Antipope Boniface VII

Antipope Boniface VII
Diocese	Rome
Papacy began	974 (first papacy) 984 (second papacy)
Papacy ended	974 (first papacy) 985 (second papacy)
Predecessor	Antipope Christopher
Successor	Antipope John XVI
Other posts	Cardinal Deacon
Personal details
Birth name	Franco Ferrucci
Died	July 20, 985 Rome, Papal States

Antipope Boniface VII (Franco Ferrucci, died July 20, 985), was an antipope (974, 984–985). He is supposed to have put Pope Benedict VI to death. A popular tumult compelled him to flee to Constantinople in 974; he carried off a vast treasure, and returned in 984 and removed Pope John XIV (983–984) from office. After a brief rule from 984 to 985, he died under suspicious circumstances.

Boniface VII was not yet considered an antipope when the next pope of that same regnal name was elected.

Boniface VII was the son of Ferrucius and was originally named Franco. He was born in Italy in the late 920s or early 930s AD, although the exact date is not known. Since his surname was Franco, it has been supposed that he belonged to a family of the name which is frequently mentioned in the documents of the tenth century, and which may have been of French origin. In 972 he became a Cardinal Deacon, a position which he held until he began his papacy in 974. However, little else is known about his early life simply due to the lack of documents available from this period of Rome as a whole.

Pope John XIII, born Giovanni Crescentius, of the powerful Roman Crescentii family, died on 6 September 972. Benedictus was the proposed candidate of the Imperial party, while the Nationalist party, led by the Crescentii, supported Franco. Benedictus was consecrated as Pope Benedict VI on January 19, 973, even though he lacked the support of much of the Roman aristocracy. On May 7, 973, Otto the Great died, and the youthful Otto II took over. Otto II's preoccupation with events in Germany created an opportunity for the Roman aristocracy to rebel against the imperial administration.

Crescentius, brother of the late Pope John XIII, led an insurrection and with the help of many unhappy Romans, kidnapped Pope Benedict VI. They imprisoned him in Castel Sant’Angelo for nearly two months. In July 974 Franco assumed the papacy as Boniface VII. Although Otto II, who supported Pope Benedict VI, was still fighting in Bavaria, and could not make it to Rome, he sent Count Sicco, an imperial envoy from Spoleto, to demand the pope’s release. When Sicco arrived at Castel Sant’Angelo, a priest named Stephen strangled Benedict VI. There is a chance that Franco could have made the demand of having Benedict strangled, but it is not known for certain.

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