Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/316

* BONIFACE. 278 BONIFACE. recognized by Honorius as proper successor. His letters are in Migne, Patrol. Laf.,XX.— Boniface II. (Pope, .5.30-532). His letters are in Migne, LXV. — BoxuACE III., who was Pope for only ten months in the year 007. was the first to whom the title of Universal Bishop of Christendom was conceded by the Greek Emperor (Phocas). — Boniface IV." (Pope, (i0«-fil5). — Boniface V. (Pope. 619-02.5). — Boniface VI. (Pope. 890). — Boniface VII. (Pope. 974. 9S4nS5) .—Boniface VIII. (Benedetto r.:ietano. Pope. 1294-1.303). He was born at Ani-jni. and was elected Pope on De- cember 24, 1294. His inauguration was distin- guished by great pomp: the kings of Hungary and Sicily held the reins of his horse as he proceeded to the Lateran, and, with their crowns on their heads, served him at table. In 1290 Boniface issued his bull Clericis Laicos, forbidding the pa^iTiient or collection of taxes on ecclesia.stical property without the consent of the Holy See. He failed in his attempts to assert a feudal superior- ity over Sicily, and to exercise his Papal authority in the disputes between France and England. Philip the Fair, of France, .supported by the es- tates and elergj-, maintained the independence of the kingdom, disregarding many bulls and briefs, and even the sentence of e.xconununieation to which the Pope proceeded. Philip at last, with the aid of Italian enemies of Boniface, made him prisoner at Anagni, whither he had fled; and al- though he was liberated by the people of Anagni after two days' imprisonment, he died within about a month (October 11, 1303), in consequence of having refused food during those two days, through fear of poison. He instituted the Roman Jubilee in the year 1300, and in 1302 issued the bull IJnam SancUnn. wherein he maintained the necessity of the submission of princes to the spiritual jurisdiction of the Roman pontiffs. For his life, consult: Luigi Tosti, 2d ed. (ililan, 1848. French trans. Paris, 1854) ; V. Druncann (Kiinigsberg, 18.52). — Boniface IX. (Pietro To- macelli. Pope, 1389-1404). He was a native of Naples, and succeeded Urban VI. as Pope at Rome, while Clement VII. was Pope at Avignon. His financial expedients contributed chiefly to in- crease the many already existing abuses in the disposition of ecclesiastical offices. He acquired, after a struggle, a most absolute power in Rome, which he kept in awe by fortresses; but to secure himself against external enemies, particularly Louis of Anjou, whose claim to the crown of Naples he had opposed, he was obliged to give away jiart of his territory in fiefs, as Ferrara to the house of Kste. BONIFACE. The name of a rascally land- lord of Lichfield; in Farquhar's Beaux' Strata- gem. BONIFACE, Abbot. The abbot of Saint !Mary's. in Scott's The Monastery. He is vain and "self-indulgent, but charitable, hospitable, and lenient. Despite the troublous times in which he lives, he is enabled at the close of the story to preserve his convent. He resigns, in the sequel, in favor of the more zealous Abbot Ambrosius. BONIFACE, S.UNT (080-755). The Apostle of Cieniiany, whose original name was Winfrid. He was bom at Crediton, in Devcmshi^e. England, 680. He first entered a monastery in Exeter at the age of 13, and afterwards removed to that of Nutshalling, where he learned rhetoric, history, and theology, and became a priest at the age of .30. At that time a movement, proceeding from- England and Ireland, was going on for the con- version of the still heathen peoples of Europe; in 014 Ciallus and Enuneran had been sent to Alemannia, Kilian (murdered 089) to Bavaria, Willibrord (died 738) to the country of the Franks, Swidvert to Frieslan<l, and Siegfried to Sweden. Winfrid also took the resolution (715) of preaching Christianity to the Frisians, among whom it had as yet found no entrance. But a war broke out between Charles ilartel and the King of the Frisians, and Winfrid returned from Utrecht to his convent, of which he was elected abbot. He declined the election, repaired to Rome in 718, and received the authorization of Pope Gregory II. to preach the Gospel to all the tribes of Germany in 719. He first went to Bavaria and Thuringia. then labored three years in Friesland. and traveled through Hesse, every- where baptizing nuiltitiules, and consecrating their idolatrous groves as churches. In 721 Gregory' 11. called hini to Rome; made him bishop (722), with the name of B(mifacius; fur- nished him with new instructions or canons, and with letters to Charles IXIartel and all princes and bishops, requesting their aid in his pious work. Returning to Hesse and Thuringia ( 723 ), he destroyed the objects of heathen worship (among which are mentioned an oak at Geismar, near Cassel, sacred to Thor, and an idol named Stuffo, on a summit of the Harz -still called Stuffenberg), founded churches and convents, and called to his aid priests, monks, and nuns from England, whom he distributed through the various countries. In recognition of his emi- nent services, Gregory III. sent him (732) the pallium, and named hmi Archbishop and Primate of all Gennany, with power to establish bishop- rics wherever he saw fit. Boniface now made a third journey to Rome (738), and was appoint- ed Papal Legate for Germany. The bishoprics of Ratisbon. Erfurt. Paderborn, Wiirzburg. Eich- stiidt, Salzburg, and several others owe their es- tablishment to Saint Boniface. The famous Abbey of Fulda is also one of his foundations (742-44). He was named Archbishop of Mainz by Pepin (744), whom he consecrated as King of the Franks at Soissons ( 752 ), and he presided in the council held at that place. In 754 he re- signed his archbisho))ric at Mainz, and resumed anew his apostolic hibors among the Frisians; and at Dokkum.near Leeuw.arden. in West Fries- land, this venerable Christian hero was set upon by a mob of armed heathens and killed, along with the congregation of converts that were with him (.lune 5, 755). His remains were taken first to Utrecht, then to Mainz, and finally to Fulda. In tlie abbey there is still shown a copy of the Gospels written by him, and a leaf stained with blood. A collection of his letters, and the canons ho promulgated for the discipline of the newly established churches, have been preserved, and are instructive as to the state of Gennanv at the time. The liest edition of his Letters (Epistolie) is that of Diimmler (1892). In 1811 a monument was erected to Saint Boni- face on a hill near Altenberga, in the Principality of (Jotha. where, according to tradition, he erected (721) the first Christian church in North Germany. - statue by Henschel of Cassel was also erected to him in Fulda in 1842. His works are in Migne il'at. l,iit.. LXXXIX.) ; also ed. Giles (London, 1844, 2 vols.) ; for his Life, con-