Boniface

Bonifacius (Wynfrith)

missionary-bishop|672–754|Mainz, Germany
Boniface (c. 672–754), the 'Apostle of Germany,' was an Anglo-Saxon monk from Wessex who became the most important missionary of the early Middle Ages. Leaving his comfortable English monastery for the forests of Germania, Boniface spent decades converting the pagan peoples of Hesse, Thuringia, and Bavaria, founding monasteries and bishoprics, reforming the Frankish church, and organizing the ecclesiastical structure that would underpin the Carolingian Empire. He was martyred by pagan Frisians in 754. His surviving correspondence — 42 letters in this collection, both sent and received — is remarkable for its emotional range and historical importance. He writes to popes seeking authorization and guidance, to friends in England begging for books and support, and to the Frankish mayors of the palace negotiating the political dimensions of his mission. The letters from his English correspondents — fellow monks and nuns who sent him books, vestments, and prayers — are some of the most touching documents to survive from the early Middle Ages. Boniface's letters matter because they document the creation of Christian Europe in real time. They show us the frontline of conversion — the practical challenges of building churches in hostile territory, training clergy who could barely read, and mediating between Roman ecclesiastical tradition and the realities of life in eighth-century Germania. His voice is earnest, devout, and occasionally homesick — a man who gave up everything for a mission he believed was divinely ordained and never looked back.
26
Letters sent
21
Letters received
47
Total letters
10
Correspondents

Top correspondents

All letters (47)

From Augustine of Hippoc. 394

Earth reels and heaven trembles at the report of the enormous crime and unprecedented cruelty which has made your streets and temples run red with blood, and ring with the shouts of murderers. You have buried the laws of Rome in a dishonoured grave, and trampled in scorn the reverence due to equitable enactments. The authority of emperors you ne...

augustine hippo #50
From Augustine of Hippoc. 402

1. You ask me to state whether parents do harm to their baptized infant children, when they attempt to heal them in time of sickness by sacrifices to the false gods of the heathen. Also, if they do thereby no harm to their children, how can any advantage come to these children at their baptism, through the faith of parents whose departure from t...

augustine hippo #98
From Augustine of Hippoc. 405

You have written to ask me whether the catechumens who die before receiving baptism can be saved.

augustine hippo #50050
From Augustine of Hippoc. 416

A Letter of Augustine to Boniface, who, as we learn from Epistle 220, was Tribune, and afterwards Count in Africa. In it Augustine shows that the heresy of the Donatists has nothing in common with that of Arius; and points out the moderation with which it was possible to recall the heretics to the communion of the Church through awe of the impe...

augustine hippo #185
From Augustine of Hippoc. 417

1. I had already written a reply to your Charity, but while I was waiting for an opportunity of forwarding the letter, my beloved son Faustus arrived here on his way to your Excellency. After he had received the letter which I had intended to be carried by him to your Benevolence, he stated to me that you were very desirous that I should write y...

augustine hippo #189
From Augustine of Hippoc. 422

1. Never could I have found a more trustworthy man, nor one who could have more ready access to your ear when bearing a letter from me, than this servant and minister of Christ, the deacon Paulus, a man very dear to both of us, whom the Lord has now brought to me in order that I may have the opportunity of addressing you, not in reference to you...

augustine hippo #220
From Pope Gregory the Greatc. 593

Gregory to Boniface, Bishop of Regium (Reii). It is a shame for priests to be admonished about matters of divine worship. For they are then to their disgrace required to do what they ought themselves to require to be done.

gregory great #4005
From Pope Gregory the Greatc. 598

Gregory to Boniface concerning the privileges of Guardians. Those who labour faithfully in the interests of the Church should receive the benefit of suitable remuneration, so that both we may be seen to have made a worthy return for their services, and they may show themselves the more useful for the favour of the solace granted them. Seeing, th...

gregory great #8014
From Pope Gregory the Greatc. 601

Your experience is not free from blame, in that, knowing Aleria and Adjacium, cities of Corsica, to have been long without bishops, you have delayed admonishing their clergy and people to choose for themselves priests. But, since they ought to be no longer without rulers of their own, hasten, on receiving this authority, to exhort the clergy and...

gregory great #11077
From Pope Gregory the Greatc. 604

Gregory to Boniface, Deacon at Constantinople . As often as the discord of those who ought to have been preachers of peace makes us sad, we should study with great solicitude that cause of contention may be removed, and that those who differ among themselves may return to concord. Now what has been done with respect to the camp of Cassiopus, whi...

gregory great #14008
From Pope Gregory the Greatc. 719

Gregory, the servant of the servants of God, to Boniface, a holy priest.

boniface #3
From Respecta, Abbessc. 720

Let it be known to you, my gracious father, that I give thanks without ceasing to Almighty God because, as I learned...

boniface #4
To Pope Gregory the Greatc. 722

In the name of God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

boniface #5
From Pope Gregory the Greatc. 723

Gregory, the servant of the servants of God.

boniface #12
From Pope Gregory the Greatc. 726

Gregory, the servant of the servants of God, to Boniface, our most holy brother and colleague in the episcopate.

boniface #14
To Respecta, Abbessc. 728

Let it be known to you, dear sister, that in regard to the matter on which you have sought my advice I cannot...

boniface #15
From Pope Gregory the Greatc. 732

Gregory, the servant of the servants of God, to our most reverend and holy brother Bishop Boniface, sent by this...

boniface #16
To Respecta, Abbessc. 735

To his dear sister, Abbess Eadburga, long united to him by spiritual ties, Boniface, a servant of the servants of...

boniface #18
To Eusebius, Archbishop of Thessalonicac. 735

To his beloved master, Archbishop Nothelm, invested with the insignia of the high priesthood, Boniface, a humble...

boniface #19
To Conon, Abbot of Lirinus (Lerins)c. 735

To his beloved son Abbot Duddo, Boniface also called Wynfrith, servant of the servants of God, heartfelt and loving...

boniface #20
To Respecta, Abbessc. 735

To the most reverend and beloved sister, Abbess Eadburga, Boniface, least of the servants of God, loving greetings.

boniface #21
To assessor in case of monksc. 738

To my beloved sons, Tatwin, Wigbert, priests, and to Bernard, Hiedde, Hunfrid and Sturm, Boniface, a servant of the...

boniface #22
To Aerius Sophistc. 738

To our beloved sons Geppan, Eoban, Tatwin, Wigbert and to all our brethren and sisters, Boniface, a servant of the...

boniface #23
From Pope Gregory the Greatc. 739

Gregory, servant of the servants of God.

boniface #24
To Pippin thec. 741

Grffo was step-brother to Pippin the Short and Carloman, being the son of Charles Martel and the Bavarian Sonnichilde.

boniface #26
To Pope Gregory the Greatc. 742

To our beloved lord Zacharias, who bears the insignia of the supreme pontificate, Boniface, a servant of the...

boniface #27
From Pope Gregory the Greatc. 743

Zacharias, servant of the servants of God, to his very reverend' and holy brother and fellow bishop Boniface.

boniface #28
To another accountantc. 743

To his dear son, Count Reginbert, Boniface, servant of the servants of God, greetings in the Lord for evermore.

boniface #40
To Leobac. 743

Let it be known to you, dear sister, that our brother and fellow priest Torhthat has reported to us that in response...

boniface #41
To Daniel (a craftsman)c. 744

To Bishop Daniel, beloved in the Lord, Boniface, a servant of the servants of God, affectionate greetings in Christ.

boniface #30
From Pope Gregory the Greatc. 746

Zacharias, servant of the servants of God, to his very reverend and holy brother and fellow-bishop, Boniface.

boniface #31
To Theoderic and Theodebert, Kings of Franksc. 746

To my most dear lord Aethelbald, King of the English, beloved in Christ above all other kings, Boniface, the...

boniface #32
To Eusebius, Archbishop of Thessalonicac. 747

To his dear and reverend brother, Archbishop Egbert, Boniface, a servant of the servants of God, Legate of the...

boniface #33
To Conon, Abbot of Lirinus (Lerins)c. 747

To his very dear and revered brother Abbot Huetbert, and to all the brethren of his holy community, Boniface, a...

boniface #34
To Eusebius, Archbishop of Thessalonicac. 747

To his brother and fellow-bishop, Cuthbert [of Canterbury], raised to the dignity of the archiepiscopate, and united...

boniface #35
To Eusebius, Archbishop of Thessalonicac. 749

The gifts and books you have sent us have been received with a joyful and grateful heart.

boniface #38
From Theoderic and Theodebert, Kings of Franksc. 750

To the most holy archbishop Wynfrith, called Boniface, and worthily invested with the pontifical insignia,...

boniface #44
To Pope Gregory the Greatc. 751

To the most reverend and beloved lord and master to be revered in fear and honour, Zacharias, invested with the...

boniface #36
To Aerius Sophistc. 752

Boniface, servant of the servants of God and bishop by the grace of Christ, to his beloved fellow - ecclesiastic...

boniface #39
To Pope Gregory the Greatc. 752

To the most noble lord Pope Stephen, exalted and beloved above all pontiffs, endowed with the privilege of the...

boniface #46
To Theoderic and Theodebert, Kings of Franksc. 753

To the most noble lord Pippin, King of the Franks, Bishop Boniface sends greetings.

boniface #45
To Pope Gregory the Greatc. 753

To his venerable and beloved apostolic lord and Pope Stephen, Boniface, a humble legate or messenger in Germany of...

boniface #47