Pope Boniface VI


Boniface VI
Bishop of Rome
ChurchCatholic Church
Papacy began11 April 896
Papacy ended26 April 896
PredecessorFormosus
SuccessorStephen VI
Personal details
Born
Bonifacio

Died26 April 896
Rome, Papal States[1]
Other popes named Boniface

Pope Boniface VI (Latin: Bonifatius VI; died 26 April 896), a native of Rome,[2] served very briefly as the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States in April of 896. He was elected as a result of riots soon after the death of Pope Formosus on April 4. Prior to his reign, he had twice incurred a sentence of deprivation of orders as a subdeacon and as a priest.[3] After a pontificate of fifteen days, he is said by some to have died of the gout,[3] and by others to have been forcibly ejected to make way for Stephen VI, the candidate of the Spoletan party.[4]

At a synod in Rome held by John IX in 898, his election was pronounced null and void.[3]

  1. ^ The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Boniface VI". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  2. ^ Platina, Bartolomeo (1479), The Lives of the Popes From The Time Of Our Saviour Jesus Christ to the Accession of Gregory VII, vol. I, London: Griffith Farran & Co., p. 237, retrieved 2013-04-25
  3. ^ a b c McBrien, Richard P. (2000). Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to Benedict XVI. HarperCollins. p. 146. ISBN 0-06-087807-X.
  4. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainHerbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pope Boniface VI". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.