on 4 December 1298 by Boniface VIII, and assigned the title of Cardinal-Priest of Santa Sabina. He entered the Roman Curia on 25 March 1299 and thus began to receive his share of the profits of the Chamber of the College of Cardinals. He was promoted to the rank of Cardinal-Bishop of the See of Ostia on 2 March 1300 and also received episcopal consecration. On 13 May 1301 he was appointed Apostolic Legate to Hungary. He made his official departure on 22 June 1301 and returned on 10 May 1303. He also served as papal legate to France. When Pope Boniface VIII was seized at Anagni in September 1303, Boccasini was one of only two cardinals to defend the Pope in the Episcopal Palace itself. The other was Pedro Rodriguez, Bishop of Sabina. They were imprisoned for three days. On Monday 10 September they were liberated by forces led by Cardinal Luca Fieschi, and on 14 September the Pope and his retinue returned to Rome, with an escort organized by Cardinal Matteo Rosso Orsini. Papacy Papal election The conclave to elect the successor of Boniface VIII was held in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran and the College of Cardinals desired an appropriate candidate who would not be hostile towards King Philip IV of France. After one ballot in a conclave that lasted a day, Boccasini was elected as pope. Actions He was quick to release King Philip IV from the excommunication that had been put upon him by Boniface VIII. Nevertheless, on 7 June 1304, Benedict XI excommunicated Philip IV's implacable minister Guillaume de Nogaret and all the Italians who had played a part in the seizure of his predecessor at Anagni. Benedict XI also arranged an armistice between Philip IV of France and Edward I of England. After a brief pontificate that spanned a mere eight months, Benedict XI died suddenly at Perugia. As original reports had it, suspicion fell primarily on Nogaret with the suspicion that his sudden death was caused by poisoning. There is no direct evidence, however, to either support or disprove the contention that Nogaret poisoned the pope. Benedict XI's successor, Clement V was in France when elected and never journeyed to Rome. His successors resided principally in Avignon, inaugurating the period known as the Avignon Papacy. He and the French popes who succeeded him were completely under the influence of the kings