Comparison Between Pope Boniface VIII And King Phillip The Fair Of France

1. What is the intended primary audience at that time?
The primary intended audience at the time was all Christians under papal authority. It was widely read across Europe by intellectuals who could read Latin and those of the French court.
2. The context surrounding this? (What has been happening during this time frame?)
There were issues between church and secular kings power. It is based on actual events/conditions of medieval Europe. A time when the Universal Church and its divine position was drawing to a close. A quarrel between Pope Boniface VIII and King Phillip the Fair of France was happening. One of secular and the other of spiritual and sacred power. Secular power, by the 14th century, had regrouped and posed a threat to the “medieval dream” of a unified or Universal Church.
3. The overall significance at that time? (usually connected with the context and purpose)
Thus, the importance of submission to him, to belong to the Church and attain salvation. It constitutes a historical event in and of itself. It is a statement made from a powerful leader asserting his rights against the Fair of France. As according to the Medieval Sourcebook, the Bull lays down dogmatic propositions on the unity of the Church, the necessity of belonging to it for the attainment of eternal salvation, the position of the Pope as supreme head of the Church, and the duty thence arising of submission to the Pope in order to belong to the Church and thus attain salvation. Historians consider it one of the most extreme statements of Papal spiritual supremacy ever