Pope Sergius IV
| Pope Sergius IV | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Rome | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Papacy began | 31 July 1009 |
| Papacy ended | 12 May 1012 |
| Predecessor | John XVIII |
| Successor | Benedict VIII |
| Previous post | Cardinal-Bishop of Albano (1004–1009) |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 1004 |
| Created cardinal | 1004 by John XVIII |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Pietro Martino Buccaporci Rome, Papal States, Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 12 May 1012 Rome, Papal States, Holy Roman Empire |
| Other popes named Sergius | |
Pope Sergius IV (died 12 May 1012) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from 31 July 1009 to his death. His temporal power was eclipsed by the patrician John Crescentius. Sergius IV may have called for the expulsion of Muslims from the Holy Land, but this is disputed. Since his time, the practice that the person who has been elected to the office of pope takes on a new name became a tradition.[1]
Early life
Pietro Martino Buccaporci was born in Rome in the "Pina" district, at an unknown date, the son of Peter the Shoemaker and Stephania.[2] Buccaporci ("Pig's snout") was neither his birth name nor the name of his family, but apparently a nickname given to him because of his personal habits.[3]
In 1004, he became the bishop of Albano.[4][5] He was elected pope after the abdication of John XVIII in 1009, and adopted the name Sergius IV.[6]
Pontificate
The power held by Sergius IV was small and often overshadowed by the patrician, John Crescentius, the ruler of the city of Rome at the time. With the help of Crescentius, Sergius resisted the attempts of Emperor Henry II to establish control over Rome. Sergius IV acted to relieve famine in the city, and he exempted several monasteries from episcopal rule.[5]
A papal bull calling for Muslims to be driven from the Holy Land after the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was destroyed in 1009 by the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah has been attributed to Sergius IV, although its authenticity has long been a matter of debate.[7] Carl Erdmann considered it genuine,[8] but it was rejected at length by Aleksander Gieysztor, who suggested that it was actually invented around the time of the First Crusade in order to help justify that expedition to Jerusalem.[9] Subsequently, Hans Martin Schaller has argued for the document's authenticity.[10]
Death and legacy
Sergius died on 12 May 1012 and was buried in the Basilica of St. John Lateran.[5] Although not canonized, Sergius is sometimes venerated as a saint by the Benedictines of which he was a member.[11] There was some suspicion that he was murdered, as he died within a week of Crescentius, considered by many to have been his patron.[12] Sergius was followed in the papacy by Benedict VIII.[13]
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Pope Sergius IV — Date of birth unknown; consecrated about 31 July, 1009; d. 12 May, 1012. Peter Pig's Snout (Bucca Porci) was the son of Peter the shoemaker, of the ninth region of Rome (Pina), and before he became Sergius IV had been bishop of Albano (1004-9). He checked the power of the Patricius, John Crescentius, who dominated Rome by strengthening the party in favour of the Germans. Little is known of the doings of Sergius except that by grants of privilege, the papyrus originals of some of which still exist, he exempted several monasteries from episcopal jurisdiction. Though his own temporal power was small, various nobles placed their lands under his protection. He showed himself a great friend of the poor in a time of famine, and was buried in the Lateran Basilica.
Liber Pontificalis, II, 267; Letters, Privileges of Sergius, in P.L., CXXXIX; MANN, Lives of the Popes in the early Middle Ages, V (St. Louis, 1910), 142 sq.
- Horace Mann.
References
- Back to citation Goez, Werner (1970). "PAPA QUI ET EPISCOPUS: ZUM SELBSTVERSTÄNDNIS DES REFORMPAPSTTUMS IM 11. JAHRHUNDERT". Archivum Historiae Pontificiae. 8: 27–59. JSTOR 23563726.
- Back to citation Duchesne, p. 267.
- Back to citation Alphonsus Ciaconius (Alfonso Chacón) (1677). Agostinus Olduinus (ed.). Vitae et res gestae pontificum romanorum: et S.R.E. cardinalium (in Latin). Vol. Tomus primus. Roma: P. et A. De Rubeis. p. 765.
- Back to citation His epitaph, quoted by Duchesne, p. 264, states, Albanum regimen lustro venerabilis uno rexit. A lustrum is a five-year period.
- Back to citation occurrence 5.0 Back to citation occurrence 5.1 Back to citation occurrence 5.2 Mann, Horace. "Pope Sergius IV." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 8 November 2017
- Back to citation ""Sergius IV", The Holy See".
- Back to citation Jules Auguste Lair (1899). Bulle du pape Sergius IV.: Lettres de Gerbert (in French and Latin). Paris: A. Picard et fils. pp. 1–88.
- Back to citation Carl Erdmann (1965). Die Entstehung des Kreuzzugsgedankens (in German). Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer.
- Back to citation Aleksander Gieysztor (1950). The Genesis of the Crusades: The Encyclical of Sergius IV (1009–1012).
- Back to citation Hans Martin Schaller (1991), 'Zur Kreuzzugensyklika Papst Sergius' IV.', in: Papsttum, Kirche und Recht im Mittelalter. Festschrift für Horst Fuhrmann zum 65. Geburtstag, ed. Hubert Mordek (Tubingen 1991), 135–153 (in German).
- Back to citation Richard P. McBrien, Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to Benedict XVI, (HarperCollins Publishers, 2000), 168.
- Back to citation "Catholic Online".
- Back to citation Mann, Horace (1907). "Pope Benedict VIII". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Bibliography
- Duchesne Louis, ed. (1892). Le Liber Pontificalis (in Latin and French). Paris: E. De Boccard. p. 267.