Thomas Ryburn Buchanan

“ Bonifacius II., pope, successor to Felix IV., of Roman birth but Gothic parentage, son of Sigisbald or Sigismund, was elected bp. of Rome on Sept. 17, 530, and consecrated five days later in the basilica of Julius (Jaffé, Regesta Pont.) . At the same time a rival party in the basilica of Constantine elected and consecrated Dioscorus. The Roman church was saved from schism by the death of Dioscorus a few weeks afterwards; but Boniface carried his enmity beyond the grave, and anathematized his dead rival for simony (cf. Cassiodorus, Var. 9, Ep. 5) . ”

“ Previously, however, a small body of the clergy, contrary to the command of the prefect Symmachus, had shut themselves up in the Lateran, and as soon as the burial of Zosimus took place, proclaimed Eulalius the archdeacon pope. ”

“ Theodoric, the Ostrogothic king of Italy, was an Arian, though a tolerant one, but Euric, the Visigoth, had proclaimed himself militant and proselytizing (Fauriel, ii. 28) ; the Burgundian and Vandal princes were also Arian. The majority of the population of Gaul was Catholic, and Clovis was the only Catholic prince. (On the relation of these Arian princes to their Catholic subjects, see Binding, pp. 125 ff.) ”

“ Three bishops (including the bp. of Ostia) assisted at the consecration of Eulalius, nine at that of Boniface. Symmachus reported to the emperor Honorius in favour of Eulalius. Honorius decided accordingly, and ordered Boniface to quit the city, but ultimately pronounced in his favour. This was the third disputed election (see full account, with all the documents, in Baronius s.a. 419; Jaffé, Regesta) . Personally, Boniface is described as an old man at the time of his appointment, which he was unwilling to accept, of mild character, given to good works (Anastasius, Lib. Pont.) . ”

“ Thus, whilst from one point of view this was the "first step towards the world-historical union of Teutonic civilization with the Roman church" (Richter, p. 36, note 6) , on the other hand, a reaction of Roman civilization against its Teutonic conquerors now set in, and modern Latin France became possible. As an immediate consequence of the conversion, a body of Frankish warriors not yet converted joined Rachnachar (Vita Rem. ap. Bouquet, iii. p. 377 c, d) . Whether this was also a desertion of Clovis is doubtful (see Junghans, p. 59) . ”

“ Clovis (in the chroniclers Chlodovechus, etc., modern German Ludwig, modern French Louis) , son of Childeric, one of the kings of the Salian Franks, born A.D. 466, succeeded his father in 481 (Greg. Tur. ii. 43) . As soon as he reached manhood (486) he attacked Syagrius, "rex Romanorum" (Greg. ii. 23) , son of Aegidius, the isolated and independent representative of the Roman power in Gaul (Junghans, pp. 22, 23) . ”

“ This anathema was subsequently removed by Agapetus I. It has been conjectured (by Baronius, Labbe, Cave, etc.) that the double election was brought about by Athalaric the Gothic king, that he might have an opportunity to intervene after the example of Theodoric, and place a partisan of his own upon the papal throne. [ Theodoricus (3) ; Felix III. (cf. Gieseler, Eccl. Hist. i. § 115, p. 340 Eng. trans. and reff.) .] ”

“ On the authority of Gregory see Löbell, Gregor von Tours and seine Zeit, pp. 320 ff.; Monod, in the Bibliothèque de l’Ecole des hautes Etudes, part viii. (1872) ; and Wattenbach, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im Mittelalter (3rd ed. 1873) , vol. i. pp. ”