Pope Boniface IV

Boniface IV came up through the church as a deacon under Gregory I, absorbing his mentor's monastic discipline and carrying it into the papacy when he took office in 608. A Benedictine by training, he administered the Lateran Palace as if it were a monastery, not a seat of power, and spent his tenure promoting monastic life across the church. His signature act required imperial consent: converting the Pantheon, Rome's vast pagan temple, into a Christian basilica. In 610 he met with Mellitus, bishop of London, to address the organizational needs of the young English church. He died on 8 May 615…