Pope Sergius IV (died 12 May 1012) was thebishop of Rome and nominal ruler of thePapal States from 31 July 1009 to his death. Histemporal power was eclipsed by the patricianJohn Crescentius. Sergius IV may have called for the expulsion of Muslims from theHoly 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]
Pietro Martino Buccaporci was born inRome 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]
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 ofEmperor Otto III to establish control over Rome. Sergius IV acted to relieve famine in the city, and he exempted several monasteries from episcopal rule.[5]
Sergius died on 12 May 1012 and was buried in theBasilica of St. John Lateran.[5] Although not canonized, Sergius is sometimes venerated as a saint by theBenedictines 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 byBenedict VIII.[13]
^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).
^Richard P. McBrien,Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to Benedict XVI, (HarperCollins Publishers, 2000), 168.
.png)
