Pope Boniface V was
a Neopolitan and was consecrated pope on December 23, 619.
Before his consecration, Italy was disturbed by the
rebellion of the eunuch Eleutherius, Exarch of Ravenna.
Shortly after Boniface V became pope, Eleutherius, the
patrician pretender, proclaimed that he wished to assume the
imperial crown in Rome. This placed Pope
Boniface V in a delicate situation because of his loyalty to
Emperor Heraclius.
The rebel army freed Pope
Boniface V from worry over what could have been a very
fragile decision. Eleutherius’ own soldiers slew Eleutherius before he
could reach Rome sending his head to Emperor Heraclius in
Constantinople.
Pope Boniface V
secured enactments relative to the rights of sanctuary. He ordered the
ecclesiastical notaries to obey the laws of the empire on the subject of
wills. He set the standard that acolytes should not transfer the relics
of martyrs nor should they take the place of deacons in administering
baptism in the Lateran Basilica.
Pope Boniface V took
great interest in the infant church in England. He sent letters of
encouragement to the missionaries there. He affirmed that Canterbury was
the metropolitan See under the special protection of Rome and forbade
anyone to go against this. Meanwhile Paulinus, a dedicated missionary,
had been hard at work trying to convert the great northern kingdom of
Northumbria.
