Also known as:
French: Boniface de Savoie;
Latin: Bonifacius de Sabaudia
BONIFACE OF SAVOY, Blessed. - Born in the castle of Ste-Hélène-du-Lac in 1207 to Count Thomas I and Margaret of Geneva. Having entered the Grande Chartreuse of Grenoble, he was elected bishop of Belley in 1232. In 1241, through the good offices of Queen Eleanor of England, his niece, he passed to the archbishopric of Canterbury. The election was confirmed in 1243 by Innocent IV, and in 1244 B. went to England, where he was ordaineddeacon and priest by the bishop of Worcester. In 1245 he was consecrated bishop at Lyon by Pope Innocent IV and obtained from him support for settling the very serious debts of the church of Canterbury. Having returned to England in 1247, he was enthroned on the feast of All Saints in 1248. In order to remedy the many abuses of the English clergy, he undertook a pastoral visitation of his entire archdiocese and tenaciously sustained long struggles against the bishops and the chapters. In 1258 he convoked a council at Merton to affirm the rights of the English Church, especially in the election of bishops. At the same time the barons were forcing the king to swear to the Provisions of Oxford, while B., in agreement with the barons in demanding from the king respect for the pacts set down in the Magna Charta, was elected head of the Council for the reform of the kingdom. When, however, the radical barons demanded sweeping reforms and changes, he broke away from them and was subsequently forced to relinquish all interference in public affairs and to take refuge in France. In 1265, with the victory of Henry III, he was able to return to his see, but, worn out by his labors, on 20 Oct. 1268 he took leave of the king and retired to his native Savoy. On 14 July 1270 he died in the castle of Ste-Hélène-des-Millières, leaving behind a reputation for great simplicity and purity of morals and for great generosity toward the poor.
Gregory XVI on 1 Sept. 1838 confirmed the title of blessed, by which B. had always been invoked, and approved his cult. The feast is fixed on 29 July.
Bibliography4 worksE. Fedelini, Vie du bienheureux B. de S., Chambéry 1839; H. Mugnier, Les Savoyards en Angleterre au XIIIᵉ siècle, Paris 1891; G. Strickland,
BIBL.: E. Fedelini, Vie du bienheureux B. de S., Chambéry 1839; H. Mugnier, Les Savoyards en Angleterre au XIIIᵉ siècle, Paris 1891; G. Strickland, Ricerche storiche sopra il beato B. di S. arcivescovo di Canterbury 1207-1270, in Miscellanea di Storia Ital., 3rd series, I, Turin 1895, pp. 349-432 (with critical citation of the principal sources); F. Cognasso, Tommaso I ed Amedeo IV di Savoia, Turin 1941.
De, Sanctis Claudia. “Bonifacio di Savoia, beato.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. II, col. 1876. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1949. https://azioneromana.com/article/bonifacio-di-savoia-beato.
MLA
De, Sanctis Claudia. “Bonifacio di Savoia, beato.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. II, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1949, col. 1876. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/bonifacio-di-savoia-beato.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec2_bonifacio_di_savoia_beato,
author = {De, Sanctis Claudia},
title = {Bonifacio di Savoia, beato},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {II},
pages = {1876},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1949},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/bonifacio-di-savoia-beato}
}
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