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After nearly twenty years of teaching Roman law at Orléans (1278–1296), Petrus de Bellapertica was called to sit in King Philip the Fair's council. Bellapertica, sometimes referred to as “the father of experts”, was valued for his experience in all the major political negotiations of the decade during which he held office in the King's service. These issues included the ecclesiastical tithes, the peace negotiations with the Empire and with England, the conflicts with some of the most powerful feudal lords in the realm, and the great dispute with pope Boniface VIII against the backdrop of the confrontation between spiritual and temporal power. Bellapertica may be credited with the Reform Ordinance of March 1303, with the coronation of pope Clement V in Lyons, and with bringing Lyons closer into the orbit of the French kingdom through the “Philippines” treaties. Unable to prevent the trial of the Templars, he left the political scene three months before he died on 17 January 1308. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pope Boniface VIII canonized Louis IX in 1297. Historians have generally regarded the canonization as part of Boniface’s capitulation to Philip IV (the Fair) of France at the end of the first phase of their famous conflict. This paper argues that in spite of this capitulation, Boniface, in three canonization-related texts, defined Louis’ sanctity as rooted in his good kingship as a way of criticizing Philip. Between Louis’ death in 1270 and canonization in 1297, advocates of Louis’ sanctity tended to focus on his humility, his acts of piety, and his crusades. Because their task was to distinguish Louis from other kings as a saint, his kingship was generally seen as incidental to his sanctity. In 1297, however, Boniface described Louis’ sanctity in terms of his ideal rule, drawing on language reminiscent of the speculum principis tradition. This characterization stood in juxtaposition to the pope’s criticism of Philip’s kingship and, I argue, was designed to establish a standard of royal conduct by which to criticize Philip. I end by examining how, after 1297, Philip himself used this characterization of Louis’ sanctity to defend himself and his policies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]