Pope Benedict XI

Pope Benedict XI (1240–1304), born Niccolò Boccasini in Treviso, was a Dominican who studied in Venice and Milan. He was twice provincial prior of Lombardy, elected master general of the order in 1296 and made a cardinal in 1298.

He was at Pope Boniface VIII's side when French troops seized the pope at Anagni in 1303. Elected pontiff in October 1303, he lifted Boniface's excommunication of Philip IV but in June 1304 excommunicated Philip's minister Guillaume de Nogaret.

He had served as papal legate to Hungary and France, and brokered a French-English armistice. He died at Perugia in July 1304 after eight months as pope.