First jubilee year Boniface proclaimed 1300 a "jubilee" year, the first of many such jubilees to take place in Rome.Herbert Thurston, The Holy Year of Jubilee (St. Louis MO: B. Herder 1900), pp. 6–25. He probably wanted to gather money from pilgrims to RomeThurston, p. 17. as a substitute for the missing money from France, or it may be that he was seeking moral and political support against the hostile behaviour of the French king. The event was a success; Rome had never received such crowds before. It is said that on one particular day some 30,000 people were counted.Jacopo Stefaneschi, "Jacobi Sancti Georgii ad Velum aureum diaconi Cardinalis, de centesimo seu iubileo anno Liber", Margarino de la Bigne (editor), Maxima Bibliotheca veterum Patrum et antiquorum scriptorum ecclesiasticorum Tomus 25 (Lugduni 1677), pp. 936–944, at p. 940. Stefaneschi was an eyewitness. Giovanni Villani estimated that some 200,000 pilgrims came to Rome.A. Theiner (ed.), Caesaris Baronii Annales Ecclesiastici Tomus 23 (Bar-le-Duc 1871), under year 1300, §6, p. 264. Boniface and his aides managed the affair well, food was plentiful, and it was sold at moderate prices. It was an advantage to the pope that the great sums of money he collected could be used according to Boniface's own judgment.
First jubilee year Boniface proclaimed 1300 a "jubilee" year, the first of many such jubilees to take place in Rome.Herbert Thurston, The Holy Year of Jubilee (St. Louis MO: B. Herder 1900), pp. 6–25. He probably wanted to gather money from pilgrims to RomeThurston, p. 17. as a substitute for the missing money from France, or it may be that he was seeking moral and political support against the hostile behaviour of the French king. The event was a success; Rome had never received such crowds before. It is said that on one particular day some 30,000 people were counted.Jacopo Stefaneschi, "Jacobi Sancti Georgii ad Velum aureum diaconi Cardinalis de centesimo seu iubileo anno Liber", Margarino de la Bigne (editor), Maxima Bibliotheca veterum Patrum et antiquorum scriptorum ecclesiasticorum Tomus 25 (Lugduni 1677), pp. 936–944, at p. 940. Stefaneschi was an eyewitness. Giovanni Villani estimated that some 200,000 pilgrims came to Rome.A. Theiner (ed.), Caesaris Baronii Annales Ecclesiastici Tomus 23 (Bar-le-Duc 1871), under year 1300, §6, p. 264. Boniface and his aides managed the affair well, food was plentiful, and it was sold at moderate prices. It was an advantage to the pope that the great sums of money he collected could be used according to Boniface's own judgment.