Boniface of Savoy

Funerary monument of Boniface of Savoy. Depiction from 1658

Boniface of Savoy (also Boniface of Canterbury ) (* 1206/1207; † July 14, 1270 in Sainte-Hélène-sur-Isère ) was an Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of England .

Origin and youth

Boniface came from the House of Savoy , which had ruled Piedmont and Savoy in the western Alps since the 11th century . He was probably the seventh son of Count Thomas I of Savoy (1178-1233) and his wife Marguerite. As a younger son, like four of his brothers, he was destined for a spiritual career, but as the only one of his siblings he actually felt called to be a clergyman. In 1224 he was probably a novice in the Carthusian monastery of Les Portes in Bénonces , a subsidiary of the Grande Chartreuse south of Chambéry . He never took the monastic vows, however, as he was elected Bishop of Belley and Prior of Nantua in 1232 through the influence of his father . After he was ordained a subdeacon , these elections were confirmed in 1233. In the same year, after the death of his father, he inherited the castle of Ugine .

At the beginning of 1236 the English king Heinrich III married. Boniface's niece Eleanor of Provence . The king also invited his wife's relatives to England. After his brothers Wilhelm and Peter had already gone to England, the king tried to get Boniface, who had never been to England, to be elected bishop of Winchester in absentia . After this attempt failed, the king succeeded in persuading the Cathedral Chapter of Canterbury , which had been excommunicated by Archbishop Edmund Rich , to elect Boniface Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of England on February 1, 1241. Pope Innocent IV , who tried to win support in his conflict with Emperor Frederick II and was influenced by the influential family of Boniface in northern Italy, confirmed the election on September 16, 1243. Shortly after February 27, 1244 Boniface received the temporalities . Although he had promised to move to England as soon as possible, it was another seven months before he arrived in England. The reason for this was probably a dispute with the French nobleman Étienne II. De Thoire-Villars over the jurisdiction of the priory of Nantua.

Serving as Archbishop of Canterbury

Election as archbishop, financial difficulties and stay in France

When Boniface finally arrived in England on April 25, 1244, he was taken over by Henry III. warmly welcomed and presented with a miter set with precious stones worth 300 marks . He was ordained a priest by Walter de Cantilupe , Bishop of Worcester . He found his archbishopric heavily indebted, so that his first goal was to clean up the finances. His subordinate suffragan bishops refused to give him financial support. On November 26th Boniface then left England again and traveled to Lyon , where the exiled Innocent IV consecrated him as bishop on January 15, 1245. For the financial rehabilitation of his diocese, the Pope granted him the income from vacant benefices in the ecclesiastical province of Canterbury for a period of up to seven years, but up to a maximum of 10,000 marks , and he gave him permission to pay a fee from the clergy of his ecclesiastical province. The suffragan bishops subordinate to him protested against this interference with their rights. Boniface then threatened them with dismissal, and with the support of the Pope he could begin to pay off the debts of his diocese. With the exception of two brief visits to Savoy, Boniface was at the papal court in Lyon during his papal exile from 1244 to 1249. During his stay, he promoted the canonization of his predecessor Edmund Rich, which took place in 1246, and he took part in the First Council of Lyons , convened by the Pope and held from June to July 1245 . He was selected as one of four archbishops to certify the privileges previously granted to the church by emperors and kings. To the annoyance of the English king, he also helped arrange the marriage of his niece Beatrix of Provence to Charles of Anjou , the younger brother of the French king. During his long absence from England, he became more determined to defend the freedoms of the church, to evade secular control, to pursue church reforms and thus to strengthen his own influence.

Conflicts with the English clergy

It was not until September 1249 that Boniface returned to England and was installed as Archbishop of Canterbury on All Saints' Day in the presence of the King and Queen and most of the prelates. Proponents of ecclesiastical reforms such as Bishop Robert Grosseteste of Lincoln and the Franciscan Adam Marsh hoped that Boniface would drive ecclesiastical reforms further, since as a relative of the queen he also had the support of the king. Boniface, however, initially continued to redevelop the finances of the archbishopric. By reorganizing the administration, collecting all income and services from the tenants, selling wood and using parts of Romney Marsh , he was able to repay debts of more than 22,000 marks by 1261. In the spring of 1250, when the displeasure of his suffragan bishops and other clergy about his financial demands peaked, Boniface exercised his rights as metropolitan and made a visitation of the clergy in the ecclesiastical province of Canterbury. He wanted to push ahead with church reforms and review the administration of the clergy, which is why he was accompanied by Franciscans and Dominicans. His suffragan bishops, on the other hand, were determined to repel any attempt to monitor their activities. First, the dean and canons of St Paul's Cathedral in London, as clergymen subordinate to the Bishop of London, protested against his visitation, which Boniface nevertheless continued. He then visited the Canons of St Bartholomew-the-Great in London. When the prior wanted to celebrate worship with him as a primate of the English Church, but did not want to follow him into the chapter house to answer him there as archbishop, Boniface is said to have assaulted him. This is said to have caused a commotion, so that Boniface had to flee to the bishop's palace in Lambeth . Adam Marsh, who was accompanying the archbishop, reported that the dispute had arisen as a result of false accusations against Boniface raised by both the clergy and the people throughout the ecclesiastical province, while Matthew Paris blamed the archbishop, who was wearing his priestly robe wore armor. After this incident, Boniface Fulk excommunicated Basset , the Bishop of London, and others of his opponents. After both parties had turned to the Pope, Boniface left England on June 13, 1250. In the summer of 1251 he made a brief visit to his diocese, otherwise he did not return until the end of 1252. During his absence, the other bishops met several times to assert their privileges over the archbishop. In 1252, however, the Pope confirmed the archbishop's right to visit his ecclesiastical province, but at the same time he lifted the excommunications issued by Boniface and restricted the financial obligations of the parishes of other dioceses towards the archbishopric. In the same year, 1252, Boniface's elder brother, Count Amadeus IV, gave him the castle of Tournon and the Sainte-Hélène-sur-Isère estate in the Tarentaise . After his return to England on November 18, 1252, Boniface was more conciliatory towards the clergy. According to the provisions of the Pope, he made periodic visitations to his church province until 1262, during which, however, there were no further incidents.

Implementation of church reforms

Boniface continued to be an energetic advocate of his ecclesiastical rights. Between 1258 and 1259 he entered into agreements with his three most powerful vassals, Canterbury Cathedral Priory , the Diocese of Rochester and the Earl of Gloucester , through which he consolidated his legal position. In 1261 he settled a long-standing dispute with the Diocese of Lincoln , thereby securing the right to appoint the members of his household himself and not to have to take officials from the diocese. These members of his household were also given the right to take over the management of the diocese during a sedis vacancy . The agreement became a model for other dioceses, the diocese of London took over the model on August 21, 1262 and the Salisbury diocese on January 18, 1263. In relation to his suffragan bishops, Boniface strengthened his position by establishing the Arches Court in London as the supreme spiritual court for the province of Canterbury. The ordination of new bishops in his ecclesiastical province usually took place in Canterbury, and Boniface expected the other bishops to attend these ceremonies. Of the 37 bishops he consecrated, 34 promised him obedience. He also had a hospital built in Maidstone and the great hall of the episcopal palace begun by his predecessor in Canterbury.

Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop's London residence, was sacked by his enemies in 1252

Relationship to Heinrich III.

To the great annoyance and disappointment of Heinrich III. Boniface was not only an energetic defender of his spiritual privileges, but also a staunch opponent of the king's interference in spiritual elections. He resolutely defended this attitude until his death. Even before he came to England, he disapproved of the king's attempt to prevent William Raleigh from being elected Bishop of Winchester . In 1244 he rejected Heinrich's attempt to have his official Robert Passelewe elected Bishop of Chichester after Bishop Robert Grosseteste found him unsuitable for the office. Instead, the bishops named Richard of Chichester as the new bishop, with the support of the Pope. It was only after a long dispute that the King recognized Richard of Chichester as the new bishop in 1247.

Boniface was dismayed by the arrogance, arrogance and brutality of the Lusignans , Heinrich's half-brothers, who came to England in 1247 and were soon vying for the king's favor with the Savoy, the queen's relatives. After Boniface prevented the attempt by Aymer de Lusignan , one of the king's half-brothers and elected Bishop of Winchester, to obtain patronage over St Thomas' Hospital in Southwark in 1252 , his palace in Lambeth was sacked by followers of the Lusignans and his officials mistreated. Those responsible for this were excommunicated by Boniface, and not before January 13, 1253, Boniface had reconciled with Aymer.

The king made a crusade vow during a solemn ceremony in Westminster on March 6, 1250, during which Boniface, who perhaps also took a crusade, symbolically presented him with a cross. Boniface succeeded in convincing the clergy to grant the king financial support for the crusade, in return Henry renewed the recognition of the Magna Carta . Together with thirteen other bishops, Boniface threatened on May 13, 1253, those who violated the provisions of the Magna Carta and the freedom of the Church, the excommunication. This threat was confirmed by Pope Innocent on September 28th. In the next summer Boniface accompanied the heir to the throne Lord Eduard in Gascony , then he traveled to Italy in October 1254. In Italy he took part in negotiations with the Pope, which revealed that the Church's crusade tithe could also be used for the conquest of Sicily by the English king, which had been planned in the meantime . Until November 1256 Boniface was mostly in his native Savoy. In the summer of 1255 he and his brothers Peter and Philipp took part in a fruitless attempt to free their captured brother, Count Thomas, from captivity in Turin . In the meantime, King Henry continued to collect money from the Church for his Sicilian adventure , which led to increasing displeasure among the bishops. In May 1257, the clergy granted the king further financial assistance only on condition that he investigate complaints and not use the assistance as a precedent for new taxes. Pope Alexander IV then brokered a compromise, but the king was angry about the conditions and forbade the prelates and other clergy to take part in a meeting called by Boniface for August 1257. Despite the ban, most of the prelates attended the meeting and discussed a list of their complaints, but also the use of spiritual sanctions in response to violations of church freedoms. In June 1258, Boniface called another meeting in Merton , Surrey, which was later moved to Westminster, and at which the clergy presented a long list of ordinances defining the rights of the Church.

Role in the war of the barons

Initial supporter of the aristocratic opposition

Although the clergy probably did not take part in Parliament that passed the Provisions of Oxford in June 1258 , Boniface participated in the reform efforts of the barons, especially since he had to applaud some of their goals. Together with his brother Peter he belonged to the new 15-member royal council, which was supposed to advise the king, but also to supervise it. He was even nominally its chairman, while his rival Bishop Aymer de Lusignan and the other Lusignans were forced to leave England. Church reform was sought after the Provisions of Oxford, and Boniface threatened opponents of the Provisions with excommunication during a solemn ceremony.

Boniface became increasingly disillusioned with the new government of the barons when, despite his protests, they brought the castles of Canterbury and Rochester under their control, broke off preparations for the campaign to Sicily and finally excluded his brother Peter from the council as an undesirable foreigner. No attempt was made to reform the Church either. In March 1260 Boniface resisted an attempt by Simon de Montfort , who had become the leader of the barons, to convene a parliament against the wishes of King Henry. He later helped Richard of Cornwall , the king's brother, who was married to Boniface's niece Sancha , to reconcile Henry with his son Edward. In the spring of 1261, Pope Alexander issued a bull releasing the king from his oath on commission. Boniface was one of those empowered by the Pope to release other prelates and magnates from their oaths. In August Boniface published papal absolution and threatened legal counsel Hugh Bigod with excommunication if he refused to return Rochester and Canterbury Castle and other castles.

After a request from the Pope for financial support for the fight of the Hungarian King Béla IV against the Mongols , Boniface called a council for May 8, 1261 in Lambeth . During the council he complained that neither the king nor the barons were interested in improving the situation of the church. Although the disgruntled Henry sent a delegation led by Peter of Savoy and Lord Eduard to the assembly who contradicted these allegations, the clergy passed the Constitutions of Lambeth on May 13, 1261 . In it they reaffirmed the reforms they had decided in 1258 and asked the Pope to confirm them. The king then sent lawyers to Rome who demanded that the Pope withdraw the Constitutions, as they were at the expense of the king's rights and dignity. In January 1262, the king sent further lawyers to complain to the Pope about the archbishop and his suffragan bishops. On February 25, 1262 the new Pope Urban IV confirmed the order of his predecessor and ordered Boniface to release the king from his oaths. He also declared all promises made by the prelates and magnates that contradicted the dignity of the crown and were to the detriment of the empire as null and void.

Exile during the civil war

After Boniface left England on October 8, 1262, presumably to receive confirmation of the Constitutions of Lambeth from the Pope and to support his family in Savoy, he found himself increasingly isolated and powerless. His tendency to abuse his spiritual power in order to achieve his worldly goals had caused increasing concern in Rome. While Pope Innocent Boniface had supported Pope Alexander IV declined. Decisions of Boniface, like the 1256 Adam Marsh instead of Hugh of Balsham the Bishop of Ely to make it from. The Pope was also concerned about the archbishop's interference in the ecclesiastical jurisdiction. In view of the impending civil war, the Pope could not allow Boniface to continue to insist on his church reform plans. Out of consideration for King Heinrich, Urban IV refused to recognize the Constitutions again in January 1263, even though he admitted that he found no errors in them. He appointed Guy Foulquois , the Cardinal Bishop of Sabina, as papal legate for England, thereby depriving Boniface of much of his power. The now open war of the barons against the king in England, especially the plundering of the archbishop's estates in Kent by the king's supporters, made a safe return impossible for Boniface and further undermined his influence. Without the leadership of the archbishop in exile, numerous prelates supported Bishop Walter de Cantilupe and other bishops who supported the aristocratic opposition under Simon de Montfort. Due to the lack of communication, the monk Adam of Chillenden from Canterbury managed to become prior of the cathedral convent . After the king's defeat at the Battle of Lewes in May 1264, Boniface rejected the barons' demand either to return to England or to surrender his power. In view of the king's defeat, Boniface now had his support again and refused to ordain Walter Giffard as Bishop of Bath and Wells as long as he did not travel to see him in Savoy. In view of the uncertain future and perhaps already sick and bedridden, Boniface made his will on October 11, 1264 in Tournon . In view of his numerous travels, it is not surprising that he donated money to build a bridge over the Rhone between Savoy and France.

Extensive disempowerment, renewed exile and death

It was not until May 29, 1266, almost ten months after the decisive defeat of Montfort at Evesham , that Boniface returned to England and was able to get back his treasure, which included silver and jewelry worth 6,000 marks and was secured for him by his officials during the Civil War was. By then the new papal legate Ottobono Fieschi , appointed on May 4, 1265, had taken over the management of ecclesiastical affairs and taken measures against the supporters of Montfort among the bishops. Although he had good contacts with Cardinal Deacon Ottobono, since his sister Béatrice de Fieschi was married to Boniface's youngest brother Thomas, Boniface remained in Ottobono's shadow until he left England in July 1268. Only then was Boniface able to act freely again and resolved a dispute over the vacancy of the Sedis with the cathedral chapter of Worcester. Although Boniface had at first been discouraged by his looted and devastated possessions, he was now determined to face all threats to his rights and privileges. He had already shown this in April 1266 when, to the king's astonishment, he contradicted the granting of a benefice in Herefordshire .

Although Boniface presumably attended the council convened by Ottobono in St Paul’s in London in April 1268, there is no evidence that he played a role in the discussions and major decisions on reforming the Church. In October 1268 he was too sick to attend the solemn festival of Edward the Confessor at Westminster, and Walter Giffard, Archbishop of York since 1267 , revived the old dispute over primacy between the Archbishops of York and Canterbury. During the solemn festival he had his cross carried before that of the Archbishop of Canterbury, whereupon Boniface imposed the interdict on London. He left England on November 14, 1268 and never returned. He bequeathed 1,000 marks of his property for the poor on his estates and 20 marks for poor students in Oxford. After his death, he was buried along with other members of his family in the Cistercian Abbey of Hautecombe .

The abbey church of Hautecombe in Savoy where Boniface was buried

Aftermath

While Boniface in England, mainly because of his negative portrayal by the chronicler Matthew Paris , was long regarded as a violent, greedy and neglecting archbishop who came from abroad, he enjoyed a high reputation in Italy, especially in Savoy. He had never lost touch with his homeland and spent almost half of his 29-year tenure as archbishop outside of England. At the end of the 14th century, his grave, which was adorned with a magnificent bronze funerary monument, had become a pilgrimage destination and it was claimed that Boniface performed miracles in England. When the grave was opened in 1580, his body was allegedly found almost indestructible . His funerary monument was melted down during the French Revolution , but his remains were reburied under the high altar of the church. In 1839 he was at the instigation of King Karl Albert of Sardinia-Piedmont by Pope Gregory XVI. Beatified , and a new stone funerary monument was erected for him in the church.

rating

Boniface was undoubtedly aggressive and arrogant. He found himself in a perpetual conflict between his family, the king and the interests of the Church that he could not resolve. During numerous critical moments during his tenure, he was abroad, partly because of family issues. The Second War of the Barons destroyed the unity of the church reformers and weakened the authority of his office as archbishop and primate. However, his stubborn and persistent defense of his ecclesiastical rights made him the guardian of ecclesiastical freedom. He enforced the right of visitations against his subordinate bishops and his agreement with the cathedral chapter resolved a long-standing conflict. The Constitutions of Lambeth, with which his reform efforts failed, nevertheless had an influence on canon law in England until the 17th century. This means that his mistakes are offset by lasting successes, so that his image is now also seen in England in a more differentiated manner.

literature

• Alan Butler; Paul Burns: Butler's Lives of the Saints . Burns & Oates, Tunbridge Wells 2005. ISBN 0-86012-382-0 , pp. 104-107

Web links

Commons : Boniface of Savoy  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Boniface of Canterbury in Heiligenlexikon.de
• Clive H. Knowles: Savoy, Boniface of (1206 / 7-1270). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004

Individual evidence

1. ^ Alan Harding: England in the thirteenth century . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1993. ISBN 0-521-30274-9 , p. 240

predecessor	Office	successor
Edmund Rich	Archbishop of Canterbury 1241–1270	Robert Kilwardby