Gregory II
Roman-born pope who sent Boniface to preach in Germany and consecrated him bishop, and who refused the emperor Leo III’s orders against images while holding Italy back from open revolt.
The Liber Pontificalis says that Gregory was a Roman, the son of Marcellus, brought up from boyhood in the papal household, and that he held the see for more than fifteen years. It records that through Bishop Boniface he preached the word of salvation in Germany (Liber Pontificalis Gregory II (ed. Duchesne, vol. 1, pp. 396–397)), and that he was buried at St Peter’s on 11 February in the fourteenth indiction, which is 731 (Liber Pontificalis Gregory II (ed. Duchesne, vol. 1, p. 410)). His letter of 15 May 719 gave Boniface his commission, and in 722 he consecrated him bishop and received his oath (Boniface, Letters Tangl 12) (Boniface, Letters Tangl 16).
The same Life, written at Rome close to the events, says that the emperor Leo III tried to impose a tax on the Italian provinces, which Gregory resisted, and then sent orders that no image of any saint, martyr or angel should be kept, offering the pope his favour if he complied and deposition if he did not. Gregory rejected the order and wrote everywhere to warn Christians against it. When the armies of Italy wanted to elect an emperor of their own, he restrained them (Liber Pontificalis Gregory II (ed. Duchesne, vol. 1, pp. 403–405, 409)). See the Iconoclast Controversy Begins.
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
Letters of Boniface
- Boniface, Letters Tangl 12sourcebooks.fordham.edu
- Boniface, Letters Tangl 16sourcebooks.fordham.edu