Pope Celestine V (who had been Brother Peter, the hermit of Mount Murrone near Sulmone) resigned on 13 December 1294 at Naples, where, much to the discomfort of a number of cardinals, he had established the papal court under the patronage of Charles II of Naples.
He had continued to live like a monk there, even turning a room in the papal apartment into the semblance of a monastic cell.
A contemporary, Bartholomew of Lucca, who was present in Naples in December 1294 and witnessed many of the events of the abdication and election, said that Benedetto Caetani was only one of several cardinals who pressured Celestine to resign.
However, it is also on record that Celestine V resigned by his own design after consultation with experts, and that Benedetto merely showed that it was allowed by Church law.
Either way, Celestine V vacated the throne and Benedetto Caetani was elected in his place as pope, taking the name Boniface VIII.

The 1294 papal conclave began on 23 December, ten days after Celestine's resignation.
The regulations promulgated in the papal bull Ubi periculum by Pope Gregory X at the Second Council of Lyon in 1274 had not envisioned a papal resignation, but the cardinals waited the usual ten days from the papal resignation.
This gave all twenty-two cardinals the chance to assemble at the Castel Nuovo in Naples, the site of the resignation.
Hugh Aycelin presided over the papal conclave as the senior cardinal bishop.
Benedetto Caetani was elected by ballot and accession on Christmas Eve, 24 December 1294, taking the name Boniface VIII.
On the first (secret) ballot, he had a majority of the votes, and at the accessio a sufficient number joined his majority to form the required two-thirds.
He was consecrated bishop of Rome in Rome by Cardinal Hugh Aycelin on 23 January 1295.
He immediately returned the Papal Curia to Rome, where he was crowned at the Vatican Basilica on Sunday, 23 January 1295.
One of his first acts as pontiff was to grant his predecessor residence in the Castle of Fumone in Ferentino, where he died the next year at the age of 81, attended by two monks of his order.
Boniface VIII is occasionally discussed in academic literature as possibly implicated in the demise of his predecessor.
In 1300, Boniface VIII formalized the custom of the Roman Jubilee, which afterwards became a source of both profit and scandal to the church.
Boniface VIII founded Sapienza University of Rome in 1303.
Pope Celestine V (who had been Brother Peter, the hermit of Mount Murrone near Sulmone) resigned on 13 December 1294 at Naples, where, much to the discomfort of a number of cardinals, he had established the papal court under the patronage of Charles II of Naples. He had continued to live like a monk there, even turning a room in the papal apartment into the semblance of a monastic cell. A contemporary, Bartholomew of Lucca, who was present in Naples in December 1294 and witnessed many of the events of the abdication and election, said that Benedetto Caetani was only one of several cardinals who pressured Celestine to resign. However, it is also on record that Celestine V resigned by his own design after consultation with experts, and that Benedetto merely showed that it was allowed by Church law. Either way, Celestine V vacated the throne and Benedetto Caetani was elected in his place as pope, taking the name Boniface VIII.
The 1294 papal conclave began on 23 December, ten days after Celestine's resignation. The regulations promulgated in the papal bull Ubi periculum by Pope Gregory X at the Second Council of Lyon in 1274 had not envisioned a papal resignation, but the cardinals waited the usual ten days from the papal resignation. This gave all twenty-two cardinals the chance to assemble at the Castel Nuovo in Naples, the site of the resignation. Hugh Aycelin presided over the papal conclave as the senior cardinal bishop. Benedetto Caetani was elected by ballot and accession on Christmas Eve, 24 December 1294, taking the name Boniface VIII. On the first (secret) ballot, he had a majority of the votes, and at the accessio a sufficient number joined his majority to form the required two-thirds. He was consecrated bishop of Rome in Rome by Cardinal Hugh Aycelin on 23 January 1295. He immediately returned the Papal Curia to Rome, where he was crowned at the Vatican Basilica on Sunday, 23 January 1295. One of his first acts as pontiff was to grant his predecessor residence in the Castle of Fumone in Ferentino, where he died the next year at the age of 81, attended by two monks of his order. Boniface VIII is occasionally discussed in academic literature as possibly implicated in the demise of his predecessor. In 1300, Boniface VIII formalized the custom of the Roman Jubilee, which afterwards became a source of both profit and scandal to the church. Boniface VIII founded Sapienza University of Rome in 1303.
Pope Boniface VIII