1300 · Rome, Italy
First Jubilee Year Declared by Boniface VIII
In 1300, Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed the first Holy Year, offering a plenary indulgence to pilgrims who visited the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome, launching a tradition that continues to this day.
Nobody planned the first Jubilee. At the turn of the year 1300, crowds began flooding into Rome, apparently acting on a rumor that special spiritual benefits were available to anyone who visited St. Peter's during the centennial year. Boniface VIII, never one to miss an opportunity, investigated and then formalized the idea. On February 22, 1300, he issued the bull Antiquorum habet fida relatio, granting a plenary indulgence to all who made the pilgrimage and visited the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul a set number of times. The response was staggering. Contemporary estimates, though surely exaggerated, claim two hundred thousand pilgrims arrived. Roads to Rome were clogged. Innkeepers and merchants did extraordinary business. Dante, who may have been among the pilgrims, referenced the crowds in the Inferno. The Jubilee expressed something deep in medieval Catholic life: the idea that a physical act — walking, traveling, entering a sacred place — could be connected to spiritual renewal. Boniface originally intended the Jubilee to recur every hundred years, but demand pushed the interval to fifty years, then thirty-three, then twenty-five, where it has stayed. The most recent Jubilee was in 2025. Each one draws millions to Rome and generates a burst of charitable and pastoral activity.
Why it matters
Established the tradition of Jubilee Holy Years, creating a recurring pattern of pilgrimage and spiritual renewal that has continued for over seven centuries.
What Happened
In early 1300, pilgrims began arriving in Rome in enormous numbers, expecting special spiritual benefits at the turn of the century. Pope Boniface VIII seized the moment and issued a bull granting a plenary indulgence to those who visited the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul. The crowds were immense, and the event was a logistical and financial windfall for Rome. Boniface set the Jubilee on a centennial cycle, but later popes shortened the interval to every twenty-five years.
Why It Still Matters
The Jubilee Year remains one of the largest regular events in Catholic life. Every twenty-five years, the Pope opens the Holy Door at St. Peter's, and millions of pilgrims travel to Rome. The tradition connects modern Catholics to a practice seven centuries old and to the biblical idea of a jubilee — a time of forgiveness, release, and fresh starts. It is also one of the most visible reminders that Catholicism is not just a set of ideas but a faith that involves the body, the road, and the physical act of showing up.