BONIFACE IX  . (Piero Tomacelli), pope from 1389 to 1404, was born at Naples of a poor but ancient family . Created cardinal by Urban VI., he was elected successor to the latter on the 2nd of November 1389 . In 1391 he canonized Birgitta of Sweden . He was able to restore Roman authority in the major part of the papal states, and in 1398 put an end to the republican liberties of the city itself . Boniface won Naples, which had owed spiritual allegiance to the antipopes Clement VII. and Benedict XIII. of Avignon, to the Roman obedience . In 1403 he ventured at last to confirm the deposition of the emperor Wenceslaus and the election of Rupert . Negotiations for the healing of the Great Schism were without result . In spite of his inferior education, the contemporaries of Boniface trusted his prudence and moral character; yet when in financial straits he sold offices, and in 1399 transformed the annates into a permanent tax . In 1390 he celebrated the regular jubilee, but a rather informal one held in 1400 proved more profitable . Though probably not personally avaricious, he was justly accused of nepotism . He died on the 1st of October 1404, being still under sixty years of age .

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