Celestine V and Boniface VIII were willing to grant forgiveness for all sins committed, thus causing floods of pilgrims to travel to Rome. Why? What were the ultimate reasons that persuaded two popes to grant plenary indulgence only to those undertaking a journey to Rome and a visit to papal basilicas? With extraordinary narrative power, the author explains the origins of the first Jubilee in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. She helps readers understand the changes that the realms of the beyond – first and foremost Purgatory, invented as an intermediate place between Hell and Paradise – underwent during the Middle Ages. She highlights the growing importance of indulgences and pilgrimages in the daily lives of people in the Middle Ages, and thus the complex story of Celestine V and his abdication. Finally, the book plunges into the turbulent Rome of Boniface VIII, his fury, and his many enemies among cardinals, kings and rival families. Readers will appreciate this historical and political fresco of an extraordinary event, leading them to understand both the plenary indulgence of 1300 and the upcoming 2025 Holy Year.

Chiara Frugoni taught Medieval History at the Universities of Pisa, Rome, and Paris.