BONIFACIO V, PAPA

BONIFACE V, POPE. — Born in Naples, he succeeded Deuisedit or Adeodatus in the pontificate on 8 Nov. 618, and was consecrated on 23 Dec. 619. At that time, even before B. was consecrated, Eleutherius, the ambitious Exarch of Ravenna, taking advantage of the war between the Byzantine Empire and the Persians, rebelled against the Emperor and marched on Rome to seize II. But his own soldiers killed him in the castle of Luccelio, between Gubbio and Cagli, and sent his head to Constantinople. B. is especially remembered for his solicitude toward the English Church. He indeed wrote to Mellitus, who had passed from the see of London to that of Canterbury, and sent the pallium to his successor, Justus, urging him to continue the work of converting the Anglo-Saxons. According to the testimony of Bede, B. would be the author of the letters sent to Edwin, king of Northumbria, to invite him to convert and destroy the idols, and to his wife Æthelburh, to encourage her to communicate the faith, which she had already embraced, to her husband. Some historians, however, attribute these letters to Honorius I, B.’s successor. The *Liber Pontificalis* informs us that B. issued norms regarding the validity of wills, the right of asylum, and the duties of acolytes. He died on 25 Oct. 625 and was buried in St. Peter’s. The *Liber Pontificalis* also recalls his gentleness, his mercy, and his love for the clergy, for whose benefit he established bequests in his will.