This is a critical edition of the late 13th-century tract on papal abdication which Giles of Rome wrote at the height of the controversy between Boniface VIII and the Colonna cardinals, James and Peter.

This is a critical edition of the late 13th-century tract on papal abdication which Giles of Rome wrote at the height of the controversy between Boniface VIII and the Colonna cardinals, James and Peter. Besides the critical Latin edition, the accompanying summary of the tract's major arguments is a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of the work. The richness of this work, the citation of major authors of Western thought, above all Aristotle, Saint Augustine and canon law in creating the constitutional space within which the pope could operate as a free and sovereign individual, has much to offer any serious student of political and constitutional history. It concludes with a 20-page summary in English.