Detail map of Avignon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d Overview map of Avignon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d

A: Avignon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Origins of the Vatican Library in the Papal Library

1303
Depiction of the death of Boniface in a 15th-century manuscript of Boccaccio's De Casibus
Image Source: en.wikipedia.org
Depiction of the death of Boniface in a 15th-century manuscript of Boccaccio's De Casibus.

From  Des Cas des nobles hommes et femmes, BnF MS Fr230.

The effigy on pope Boniface VIII, carved into the white marble of his sarcophagus in Saint Peter's Basilica. (View Larger)

On the death of Pope Boniface VIII, the papal library, the eventual basis of the Vatican Library, was moved to Avignon.  During Boniface's papacy the library contained "from 483 to 645 volumes" (Rouse & Rouse, Authentic Witnesses: Approaches to Medieval Texts and Manuscripts [1991] 341).

Timeline Themes

Libraries
Religious Texts / Religion