Pope Boniface V (Latin:Bonifatius V; died 25 October 625) was thebishop of Rome from 23 December 619 to his death on 25 October 625. He did much for theChristianisation of Anglo-Saxon England,[2] and enacted the decree by which churches became places of sanctuary.
Boniface came fromNaples. His father's name was Ioannes or John. Nothing is known about his career before he becamepope. He waselected to succeedAdeodatus I after the latter's death in November 618, but thirteen months ofsede vacante ensued before the election wasratified by the imperial government inConstantinople.[3] During that time, Italy was disturbed by the rebellion of theexarch of Ravenna,Eleutherius, who proclaimed himself emperor. Eleutherius advanced towardsRome, but before he reached the city, he was slain by his own troops.[4] Boniface had been loyal to EmperorHeraclius, and his election was ratified on 23 December 619.[3]
Like Adeodatus I, Boniface V opposedGregory I's pro-monastic policy. For that reason, he prescribed thatacolytes should not presume totranslate the relics ofmartyrs and that, in theBasilica of Saint John Lateran, they should not take the place ofdeacons in administeringbaptism.[3] Boniface made certain enactments relative to the rights ofsanctuary, and that he ordered the ecclesiasticalnotaries to obey the laws of the empire on the subject ofwills. Boniface completed and consecrated the cemetery ofSaint Nicomedes on theVia Nomentana. In theLiber Pontificalis, Boniface is described as "the mildest of men", whose chief distinction was his great love for the clergy.[4]
Bede writes of the pope's affectionate concern for the English Church. The "letters of exhortation" which he is said to have addressed to ArchbishopMellitus of Canterbury and BishopJustus of Rochester areno longer extant, but certain other letters of his have been preserved. One is written to Justus after he had succeeded Mellitus asarchbishop of Canterbury in 624, conferring thepallium upon him and directing him to "ordain bishops as occasion should require." According to Bede, Pope Boniface also sent letters to KingEdwin of Northumbria in 625 urging him to embrace the Christian faith, and to Edwin's Christian wife,Æthelburg of Kent, exhorting her to use her best endeavours for the conversion of her husband.[4]
Hunt, William.The English Church from Its Foundation to the Norman Conquest. Vol. 1. "A History of the English Church", W. R. W. Stephens and William Hunt, ed. London: Macmillan and Co., 1912. 49, 56, 58
Jaffé,Regesta Pontificum Romanorum ab condita ecclesia ad annum 1198. Berlin, 1851; 2d ed., Leipsic, 1881–88. I, 222
Jungmann,Dissertationes Selectae in Historiam Ecclesiasticam, II, 389.
