Pope Boniface IV
Encyclopedia
Pope Saint Boniface IV (c. 550 – May 25, 615) was pope
from 608 to his death.
Son of Johannes, a physician
, a Marsi
an from the province and town of Valeria; he succeeded Boniface III after a vacancy of over nine months. He was consecrated on either 25 August (Duchesne
) or September 15 (Jaffé
) in 608. His death is listed as either May 8 or May 25, 615 by these two authorities.
In the time of Pope Gregory I
, he was a deacon of the Roman Church and held the position of dispensator, that is, the first official in connection with the administration of the patrimonies.
Boniface obtained leave from the Emperor Phocas
to convert the Pantheon, Rome
into a Christian church, and on May 13, 609 (?) the temple erected by Agrippa to Jupiter the Avenger, to Venus
, and to Mars was consecrated by the pope to the Virgin Mary and all the Martyrs. It was the first instance at Rome of the transformation of a pagan temple into a place of Christian worship. Twenty-eight cartloads of sacred bones were said to have been removed from the Catacombs
and placed in a porphyry basin beneath the high altar.
During the pontificate of Boniface, Mellitus
, the first Bishop of London
, went to Rome "to consult the pope on important matters relative to the newly established English Church". While in Rome he assisted at a council then being held concerning certain questions on "the life and monastic peace of monk
s", and, on his departure, took with him to England the decree of the council together with letters from the pope to Lawrence
, Archbishop of Canterbury
, and to all the clergy, to King
Ethelbert
, and to all the English people "concerning what was to be observed by the Church of England
". The decrees of the council now extant are spurious. The letter to Ethelbert is considered spurious by Hefele
, questionable by Haddan
and Stubbs
, and genuine by Jaffé.
Between 612 and 615, the Irish
missionary Saint Columban
, then living at Bobbio
in Italy
, was persuaded by Agilulf
, King of the Lombards
, to address a letter on the condemnation of the "Three Chapters
" to Boniface IV. "You have already erred, O Rome! — fatally, foully erred. No longer do you shine as a star in the apostolic firmament," Columban wrote. He also tells the pope that he is charged with heresy for accepting the Fifth Ecumenical Council (the Second Council of Constantinople
in 553), and exhorts him to summon a council and prove his orthodoxy.
Boniface had converted his own house into a monastery
, where he retired and died. He was buried in the portico of St. Peter's Basilica
. His remains were three times removed — in the tenth or eleventh century, at the close of the thirteenth under Boniface VIII, and to the new St. Peter's on 21 October 1603.
Boniface IV is commemorated as a saint in the Roman Martyrology
on his feast day, May 25.
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
from 608 to his death.
Son of Johannes, a physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, a Marsi
Marsi
Marsi is the Latin exonym for a people of ancient Italy, whose chief centre was Marruvium, on the eastern shore of Lake Fucinus, drained for agricultural land in the late 19th century. The area in which they lived is now called Marsica. During the Roman Republic the people of the region spoke a...
an from the province and town of Valeria; he succeeded Boniface III after a vacancy of over nine months. He was consecrated on either 25 August (Duchesne
Louis Duchesne
Louis Marie Olivier Duchesne was a French priest, philologist, teacher and a critical historian of Christianity and Roman Catholic liturgy and institutions....
) or September 15 (Jaffé
Philipp Jaffé
Philipp Jaffé was a German historian and philologist. The Schwersenz native, despite discrimination against his Jewish religion, was one of the most important German medievalists of the 19th century....
) in 608. His death is listed as either May 8 or May 25, 615 by these two authorities.
In the time of Pope Gregory I
Pope Gregory I
Pope Gregory I , better known in English as Gregory the Great, was pope from 3 September 590 until his death...
, he was a deacon of the Roman Church and held the position of dispensator, that is, the first official in connection with the administration of the patrimonies.
Boniface obtained leave from the Emperor Phocas
Phocas
Phocas was Byzantine Emperor from 602 to 610. He usurped the throne from the Emperor Maurice, and was himself overthrown by Heraclius after losing a civil war.-Origins:...
to convert the Pantheon, Rome
Pantheon, Rome
The Pantheon ,Rarely Pantheum. This appears in Pliny's Natural History in describing this edifice: Agrippae Pantheum decoravit Diogenes Atheniensis; in columnis templi eius Caryatides probantur inter pauca operum, sicut in fastigio posita signa, sed propter altitudinem loci minus celebrata.from ,...
into a Christian church, and on May 13, 609 (?) the temple erected by Agrippa to Jupiter the Avenger, to Venus
Venus (mythology)
Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...
, and to Mars was consecrated by the pope to the Virgin Mary and all the Martyrs. It was the first instance at Rome of the transformation of a pagan temple into a place of Christian worship. Twenty-eight cartloads of sacred bones were said to have been removed from the Catacombs
Catacombs
Catacombs, human-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place can be described as a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman empire...
and placed in a porphyry basin beneath the high altar.
During the pontificate of Boniface, Mellitus
Mellitus
Mellitus was the first Bishop of London in the Saxon period, the third Archbishop of Canterbury, and a member of the Gregorian mission sent to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons from their native paganism to Christianity. He arrived in 601 AD with a group of clergymen sent to augment the mission,...
, the first Bishop of London
Bishop of London
The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...
, went to Rome "to consult the pope on important matters relative to the newly established English Church". While in Rome he assisted at a council then being held concerning certain questions on "the life and monastic peace of monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
s", and, on his departure, took with him to England the decree of the council together with letters from the pope to Lawrence
Laurence of Canterbury
Laurence was the second Archbishop of Canterbury from about 604 to 619. He was a member of the Gregorian mission sent from Italy to England to Christianize the Anglo-Saxons from their native Anglo-Saxon paganism, although the date of his arrival is disputed...
, Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, and to all the clergy, to King
Bretwalda
Bretwalda is an Old English word, the first record of which comes from the late 9th century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. It is given to some of the rulers of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from the 5th century onwards who had achieved overlordship of some or all of the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms...
Ethelbert
Ethelbert of Kent
Æthelberht was King of Kent from about 580 or 590 until his death. In his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, the eighth-century monk Bede lists Aethelberht as the third king to hold imperium over other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms...
, and to all the English people "concerning what was to be observed by the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
". The decrees of the council now extant are spurious. The letter to Ethelbert is considered spurious by Hefele
Hefele
Hefele:* Melchior Hefele , Austrian-Hungarian architect* Karl Josef von Hefele , a German Roman Catholic theologian, bishop* Hermann Hefele , German historian* Herbert Hefele , astronomer...
, questionable by Haddan
Arthur West Haddan
Arthur West Haddan was an English churchman and academic, of High Church Anglican views, now remembered as an ecclesiastical historian, particularly for Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents relating to Great Britain and Ireland, written with William Stubbs.-Life:He was born at Woodford, Essex on...
and Stubbs
William Stubbs
William Stubbs was an English historian and Bishop of Oxford.The son of William Morley Stubbs, a solicitor, he was born at Knaresborough, Yorkshire, and was educated at Ripon Grammar School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated in 1848, obtaining a first-class in classics and a third in...
, and genuine by Jaffé.
Between 612 and 615, the Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
missionary Saint Columban
Columbanus
Columbanus was an Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monasteries on the European continent from around 590 in the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil and Bobbio , and stands as an exemplar of Irish missionary activity in early medieval Europe.He spread among the...
, then living at Bobbio
Bobbio
Bobbio is a small town and commune in the province of Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. It is located in the Trebbia River valley southwest of the town Piacenza. There is also an abbey and a diocese of the same name...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, was persuaded by Agilulf
Agilulf
Agilulf called the Thuringian, was a duke of Turin and king of the Lombards from 591 until his death.-Biography:A relative of his predecessor Authari, he was selected king on the advice of the Christian queen and widow of Authari, Theodelinda, whom he then married...
, King of the Lombards
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
, to address a letter on the condemnation of the "Three Chapters
Schism of the Three Chapters
The Schism of the Three Chapters was a schism that affected the Roman Catholic Church in North Italy lasting from 553 to 698 AD, although the area out of communion with Rome contracted throughout that time...
" to Boniface IV. "You have already erred, O Rome! — fatally, foully erred. No longer do you shine as a star in the apostolic firmament," Columban wrote. He also tells the pope that he is charged with heresy for accepting the Fifth Ecumenical Council (the Second Council of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
in 553), and exhorts him to summon a council and prove his orthodoxy.
Boniface had converted his own house into a monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
, where he retired and died. He was buried in the portico of St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...
. His remains were three times removed — in the tenth or eleventh century, at the close of the thirteenth under Boniface VIII, and to the new St. Peter's on 21 October 1603.
Boniface IV is commemorated as a saint in the Roman Martyrology
Roman Martyrology
The Roman Martyrology is the official martyrology of the Roman Rite of the Roman Catholic Church. It provides an extensive but not exhaustive list of the saints recognized by the Church.-History:...
on his feast day, May 25.
External links
- Biography from CFPeople.org