SERGIUS II, Pope. - A member of a noble family from which Pope Stephen V had already come, he was ordained priest by Paschal I (817-24). He died on January 27, 847.
He seems to have already been old and ill when, on the death of Gregory IV, who had made him archpriest of St. Martin on the Esquiline, he was elected pope by the aristocratic party, in competition with a deacon John, not otherwise identified, who was forcibly expelled from the Lateran, where he had already installed himself (January 844). To avoid surprises, Sergius was immediately consecrated by his supporters, without waiting for the imperial confirmation of the election as required by the Constitutum Lotharii of 824.
The emperor Lothair, far from willing to tolerate such an infraction, sent to Rome his son Louis, who had already been delegated to govern Italy. The latter set out with an army, accompanied by Drogo of Metz as adviser, by the archbishops of Milan and Ravenna, and by some twenty other bishops, and on entering Roman territory he permitted devastation and looting as proof of imperial wrath. Received nevertheless in Rome with honor, Louis had the circumstances of Sergius's election examined by his bishops, and it was ratified only after the latter had sworn fidelity to the emperor, according to the Constitution of 824. Once the legitimacy of the Pontiff was thus recognized, Louis had himself solemnly crowned king on June 15, 844, and obtained for Drogo of Metz the apostolic vicariate in the Frankish lands.
Sergius gave the bishopric of Albano to his brother Benedict, a greedy and unscrupulous man, and entrusted him with the government of the State. He resorted to every means to procure money for the great constructions he was making by despoiling churches, monasteries and private individuals, and it was said that he even went so far as simoniacal grants of ecclesiastical dignities. The Saracen incursion that fell upon Rome and the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in August 846, despite the attempts at resistance by the Romans, is presented by contemporary historiography as a deserved punishment for so many sins. He died unmourned.
Bibliography5 works
Gina Fasoli