Sergius IV
Sergius IV (* around 970 in Rome ; † May 12, 1012 ) was Pope from July 31, 1009 until his death .
Life
Before he took office, his name was Pietro . That was the name of his father, who was a shoemaker in Rome. Allegedly, Sergius is said to have been given the unfriendly nickname “pig's snout” (bucca porci) in his youth . With this epithet he is also mentioned in the chronicle of Thietmar von Merseburg .
Before taking office he was Bishop of Albano (from 1004 to 1009), which is why he was also called Pietro da Albano . Nothing is known about the circumstances of his vocation and election as Pope.
Sergius is said to have defended himself during his pontificate under the influence of the Roman patrician John II Crescentius against the dominance of the Roman-German King Henry II in Rome. He also reorganized the legal relationships between monasteries and bishops and supported the common people during a famine . Sergius, who was a weak Pope throughout his life, was buried in St. Peter's Basilica .
On the occasion of the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem by the caliph al-Hakim in 1009, Sergius is said to have been the first Pope to appeal in a letter to expel the Muslims from the Holy Land . The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was not rebuilt until 1055. The Crusade Manifesto, discovered in 1682, is generally considered by historians to be a forgery, which was written at the time of the First Crusade in the monastery of Saint-Pierre de Moissac in order to dogmatically strengthen the crusade call of Pope Urban II . In 1935 the historian Carl Erdmann criticized this award; his views have since been largely refuted.
literature
- Ernst Pulsfort: Sergius IV. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 9, Bautz, Herzberg 1995, ISBN 3-88309-058-1 , Sp. 1441-1442.
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ Tuomas MS Lehtonen (Ed.): Medieval history writing and crusading ideology. Helsinki 2005. Jonathan Riley-Smith: The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading. London 1986.
- ↑ Carl Erdmann: The emergence of the idea of the crusade. Stuttgart 1935, ISBN 3-534-00199-0 .
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| John I. |
Bishop of Albano 1004-1009 |
Theobald II. |
| John XVIII |
Pope 1009-1012 |
Benedict VIII |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sergius IV |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Pietro da Albano; Pietro Bucca Porci |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Pope (1009-1012) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 970 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Rome |
| DATE OF DEATH | after May 12, 1012 |