Antipope Boniface VII

Last updated
Bonifacio 7.jpg
Antipope

Boniface VII
Diocese Rome
Papacy began
  • July 974 (first papacy)
  • c.20 August 984 (second papacy)
Papacy ended
  • c.August 974 (first papacy)
  • 20 July 985 (second papacy)
Predecessor Roman claimant:
Benedict VI
Benedict VII (first papacy)
John XIV (second papacy)
Antipapal claimant:
Christopher
SuccessorRoman claimant:
Benedict VII (first papacy)
John XIV
John XV (second papacy)
Antipapal claimant:
John XVI
Other post(s) Cardinal Deacon
Personal details
Born
Franco Ferrucci
Died20 July 985
Rome, Papal States

Antipope Boniface VII (died 20 July 985), otherwise known as Franco Ferrucci, was a Catholic prelate who claimed the Holy See in 974 and from 984 until 985. A popular tumult compelled him to flee to Constantinople in 974; he carried off a vast treasure, and returned in 984 and removed Pope John XIV (983–984) from office. He is supposed to have put Pope Benedict VI to death. After a brief second rule, he died under suspicious circumstances. He is today considered an antipope.

Contents

Early life

Originally named Franco, he was the son of Ferrucius. [1] He was born in Italy in the late 920s or early 930s AD, although the exact date is not known. Since his surname was Franco, it has been supposed that he belonged to a family of the name which is frequently mentioned in the documents of the tenth century, and which may have been of French origin. In 972 he became a cardinal deacon, a position which he held until he began his papacy in 974. However, little else is known about his early life simply due to the lack of documents available from this period of Rome as a whole.

Papacy

Under Benedict VI

When Pope John XIII, born Giovanni Crescentius, of the powerful Roman Crescentii family, died on 6 September 972, the majority of the electors who adhered to the imperial faction, elected Benedict, cardinal deacon of the church of Saint Theodore. The anti-imperial faction led by the Crescentii, supported Franco. Benedict was consecrated on 19 January 973 but lacked the support of much of the Roman aristocracy. [1] On 7 May 973 Otto the Great died, and Otto II took over. Otto II's preoccupation with events in Germany created an opportunity for the Roman aristocracy to rebel against the imperial administration.

First Reign

Crescentius, brother of the late Pope John XIII, led an insurrection and with the help of many Roman malcontents, kidnapped Pope Benedict VI. They imprisoned him in Castel Sant’Angelo [1] for nearly two months. In July 974 Franco assumed the papacy as Boniface VII. Although Otto II, who supported Pope Benedict VI, was still fighting in Bavaria, and could not make it to Rome, he sent Count Sicco, an imperial envoy from Spoleto, to demand the pope's release. When Sicco arrived at Castel Sant’Angelo, a priest named Stephen strangled Benedict VI, possibly on orders of Boniface VII. [2]

Boniface VII's reign was short. In one month and twelve days, the imperial representative Count Sicco had taken possession of the city. As riots and chaos ensued, Boniface VII took refuge in Castel Sant’Angelo where he robbed the treasury of the Vatican Basilica and fled to Byzantine territory in southern Italy. [3] The banishment of the antipope must have been the work of the imperial faction, which were again triumphant in Rome, led by Pandulf the Ironhead. Boniface VII is described as a monster by contemporaries, who stated that he was stained by the blood of Benedict VI. The events of this period in Rome are unfortunately only known to us through the insufficient notes, and we are barely aware of the rise of Boniface VII before we hear of his overthrow.

Under Benedict VII

Under the influence of Sicco, Benedict, Bishop of Sutri, was elected by the Roman clergy and people, as a compromise candidate in October 974. He took the name of Benedict VII. He was from the noble family of the Counts of Tusculum, and connected to the Crescentii family. Benedict VII immediately held a synod where he excommunicated Boniface. The Emperor celebrated the Easter of 981 in Rome and so overawed the factions that Benedict was able to finish his pontificate in peace. [2] Benedict died on 10 July 983.

Under John XIV

Peter of Pavia, Otto II's imperial chancellor for the Kingdom of Italy, was elected pope, taking the name of John XIV. However, shortly after the election, the Emperor fell seriously ill and died on 7 December 983. With Otto II's heir being only aged three, the anti-imperial faction finally felt free from the hated emperor and desired a Roman Pope. To this point, Boniface VII saw his opportunity and—in league with Greeks and Saracens—headed for Rome in April 984. With the help of both the treasury he had stolen from his first attempt at the papacy as well as the gold of his Greek followers, he was able to strike relationships with several powerful people. With the help of Crescentius’ sons, John and Crescentius II, Boniface had Pope John XIV imprisoned in Castel Sant’Angelo. Four months later, on 20 August 984, John XIV died in Sant’Angelo either due to starvation, poison, or by the order of Boniface. [2]

After the death of Pope John XIV, Boniface once again took hold of the papal throne. He still believed himself to be the only rightful pope, and back-dated his reign to 974.

Final days

Little is known of the reign of Boniface VII, but on 20 July 985 he suddenly died. It is possible that he was murdered, but it cannot be confirmed by any known sources. His body was dragged through the streets, stripped naked until it was left beneath Marcus Aurelius's statue in front of the Lateran Palace.

There were undoubtedly many atrocities that Boniface committed in the eleven months he was in power in 984–985, most of which were probably acts of revenge due to his previous exile. It is obvious he had become a stranger to the Roman people, and had most likely even become an inconvenience to his own followers. He was referred to as “Malefatius” instead of Bonifatius, and also “horrendum monstrum” by many, [4] showing the turn of feelings the people of Rome had had.

The anti-imperial faction, previously headed by Crescentius and now headed by his two sons, that had helped him rise to his papal status was now not so much Byzantine as it was Roman. They likely overthrew Boniface VII in hopes of seizing control of a vulnerable Rome. After a reign spanning eleven years, in which he overthrew two popes, allowing both to die in Castel Sant’Angelo, Boniface VII was finally dead. The following morning compassionate clerics removed the corpse and gave it a Christian burial.

See also

Related Research Articles

Pope Benedict VI was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 19 January 973 to his death in 974. His brief pontificate occurred in the political context of the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire, during the transition between the reigns of Otto I and Otto II, incorporating the struggle for power of Roman aristocratic families such as the Crescentii.

Pope Benedict VII was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from October 974 to his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Boniface IX</span> Head of the Catholic Church from 1389 to 1404

Pope Boniface IX was head of the Catholic Church from 2 November 1389 to his death, in October 1404. He was the second Roman pope of the Western Schism. During this time the Avignon claimants, Clement VII and Benedict XIII, maintained the Roman Curia in Avignon, under the protection of the French monarchy. He is the last pope to date to take on the pontifical name "Boniface".

Pope Gregory V, born Bruno of Carinthia, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 3 May 996 to his death. A member of the Salian dynasty, he was made pope by his cousin, Emperor Otto III.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">984</span> Calendar year

Year 984 (CMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avignon Papacy</span> Period during which the Pope lived in Avignon, France in the 14th century

The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon rather than in Rome. The situation arose from the conflict between the papacy and the French crown, culminating in the death of Pope Boniface VIII after his arrest and maltreatment by Philip IV of France. Following the subsequent death of Pope Benedict XI, Philip forced a deadlocked conclave to elect the French Clement V as pope in 1305. Clement refused to move to Rome, and in 1309 he moved his court to the papal enclave at Avignon, where it remained for the next 67 years. This absence from Rome is sometimes referred to as the "Babylonian captivity of the Papacy".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor</span> Holy Roman Emperor from 996 to 1002

Otto III was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor</span> Holy Roman Emperor from 973 to 983

Otto II, called the Red, was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">974</span> Calendar year

Year 974 (CMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.

Pope John XIII was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 October 965 to his death. His pontificate was caught up in the continuing conflict between the Holy Roman emperor, Otto I, and the Roman nobility. After long and arduous negotiations, he succeeded in arranging a Byzantine marriage for Otto II, in an effort to legitimize the Ottonian claim to imperial dignity. He also established church hierarchy in Poland and Bohemia.

Pope John XIV, born Peter Canepanova, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from December 983 until his death. Upon the death of Pope Benedict VII in July 983, Emperor Otto II nominated Canepanova to the papal throne after the abbot Maiolus of Cluny refused the office. The decision to install the then bishop of Pavia was made without consultation with the clergy and the Roman people, nor was it confirmed by formal election.

Pope John XVII, born John Sicco, was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States for about seven months in 1003. He was one of the popes chosen and eclipsed by the patrician John Crescentius.

John XVI was an antipope from 997 to 998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crescentii</span>

The Crescentii were a baronial family, attested in Rome from the beginning of the 10th century and which in fact ruled the city and the election of the popes until the beginning of the 11th century.

Benedict has been the papal name of fifteen Roman Catholic popes. The name is derived from the Latin benedictus, meaning "blessed".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crescentius the Elder</span>

Crescentius the Elder was a politician and aristocrat in Rome who played a part in the papal appointment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crescentius the Younger</span>

Crescentius the Younger, son of Crescentius the Elder, was a leader of the aristocracy of medieval Rome. During the minority of Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, he declared himself Consul of Rome and made himself de facto ruler of Rome. After being deposed, he led a rebellion, seized control of Rome, and appointed an antipope, but the rebellion failed and Crescentius was eventually executed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papal appointment</span>

Papal appointment was a medieval method of selecting the Pope. Popes have always been selected by a council of Church fathers, however, Papal selection before 1059 was often characterized by confirmation or nomination by secular European rulers or by the preceding pope. The later procedures of the Papal conclave are in large part designed to prohibit interference of secular rulers, which to some extent characterized the first millennium of the Roman Catholic Church, e. g. in practices such as the creation of crown-cardinals and the claimed but invalid jus exclusivae. Appointment may have taken several forms, with a variety of roles for the laity and civic leaders, Byzantine and Germanic emperors, and noble Roman families. The role of the election vis-a-vis the general population and the clergy was prone to vary considerably, with a nomination carrying weight that ranged from nearly determinative to merely suggestive, or as ratification of a concluded election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papal selection before 1059</span> Selection of popes before 1059

The selection of the Pope, the Bishop of Rome and Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church, prior to the promulgation of In Nomine Domini in AD 1059 varied throughout history. Popes were often putatively appointed by their predecessors or by political rulers. While some kind of election often characterized the procedure, an election that included meaningful participation of the laity was rare, especially as the Popes' claims to temporal power solidified into the Papal States. The practice of Papal appointment during this period would later result in the putative jus exclusivae, i.e., the claimed but invalid right to veto the selection that Catholic monarchs exercised into the twentieth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tusculan Papacy</span> Period of papal history from 1012 to 1048

The Tusculan Papacy was a period of papal history from 1012 to 1048 where three successive relatives of the counts of Tusculum were installed as pope.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Oestereich, Thomas. "Boniface VII (Antipope)." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 25 January 2016
  2. 1 2 3 "Brusher SJ, Joseph. Popes Through the Ages".
  3. Collins, Roger. Keepers of the Keys of Heaven, Basic Books, 2009, ISBN   9780786744183
  4. De Vries, Simon (1687). De geheele weereld in haere sonderlinghste en uytgeleesenste gevallen (in Dutch). Vol. 1. Jan Bouman. p. 739.

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain : 9th edition (1880s) of an unnamed encyclopedia