Boniface VI Boniface VI, son of Bishop Adrian, was elected to the Roman see in 896. His election was supported by Lambert, Duke of Spoleto, and opposed by Arnulf, King of the Franks. The Roman people also supported Boniface, who died 15 days after his election. He was buried in the portico of the popes. In 898, John IX convened a council that invalidated Boniface's election on the grounds that Boniface had been defrocked when he was a subdeacon and defrocked again when he was a priest. He had not, at the time of his election, been reconciled to the church and reinstated as a priest. His body remained in its burial place.
9th-century popePope Boniface VI (Latin: Bonifatius VI; 806 – April 896) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States in April 896. He was a native of Rome. His election came about as a result of riots soon after the death of Pope Formosus. Prior to his reign, he had twice incurred a sentence of deprivation of orders as a subdeacon and as a priest. After a pontificate of fifteen days, he is said by some to have died of the gout, by others to have been forcibly ejected to make way for Stephen VI, the candidate of the Spoletan party.
At a synod in Rome held by John IX in 898, his election was pronounced null and void.
