Boniface V, Pope

BONIFACIO V, POPE. – Born in Naples, he succeeded Deusdedit or Adeodatus in the pontificate on 8 November 618 and was consecrated on 23 December 619. At this time, even before B. had been 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 toward Rome in order to seize II. But his own soldiers killed him in the castle of Luccioli, between Gubbio and Cagli, and sent his head to Constantinople. B. is especially remembered for his solicitude toward the English Church. Indeed, he wrote to Mellitus, who had passed from the see of London to that of Canterbury, and sent the pallium to his successor, Justus, exhorting him to continue the work of converting the Anglo-Saxons. According to Beda’s testimony, B. was the author of the letters sent to the king of Northumberland, Edwin, inviting him to convert and destroy the idols, and to his wife Edelberga, encouraging her to communicate to her husband the faith she had already embraced. According to some historians, however, the letters were written by Honorius I, B.’s successor. The Liber Pontificalis informs us that B. issued regulations concerning the validity of wills, the right of asylum, and the duties of acolytes. He died on 25 October 625 and was buried in St Peter’s. The Liber Pontificalis also recalls his gentleness, his mercy, and his love for the clergy, in whose favor he established bequests in his will.