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Boniface VII, Pope or Antipope of Rome


X Century
By birth Franco, Boniface VII was pope or antipope from June-July, 974 and from August, 984 to July, 985. When Benedict VI was murdered, Count Crescentius put Boniface on the papal throne; however, when Otto II invaded Rome, Boniface fled to Constantinople, where he enjoyed the protection of the emperor and the spoils of the Roman treasury. Otto arranged the election of Benedict VII. When Otto died in 984, Boniface returned to Rome and imprisoned John XIV, who had succeeded Benedict VII. Boniface was re-established as pope, and John died in captivity. Boniface died suddenly about a year after his reinstatement, and the evidence does not support the theory that he, too, was murdered.

Karen Rae Keck

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