been alienated by Charles Martel. The opposition, however, with which the last-named reform was metproved too strong, and it was finally abandoned. The discontent of the Frankish bishops at these measures extended in some instances even to a refusal to accept promotion. With heretical and irregular teachers Boniface had also to contend, and in of his conduct attending their repression modern writers have found reasons for censure.
Adalbert, a man of Gaulish descent, a fanatic who pretended possession of a letter written in the name of our Lord and sent down from heaven, and who passed through the land disparaging the saints and martyrs .and dedicating churches in his own honour, was condemned, at Boniface’s instance, in a council held at Soissons in 744. Clement, by birth an Irish Scot, who despised ecclesiastical authority, held the writings of the fathers in scorn, and entertained heretical opinions on the salvation of unbelievers and on predestination, was also proceeded against, but both he and Adalbert continued to cause trouble and ultimately required more rigorous repression. A third person with whom Boniface dilfered was Virgil, an Irish ecclesiastic, the point of contention being the question of the validity of baptism, even when administered by an ignorant priest in bad Latin, which Virgil maintained. In this opinion he was upheld by the pope. He afterwards became bishop of Salzburg, in spite of Boniface’s opposition, who charged him with holding heretical views in astronomy, which extended to a belief in the existence of other worlds like our own ; and he was eventually canonised.
About this period, 742 or 744, Boniface laid the foundation of the famous abbey of Fulda, with the aid of a noble Bavarian, Sturmi, who became its first abbot. The house was placed under a rule still more strict than that of St. Benedict.
Hitherto Boniface had been an archbishop without a see. The consolidation of the German church now required that this want should be supplied. He first turned his eyes on Cologne, probably as a central point from which to control the church of Frisia as well as that of Germany. Willibrord had died in 739, at the advanced age of eighty-one, and since that time Boniface had regarded Frisia as falling within the scope of his legatine jurisdiction. But before final arrangements were made for his taking possession of the see of Cologne, now (A.D. 744) vacant, events took place which led to his establishment at Mentz. The late bishop Gerold of that see had been slain in an expedition against the Saxous, and had been succeeded by his son Gewillieb. The latter determined to avenge his father’s death, and, having discovered the Saxon by whom Gerold had been killed, he treacherously stabbed him with his own hand. In the eyes of the Frankish nobles such an act of violence was of little consequence, and does not appear in any way to have affected Gewillieb‘s position and character as a bishop. But Boniface, whose duty it was to enforce a stricter discipline in the church, brought the matter before a council, and Gewillieb resigned his bishopric. Hereupon Boniface was called upon by the Frankish nobles, against his will, to fill the vacancy, A.D. 746. Pope Zacharias confirmed him in his new see, and placed under his jurisdiction the dioceses of Worms, Spires, Tongres, Cologne, and Utrecht, in addition to those of Germany which had been established by his efforts.
The next few years were passed by Boniface in the discharge of the many duties of his high position, still struggling with ill-will and opposition from his bishops and clergy, and harassed by the pagans, who in frequent inroads pillaged and burned his churches. Important political changes also took place in these years. In 747 Carloman retired to lead a monk's life in Monte Cassino, leaving the whole power of the Frankish kingdom in the hands of Pepin, who in 752 assumed the title of king. Boniface is said to have officiated at his coronation at Soissons, but the evidence on this point is doubtful, and it has even been argued that he was opposed to the transfer of the crown to the new line. He was now upwards of seventy years of age, and the cares of his office weighed heavily upon him. He sought to be relieved, and had already obtained license to appoint a successor if he should feel the approach of death. He now received Pepin`s consent to the consecration of his countryman Lull to the see of Mentz, and resigned his office into his hands in 754. Lull, however, did not receive the pall for twenty years.
Boniface now turned his face again to that land which had had such an attraction for him in his early years. He set out once more as a missionary bishop to Frisia, and, consecrating Eoban to the see of Utrecht, he preached with him among the heathen tribes. We are told that affain he baptised many thousands, and, wishing to hold a confirmation of his new disciples, he a pointed the eve of Whitsunday, 5 June 755, for the ceremony, at a place near Dokkum on the Bordau, between eastern and western Frisia. But when the day arrived, instead of the converts, a
