Editing Boniface of Savoy (bishop) (section)

==Controversies==
Boniface was energetic in defending the liberties of his see, and clashed with King Henry over the election of Henry's clerk Robert Passelewe to the [[Diocese of Chichester|see of Chichester]]. [[Robert Grosseteste]], the [[Bishop of Lincoln]], had examined Passelewe, and found him unfit for episcopal office, and Boniface then quashed the election in 1244. He was also involved in disputes with the king's half-brothers, especially [[Aymer de Valence]], who was Bishop of Winchester. He also quarrelled with his [[suffragan bishop]]s, who resented his attempts to supervise their affairs closely.<ref name=DNB/> In 1250 Boniface attempted a visitation of his province, and this disturbed his suffragan bishops, who protested that Boniface was taking exorbitant amounts of money during his visits. They appealed to the pope, who reaffirmed the right of Boniface to conduct his visitation but set a limit on the amount that could be taken from any monastery or church.<ref name=Gibbs157>Gibbs ''Bishops and Reform'' p. 157</ref> After the visitation, Boniface left England again and only returned in 1252, after the pope had decided the bishops' appeal in Boniface's favour. After his return, he continued to assert his rights and settled a number of disputes with his bishops. He secured professions of obedience from all but three of the 37 bishops consecrated during his time as archbishop. He also set up a court at Canterbury that heard appeals from the ecclesiastical courts of his suffragan bishops.<ref name=DNB/>

Boniface clashed with Henry's half-brothers, the [[Lusignan dynasty|Lusignan]]s, who arrived in England in 1247 and competed for lands and promotions with the queens' Savoy relatives. Boniface's quarrel with Aymer de Valence over a hospital in Southwark led to the archbishop's palace at Lambeth being plundered and one of Boniface's functionaries being kidnapped. The dispute with Aymer was only settled in early 1253. Boniface was once more absent from England from October 1254 to November 1256, and spent most of that time in Savoy where he attempted to help his brothers rescue their eldest brother Thomas who was being held captive at Turin.<ref name=DNB/>

In 1258 and 1259, Boniface was a member of the Council of Fifteen, which conducted business for Henry III under the [[Provisions of Oxford]]. This Council consisted of the earls of [[Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester|Leicester]], [[Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford|Gloucester]], [[Roger Bigod, 4th Earl of Norfolk|Norfolk]], [[William Maudit, 8th Earl of Warwick|Warwick]], [[Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford|Hereford]], the [[William de Forz, 4th Earl of Albemarle|Count of Aumale]], Peter of Savoy, [[John Fitzgeoffrey|John fitzGeoffrey]], [[Peter de Montfort]], Richard Grey, [[Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer|Roger Mortimer]], James Audley, [[John Maunsell]], [[Walter de Cantilupe|Walter de Cantilupe, Bishop of Worcester]] as well as Boniface.<ref name=Powell189>Powell and Wallis ''House of Lords'' pp. 189–190</ref> One of the actions of this council was to send the Lusignans into exile.<ref name=DNB/> In April 1260, Boniface worked with [[Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall|Richard of Cornwall]] to broker a peace between King Henry and Prince Edward.<ref name=DNB/>

Boniface accompanied the queen and Prince [[Edward I of England|Edward]] to [[Burgos]] for the marriage of Edward to [[Eleanor of Castile]] and Edward's knighting.<ref name=Edward10>Prestwich ''Edward I'' p. 10</ref> But in 1261 Boniface held a church council at Lambeth, where a series of ecclesiastical laws were published which denounced any royal limitations on ecclesiastical courts. These decrees were done without royal consent and thus was tantamount to an ecclesiastical revolt against royal authority similar to the baronial opposition movement that had begun in 1258.<ref name=Gray215>Gray "Archbishop Pecham" ''Studies in Church History II'' pp. 215–216</ref>

During the [[Second Barons' War]], Boniface seems to have sided first with the English bishops against King Henry, but later he sided with Henry. In 1262, he went to France, excommunicating the barons opposing the king. He was not summoned to the Parliament at London in January 1265 because he was abroad.<ref name=Powell196>Powell and Wallis ''House of Lords'' p. 196</ref> On the triumph of the king's party in 1265, he returned to England, arriving there in May 1266.<ref name=DNB/>