St. Celestine V reigned as pope from July 5 to December 13, 1294. He famously resigned from the papacy because he wanted to return to his life as a hermit. Although he was not the first or last pope to abdicate, his action was recorded as a cowardly act of treason by the 14th-century Italian poet Dante in the Inferno. However, Celestine was canonized (declared a saint) by Pope Clement V in 1313.