Saint Boniface
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Saint Boniface (disambiguation).
| Saint Boniface of Mainz or Fulda | |
|---|---|
 Boniface |
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| Bishop and Martyr | |
| Born | c. 672 in Crediton, Wessex |
| Died | June 5, 754 in Frisia, Frankish Empire |
| Major shrine | Fulda |
| Feast | June 5 |
| Attributes | ax, book; fountain; fox; oak; raven; scourge; sword |
| Patronage | brewers; file cutters; Fulda, Germany; tailors; World Youth Day |
 Saints Portal |
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Saint Boniface (Latin: Bonifacius; German: Bonifatius; c. 672 - 5 June 754), the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid or Wynfrith at Crediton in Devon, England, was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century.
He was murdered in Frisia.
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[edit] Early life
Born at Crediton, Devon. He was of good family, and it was somewhat against his father's wishes that he devoted himself at an early age to the monastic life. He received his theological training in the Benedictine monasteries of Adescancastre, near Exeter and Nursling between Winchester and Southampton, under the abbot Winbert, taught in the abbey school and at the age of thirty became a priest. He wrote the first Latin grammar produced in England.
[edit] First Mission to Frisia
In 716 he set out on a missionary expedition to Frisia, intending to convert the Frisians by preaching to them in their own language, his own Anglo-Saxon language being similar to Frisian, but his efforts were frustrated by the war then being carried on between Charles Martel and Radbod, king of the Frisians. He returned to Nursling.
[edit] Thor's Oak and the Conversion of the Northern Germanic Tribes
Winfrid again set out in 718, visited Rome, and was commissioned in 719 by Pope Gregory II, who gave him his new name of Boniface, to evangelize in Germany and reorganize the church there. For five years he laboured in Hesse, Thuringia and Frisia, and on November 30, 722, he was elevated to bishop of the Germanic territories he would bring into the fold of the Roman Church.
In 723, Boniface felled the holy oak tree dedicated to Thor near the present-day town of Fritzlar in northern Hesse. He did this with Elijah in mind. Boniface called upon Thor to strike him down if he cut the "holy" tree. When Thor did not stike him down the people converted to Christianity. He built a chapel from its wood at the site where today stands the cathedral of Fritzlar, and later established the first bishopric in Germany north of the old Roman Limes at the Frankish fortified settlement of Büraburg, on a prominent hill facing the town across the Eder river. The felling of Thor's Oak is commonly regarded as the beginning of German christianization. And also from that point on Boniface went directly to the high places of the pagans and first struck them down(this inadvertantly cause his death). In 732, he traveled again to Rome to report, and Gregory II conferred upon him the pallium as archbishop with jurisdiction over Germany. Boniface again set out for what is now Germany, baptized thousands and dealt with the problems of many other Christians who had fallen out of contact with the regular hierarchy of the Catholic church. During his third visit to Rome in 737/38 he was made papal legate for Germany. In 745, he was granted Mainz as metropolitan see.
After his third trip to Rome, Boniface went to Bavaria and founded there the bishoprics of Salzburg, Regensburg, Freising and Passau.
In 742, one of his disciples, Sturm (also known as Sturmi, or Sturmius), founded the abbey of Fulda not too far from Boniface's earlier missionary outpost at Fritzlar. Although Sturm was the founding abbot of Fulda, Boniface was very involved in the foundation. The initial grant for the abbey was signed by Carloman, the son of Charles Martel.
[edit] Boniface and the Carolingians
The support of the Frankish Mayors of the Palace (maior domos) and later, the early Pippinid and Carolingian rulers, was essential for Boniface's work. Charles Martel erected four dioceses in Bavaria (Salzburg, Regensburg, Freising, and Passau) and gave them Boniface as archbishop and metropolitan over all Germany east of the Rhine, with his seat at Mainz. Boniface had been under his protection from 723 on, indeed the saint himself explained to his old friend, Daniel of Winchester, that without the protection of Charles Martel he could "neither administer his church, defend his clergy, nor prevent idolatry." The Christian Frankish leaders desired to defeat their rival power, the non-Christian Saxons, and to incorporate the Saxon lands into their own growing empire. Boniface's destruction of the indigenous Germanic faith and holy sites was, thus, an important part of the Frankish campaign against the Saxons. however Boniface's motives are unmistakable, he wished to spread the gospel first.
Boniface balanced this support and attempted to maintain some independence, however, by attaining the support of the papacy and of the Agilolfing rulers of Bavaria. In Frankish, Hessian and Thuringian territory, he established the dioceses of Büraburg, Würzburg and Erfurt. He also organised provincial synods in the Frankish Church, and maintained a sometimes turbulent relationship with the king of the Franks, Pepin, whom he may have crowned at Soissons in 751. By appointing his own followers as bishops, he was able to retain some independence from the Carolingians, who most likely were content to give him leeway as long as Christianity was imposed on the Saxons and other Germanic tribes.
[edit] Last mission to Frisia
He had never relinquished his hope of converting the Frisians, and in 754 he set out with a small retinue for Frisia. He baptized a great number, and summoned a general meeting for confirmation at a place not far from Dokkum, between Franeker and Groningen. Instead of his converts, however, a group of armed inhabitants appeared who slew the aged archbishop. This is called murder by his biographer, but the Frisians, according to their own law (The Lex Frisionum) had the right to kill him, since he had destroyed their shrines.
His remains were eventually buried in the abbey of Fulda, and are entombed within a shrine beneath the high alter of Fulda cathedral.
The forcible conversion of Germany up to the Elbe river was completed by Charlemagne, who destroyed the Saxons' independence in the last decades of the 8th century.
[edit] Trivia
A famous statue of St. Boniface stands on the grounds of Mainz Cathedral. A more modern rendition stands facing the cathedral of Fritzlar. A statue to him was unveiled in his native Crediton by Princess Margaret located in Newcombes Meadow Park. There is a wooden statue in the Anglican Church - see external link from Crediton. The UK National Shrine is located at the Roman Catholic church at Crediton, Devon, which has a bas-relief of the felling of Thor's Oak, and a series of paintings by Timothy Moore.
His feast day is June 5 in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and in the Church of England.
A cathedral has been dedicated to him in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is called Saint Boniface Cathedral and is a landmark in the city.
Also a little known fact is that he started the Christmas tree tradition that we know today. It is true other cultures had similar objects, but they were entirely different in meaning and purpose. The Christmas tree was made to be a symbol of Christ's sacrifice on the Cross. The trees which Boniface cut down to demonstrate this, were trees that were holy to the pagans. By cutting down the trees(after a startling scene) he was showing their gods would not be able to rebuke him because they were not real. But also that there was only one holy tree, the Cross upon which the christ had died.
[edit] See also
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