suspend Pope Gregory X’s conclave decree, promising to propose a new one. He died shortly afterwards in Viterbo. He was never ordained a priest, consecrated or, because of his illness, crowned Holy Father.

John XXI becomes Pope. He was Cardinal Pedro Juliao, also known as Peter of Spain. He chose the name John XXI, there was no John XX, because of the confusion in the tenth and eleventh centuries. His reign lasted eight months.

1277
Nicholas III becomes Pope. He was Cardinal Giovanni Gaetano, from the Noble Orsini family. He was called Cardinal Orsini. He had been a Cardinal for over thirty years. He restored political independence to the Holy See. He chose the name Nicholas because he had been Cardinal-deacon of St. Niccolo in Carcere.

Agreement of Tonsberg. This agreement between King Magnus VI of Norway and the Archbishop of Nidaros, confirmed certain privileges of the clergy, the freedom of Episcopal elections and similar matters. ?P> England wars with Wales.

1278
Death of St. Zita, virgin.

The first of several heretical sects bearing the name Fraticelli appeared. The name is really a misnomer. These heretics going under the name Fraticelli were those who separated from the Franciscan Order. The first to appear was a group founded by Brother Angelo Da Clarneno. He was condemned in this year to imprisonment for life. He and his followers were liberated by the General of the Franciscan Order, Raimondo Gaufredi, and sent to Armenia to work as good missionaries.

1279
Death of Blessed Albert of Bergamo. He was married but had no children. He was a peasant farmer who lived an exemplary life and became a Dominican Tertiary.

1280
Death of St. Albert the Great. He was the teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas. It is said that he could teach anyone anything, and thus has been named the Universal Doctor of the Church.

1281
Martin IV becomes Pope. He was Cardinal Simon De Brie. He was a Frenchman, served as Treasurer of St. Martin’s in Tours and was Chancellor and Keeper of the Seal under King St. Louis IX.

1282
Albert I become Duke of Austria.

England conquered Wales. English troops killed Llewelyn ap Griffith, Prince of Wales, in battle, crushing the Welsh revolt.

1283
Blessed John of Vercelli founds the Holy Name Society.

1284
Father Bernard Gui become professor of logic at Brives.

1285
Honorus IV becomes Pope. He was Cardinal Giacomo Savelli. He was the grand-nephew of Pope Honorus III, whose name he adopted.

Death of King Peter III of Aragon.

Death of St. Thorfinn, Bishop of Hamar.

Death of King Philip III of France, he was the son of St. Louis.

Philip IV the Fair, becomes King of France. He was the son of Philip III and was called the “Fair” because he was very handsome.

1286
Pope Honorus IV condemns the so-called Apostolics, a sect with extreme views on evangelical poverty.

1287
Rudolf I becomes Holy Roman Emperor. He was the first Hapsburg to hold a Royal title.

1288
Nicholas IV becomes Pope. He was the first Franciscan ever to become Pontiff. Like his predecessor, Honorus IV, he was elected Senator of Rome for Life.

1289
Death of Blessed Benvenuto of Recannti. Many times during Holy Mass and while receiving Holy Communion, this Beatified Franciscan Brother would fall into ecstasy.

1290
Pope Nicholas IV arranged for Giovanni Colonna to be elected sole Senator.

1291
Death of Pope Nicholas IV. The Holy See is vacant for two years and three months.

The Perpetual Covenant. This was signed by the Swiss Canons, (states). It was a defense agreement that marked the start of the Swiss Confederation.

Death of Blessed Clement of Osimo. He was the confessor of Cardinal Benedict Gaetani, who will become Pope Boniface VIII.

Father Bernard Gui becomes Master Theologian and went back to teach Theology at the Convent of Limoges as Sous-Lecteur.

The Santa Casa was brought by Holy Angels from Nazareth to Fiume, (now present day Rijeka, Croatia. This is the brick house Our Blessed Lord lived in as a child.

Death of Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf I.

1292
Death of Blessed James of Certaldo, Abbot.

William Wallace led the Scottish revolt against England.

1293
King Charles II of Sicily made a secret Treaty with James II of Aragon for the evacuation of Sicily by his brother Frederick.

Brother Angelo and his followers were exiled from Armenia and returned to Italy.

England and France go to war. King Edward I, Longshanks, lost the Duchy of Gascony.

1294
St. Celestine V becomes Pope. He was Pietro Del Morrone. He was an eighty-nine year old hermit that had written prophesying Divine retribution if the Conclave left His Church without a head any longer. After many tears, St. Peter Celestine V accepted and rode into L’Aquila on a donkey clad in sackcloth with King Charles II and his son, Charles Martel, (named after Charlemagne’s grandfather). He set a beautiful example of evangelical poverty by sleeping in a little hut on the floor in the Vatican. He was a complete failure as an administrator, he could not say no. His reign lasted six months. During his six months, he did permit Brother Angelo and his followers to live as hermits under the strict observance of the Rule of St. Francis.

0nce more the Cardinals cruelly hurt the Church as their wrangling left it without a pope for over two years. The deadlock was finally broken in a manner quite startling. Cardinal Orsini told his colleagues that a holy monk had warned him that God had revealed that they would be punished if they did not put an end to their differences and elect a pope. Moved, the cardinals did elect a pope--the holy monk himself, Peter of Murrone! Peter was the son of poor parents. Born early in the century, he was the eleventh of twelve children. Right from the start he delighted his good parents by manifesting signs of real sanctity. He became a hermit on Mt. Murrone; then to avoid the crowds which flocked around him, he withdrew to even more remote Mt. Majella. Here he lived an austere life, filled with prayer, long fasts, hair shirts, and iron chains. But since crowds still Pursued him, he formed a branch of the Benedictine order, later called the Celestines. For lay folk he founded a sort of "third order." Such was the man elected by the cardinals to rule the Church. One requisite Peter certainly had --sanctity. But could a simple old man who had lived his life in the mountains cope with the complex situations faced by medieval popes? Peter naturally was overwhelmed when the cardinals' delegates, after a weary climb through the mountains, announced his election. He wanted to refuse, to fly, but his monks told him roundly that it was his duty to end the long vacancy. King Charles of Naples, overjoyed at the election of a friend, hastened to add his pleas to those of the monks. Torn between fear of acting against God's will and of being a mighty poor pope, the old man,was sadly distressed. At last he accepted and took the name of Celestine V.

Trouble started at once. Charles of Naples had been a good friend of the monk, but he could not resist taking advantage of the pope. It was as if poor Celestine were his mouthpiece! The cardinals reluctantly had to come to Aquila in the Kingdom of Naples for the consecration on August 29. Celestine then proceeded, not to Rome, but to Naples. He created new cardinals who were all French or Neapolitan. But if the king found Celestine a puppet, unscrupulous curial officials found the simple old man a gold mine. Soon they were selling blank bulls ! Celestine longed only for peace, and if he was no ruler, he was still a saint. He realized that he had made a mistake. More and more he thought of resigning. He made sure he could abdicate. He asked advice of canon lawyers. He renewed-much to the disgust of the cardinals--the badly needed election decree of Gregory X. A poetical message from the famous Jacopone da Todi proved to be a last straw. The fiery Franciscan warned the Pope of the abuses which were running riot under his feeble old hands. On December 13 Celestine met the cardinals in the great hall of the palace. Clad in full pontificals, he read them the decree of abdication, then stepped down and stripped himself of all papal insignia. The "great refusal," as Dante called it, had been made. Celestine was kept in confinement by his successor Boniface VIII, lest he should become the tool of designing schemers and endanger the unity of the Church. He died on May 19, 1296. Pope Clement V canonized him.

This information you just read was taken from the Book, "Popes Through the Ages," by Rev. Joseph S. Brusher, S. J.

Boniface VIII becomes Pope. He was Cardinal Benedetto Caetani. He was from a modestly aristocratic family of the Campagna. He studied law at Bologna. In the late 1270’s be became a Papal notary.

Later in this year, a quarrel arose between Philip IV the Fair of France and Pope Boniface VIII over taxation of the clergy.

Father Bernard Gui served as Prior at Albi.

Gerard Segarelli, abjured and recanted of his heretical errors and teaching of the Pseudo-Apostles and was released by the Holy Office of the Inquisition.

Pope Boniface VIII revoked the concessions made by Pope St. Celestine V regarding Brother Angelo’s sect.

The Santa Casa is taken by Holy Angels from Fiume to Loreto. It is now known as the Holy House of Loreto. The Holy House of Loreto has been numbered among the most famous Shrines in Italy. Loreto is a small town a few miles south of Ancona near the Adriatic Sea. The Happy House of Loreto is rightly regarded and honored as one of the most Sacred Monuments of the Christian Faith. And this is made clear by the numerous diplomas and acts, gifts and privileges accorded by our predecessors in the Middle Ages.

Erik VI Menved of Denmark imprisons the Bishop of Lund.

1295
King Edward I Longshanks, calls together the Model Parliament.

1296
Pope Boniface VIII issues Clericis Laicos. King Philip IV the Fair of France retaliated by forbidding exportation of gold and silver from France.

The English invaded and conquered Scotland in the battle of Dunbar. King Edward I, Longshanks, proclaimed himself King of Scotland. The Scots revolted under the leadership of William Wallace, the first popular hero of Scotland, defeated the English at Sterling Bridge.

Giovanni da Muro becomes General of the Franciscans.

In 1296 Giotto set out for Rome, whereupon Giovanni da Muro entrusted to the artist the execution of the wonderful story of St. Francis which the painter accomplished in the famous twenty-eight scenes of the upper church. He finished his work in 1320.

1297
English Nobles used Clericis Laicos to force King Edward I to accept the principle of No taxation without representation.

Father Bernard Gui becomes Prior at Carcassone.

King St. Louis IX is Canonized a Saint by Pope Boniface VIII.

Another quarrel arose with Pope Boniface VIII and the powerful Colonna family. The Colonnas started a conspiracy against the Pope. They made a ridiculous claim that he may have killed Pope St. Celestine V. The Pope excommunicated both Colonna family Cardinals, Giacomo and Pietro. They took refuge at the Court of Philip IV the Fair of France.

1298
Pope Boniface VIII names: St. Ambrose; St. Jerome; St. Augustine, {Doctor of Grace}; and Pope St. Gregory I the Great the First Doctors of the Church.

England and France accepted arbitration by Pope Boniface VIII as an individual man, not as Pope.

England defeated the Scots at Falkirk. William Wallace, the leader in the revolt was betrayed.

Albert I becomes Holy Roman Emperor and King of Germany.

1299
Death of St. Theodore the Black. He was the Duke of Yarloslavl and Smolensk in Russia. He defended his people against the Tarters and was always concerned about the poor and uncared-for.

King Edward I Longshanks of England made peace with France and married Margaret, the sister of King Philip III and daughter of St. Louis.

1300
The Grand Jubilee was established by Pope Boniface VIII. This was the first time the Christian Holy Year was proclaimed.

Eucharistic Miracle of Santiago De Compostela. A devout peasant and a priest who was withdrawing from Jesus witness the Host turn into human flesh and the Chalice filled with wine turn into human Blood. This miracle renewed the priest’s Faith.

The Pseudo-Apostle leader, the anarchist and relapsed heretic, Gerard Segarelli, was burned at the stake at Parma. Segarelli formed this schism in 1260. He tried everything to become a Franciscan priest but was denied because of his heretical errors in Theology. It was this heretical sect, the Pseudo-Apostles, that was the first to call the Catholic Church by that cruel and vicious name, out of sheer hatred, malice, vengeance, and retaliation, the great whore of Babylon.

Giotto’s tempera painting on wood, his masterpiece, The Madonna Enthroned with the Saints, was completed by the artist. The famous painting depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary seated on a Throne holding the Christ Child. Saints and kneeling Angels gaze at Jesus and Mary. The painting is on display at the Uffizi Gallery, in Florence.

The construction of the Cathedral of Rheims was completed.