Sergius I.

Sergius I, depiction in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls

Sergius I (*? In Palermo ; † September 7, 701 ) was probably elected Pope on December 15, 687 . After the death of Pope Konon , two men fought over the office of the papacy - the archdeacon Paschalis and the archpriest Theodor II. The Roman people and the simple clergy, however, chose Sergius. The Exarch of Ravenna , Johannes Platys , demanded the payment of 100 pounds of gold promised by Paschalis for his approval of the assumption of office .

Sergius, son of a Tiberius, came from a Syrian emigrant family. He was born in Palermo and raised in Sicily . Sergius campaigned strongly for the Christianization of England throughout his life . He baptized the West Saxon King Caedwalla , supported Aldhelm von Sherborne , the abbot of Malmesbury , with all his might, consecrated the Englishman Willibrord as bishop and sent him to preach in Friesland . Sergius came into conflict with the Byzantine Emperor Justinian II around 693 because he refused to sign the Acts of the Quinisextum . The points at issue included the condemnation of Pope Honorius I and the protocol-based equality of the Patriarch of Constantinople with the Pope, as well as the ban on Saturday fasting and the representation of Christ as Agnus Dei . The attempt to arrest the Pope and deport him to Constantinople failed due to the resistance of the militias from Rome and the Exarchate of Ravenna . From the time after Justinian's deposition in 695 only details are known: Sergius was often out and about and consecrated many churches.

Pope Sergius designed the ecclesiastical liturgy: he included the song of Agnus Dei in the mass liturgy. He had the Roman churches richly decorated and in 688 the relics of Leo the Great were transferred to the interior of St. Peter's Basilica.

He also promoted relations with the Franconian Empire .

His Catholic feast day is September 8th, first mentioned in the Willibrord festival calendar.

literature

Vera von Falkenhausen : Sergio I, santo . In: Enciclopedia dei Papi , Volume 1; Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Roma 2000, pp. 633-637.
Matthias Hardt: Sergius I .. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 9, Bautz, Herzberg 1995, ISBN 3-88309-058-1 , Sp. 1436-1441. ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )

Web links

Commons : Sergius I. - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

predecessor	Office	successor
Konon	Pope 687-701	John VI

personal data
SURNAME	Sergius I.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Pope (687-701)
DATE OF BIRTH	7th century
DATE OF DEATH	September 7, 701