Early in 1295 the newly elected Pope Boniface VIII appointed as his legate to France Simon of Beaulieu, a former archbishop of Bourges who had recently been made cardinal by Boniface's predecessor Celestine V. As it happened, Simon's legation, which lasted until the spring of 1297, was an eventful one. The pope had instructed him to attempt to mediate between Kings Edward I and Philip the Fair in their war over Gascony, a task that proved arduous indeed. Moreover, in the second year of the mission, there began the well-known quarrel between the French king and the pope over the question of royal taxation of the clergy. During the struggle Simon was in the awkward position of having to implement papal policies that were unpopular with the French court.