BONIFACE VII, ANTIPOPE. — Died in 985, having risen to power in June–July 974, and again from August 984 to July 985.
Taking advantage of the absence of Emperor Otto II, who was engaged in a struggle against the Duke of Bavaria and other vassals, Crescentius of Theodora fomented a revolt in Rome. The imperial pope, Benedict VI, was seized, imprisoned in Castel Sant’Angelo, and replaced by a “national” pope, the deacon Francone, son of Ferruccio, who took the name Boniface VII (June 974). The intervention of Count Sicco, *missus imperiale*, was initially ineffective and even precipitated events, for Benedict VI was strangled in prison. Sicco then prevailed and was elected as Pope Benedict VII, while Boniface managed to flee to Constantinople with the Church’s treasury.
When Otto II died, leaving the empire to a three-year-old son, Boniface believed the moment had come for his return. In April 984 he seized John XIV, who had succeeded Benedict VII in 983, and confined him in Castel Sant’Angelo, where he died four months later, either of hunger or poison. Boniface’s rule, however, was brief and shrouded in obscurity; moreover, it was Crescentius the Nomentane who truly held power. Nevertheless, the sources attribute to Boniface acts of fierce vengeance. He died suddenly in July 985, perhaps by violent means. His corpse was dragged through the streets of Rome and cast before the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. The following morning, some of his relatives gave him a Christian burial.