ours, and, after having got possession of a fortress
belonging to them by treachery, he had caused it to be utterly
destroyed, and the ground on which it stood to be ploughed up and sown
with salt. The Colonnas were scattered in all quarters, and it is said
that one of them, named James, who was a very rough and violent man, had
been for a time in captivity among pirates, and was delivered from this
condition by the money of the French king, who wished to make use of
him.

On the 7th of September, 1303, this James Colonna, with other persons
in King Philip's service, appeared at Anagni with an armed force, and
made their way to the pope's palace. Boniface sent to ask what they
wanted; and in answer they required that he should give up his office,
should restore the Colonnas to all that they had lost, and should put
himself into the hands of James Colonna. On his refusal, they set fire
to the doors of a church which adjoined the palace, and rushed in
through the flames. Boniface heard the forcing of the doors which were
between them and the room in which he was; and as one door after another
gave way with a crash, he declared himself resolved to die as became a
pope. He put on the mantle of his office, with the imperial crown which
bore the name of Constantine; he grasped his pastoral staff in one hand
and the keys of St. Peter in the other, and, taking his seat on his
throne, he awaited the approach of his enemies. On entering the room,
even these rude and furious men were awed for a moment by his venerable
and dauntless look; but James Colonna, quickly overcoming this feeling,
required him to resign the papacy. "Behold my neck and my head,"
answered Boniface: "if I have been betrayed like Christ, I am ready to
die like Christ's vicar." Colonna savagely dragged him from the throne,
and is said to have struck him on the face with his mailed hand, so as
to draw blood. Others of the party poured forth torrents of reproaches.
The pope was hurried into the streets, was paraded about the town on a
vicious horse, with his face toward the tail, and was then thrown into
prison, while the ruffians plundered the palaces and churches of Anagni.

The citizens, in their surprise and alarm, had allowed these things to
pass without any check. But two days later they took heart, and with the
help of some neighbours got the better of the pope's enemies and
delivered him from prison. He was brought out on a balcony in the
market-place, w