Boniface
English monk, born Winfrid, sent by Pope Gregory II in 719 to preach in Germany. He became bishop in 722 and later archbishop, founded bishoprics and the abbey of Fulda, reformed the Frankish church and was killed in Frisia on 5 June 754.
Winfrid grew up in English monasteries and taught at Nursling before he left for the continent (Willibald, Life of Boniface 2 (pp. 33–34)). The commission he received from Pope Gregory II on 15 May 719 addresses him as Boniface, the name by which he is known (Boniface, Letters Tangl 12). His oath as bishop, sworn at Rome in 722, bound him to the Catholic faith and its unity and to loyalty to Peter and the pope (Boniface, Letters Tangl 16).
He worked for more than thirty years in Hesse, Thuringia, Bavaria and the Frankish kingdom, presided as archbishop at the reforming synods held under Carloman, and held the see of Mainz (Willibald, Life of Boniface 8 (pp. 74–78)). He founded the monastery of Fulda and asked to be buried there (Boniface, Letters Tangl 86). He was killed with his companions in Frisia on 5 June; Willibald gives the year as 755, the tradition of Fulda as 754 (Willibald, Life of Boniface 8 (pp. 82–91)). See Boniface, Apostle to the Germans.
In the timeline
- AD 719–754, estimated dateBoniface, Apostle to the Germans
The English monk Winfrid, renamed Boniface, is sent by Pope Gregory II to preach east of the Rhine. He fells the sacred oak at Geismar, founds bishoprics and the abbey of Fulda, reforms the Frankish church under Roman authority, and is killed in Frisia.
Primary sources
Life of Saint Boniface
- Willibald, Life of Boniface 2 (pp. 33–34)archive.org
- Willibald, Life of Boniface 8 (pp. 74–78)archive.org
- Willibald, Life of Boniface 8 (pp. 82–91)archive.org
Letters of Boniface
- Boniface, Letters Tangl 12sourcebooks.fordham.edu
- Boniface, Letters Tangl 16sourcebooks.fordham.edu
- Boniface, Letters Tangl 86sourcebooks.fordham.edu