Editing Pope Boniface VI

{{short description|Head of the Catholic Church in 896}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[List of popes|Pope]]
| name = Boniface VI
| image = 
| birth_name = Bonifacio
| term_start = 11 April 896
| term_end = 26 April 896
| predecessor = [[Formosus]]
| successor = [[Stephen VI]]
| birth_date = 
| birth_place = [[Rome]], [[Papal States]]
| death_date = 26 April 896
| death_place = Rome, Papal States<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Boniface-VI|title=Boniface VI|author=((The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica))|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=9 August 2016}}</ref>
| other = Boniface
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
}}

'''Pope Boniface VI''' ({{langx|la|Bonifatius VI}}; died 26 April 896), a native of [[Rome]],<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Platina
  | first = Bartolomeo
  | author-link = Bartolomeo Platina
  | title = The Lives of the Popes From The Time Of Our Saviour Jesus Christ to the Accession of Gregory VII
  | publisher = Griffith Farran & Co.
  | location = London
  | pages = 237
  | volume = I
  | year= 1479
  | url = https://archive.org/details/thelivesofthepop01platuoft
   | access-date= 2013-04-25
}}</ref> 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]].<ref name="Richard P. McBrien, 146">{{cite book |first=Richard P. |last=McBrien |title=Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to Benedict XVI |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2000 |page=146 |isbn=0-06-087807-X }}</ref> After a [[pontificate]] of fifteen days, he is said by some to have died of [[gout]],<ref name="Richard P. McBrien, 146" /> and by others to have been forcibly ejected to make way for [[Stephen VI]], the candidate of the [[Duchy of Spoleto|Spoletan]] party.<ref name="ce">{{Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle=Pope Boniface VI|inline=1}}</ref>

The Papal historian [[Caesar Baronius]] describes him as a 'disgusting monster' guilty of adultery and homicide. <ref>{{cite book |last1=Baronius |first1=Caesar |title=Annales Ecclesiastici. in Monumenta Germaniae Historica |date=1868}}</ref>

At a [[synod]] in Rome held by [[Pope John IX|John IX]] in 898, his election was pronounced null and void.<ref name="Richard P. McBrien, 146"/>

Little is written about the life of Boniface VI. It is believed by historians that his father was a man called Adrian, who was also a bishop.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2017-01-27 |title=Pope Boniface VI - PopeHistory.com |url=https://popehistory.com/popes/pope-boniface-vi/ |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=popehistory.com |language=en-US}}</ref> He then likely served as a sub-deacon or priest before his election to the papacy. <ref name=":0" />

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}
*[[List of shortest-reigning popes]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

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{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Formosus]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=896}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Stephen VI]]}}
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{{Popes}}
{{Catholicism}}
{{History of the Catholic Church}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boniface, Pope, Vi}}
[[Category:Popes|Boniface 06]]
[[Category:Italian popes|Boniface 06]]
[[Category:896 deaths|Boniface 06]]
[[Category:9th-century archbishops|Boniface 06]]
[[Category:9th-century popes]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Peter's Basilica]]

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