Published in La Aventura de la Historia

The Pope’s ring and the demon


   mong the many enemies that Pope Boniface VIII had was Cardinal Pietro Colonna.  This clergyman accused him of wearing at his coronation on the 23rd January 1295 “a ring that has a demon imprisoned in it; he would invoke it, and give it incense fumigations so it would act as an oracle.  He insisted that he had heard him talk with the demon, that would sometimes talk with a child’s voice, and at other times with a cavernous and hoarse voice, as if he were an old man”

   That such a pack of nonsense could be believed was thanks to the Pope’s liking for magic and alchemy; in his library he kept two of the most famous works of the age on the subject:  Ars Nova y Ars Notoria.

   Besides having such hobbies, it’s believed that Boniface VIII was very superstitious and to protect himself from bad spells, sorcery, the evil eye, and other nasty little tricks, the day he was crowned he wore a collar that emitted strange noises and vibrations.