Boniface of Savoy

d.1270. Archbishop of Canterbury. Son of a count of Savoy, he was nearly related by marriage to Henry III of England. While still a boy he showed ascetic inclinations by entering the Carthusian Order.* He became bishop of Belley in Burgundy in 1234; and in 1241 was elected archbishop by the monks of Canterbury, but papal confirmation was delayed. He was eventually consecrated by Pope Innocent IV at the Council of Lyons* (1245). His enthronement was further delayed until his return to England in 1249. A visitation of his province was strongly resisted by the clergy, and he went to Rome for a time. Boniface spent relatively little time in England, nevertheless his provincial constitutions, presented between 1257 and 1261, were a notable assertion of clerical privileges. He died in Savoy while waiting to join Prince Edward's crusade.