Who he was
Benedetto Caetani, of a noble family of Anagni related to the counts of Segni, held doctorates in canon and civil law and was reputed the greatest lawyer of his day. He served the Curia as an advocate and as legate in France and Sicily, and was made a cardinal by Martin IV in 1281. Elected at Naples on Christmas Eve 1294, after the resignation of Celestine V, he moved the papacy back to Rome at once. Much of his reign was taken up with conflict with the Colonna family and with King Philip IV of France, whose men seized him at Anagni in September 1303; he was freed by the townspeople but died in Rome a month later.
What he is remembered for
He proclaimed the first Holy Year, the Jubilee of 1300, issued the collection of Church law known as the Liber Sextus, and founded the University of Rome, the Sapienza, in 1303. He is also known for the bulls Clericis laicos and Unam Sanctam, issued in his dispute with Philip IV, and he appears in Dante's Divine Comedy.
Sources
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