SICARD, bishop of Cremona. – Of a Cremonese family (Casellanus or Casalensis, or rather de Casalachis [cf. A. Cavalcabò, La famiglia del vescovo S., in Boll. stor. cremonese, 1 (1931), pp. 145-48]), born c. 1155, died in Cremona on 8 June 1215.
He studied in Bologna; then, it seems, at the cathedral school in Mainz. Subdeacon in 1183, he was ordained priest shortly afterwards and two years later elected bishop of Cremona. A leading figure in the disputes of his city against Brescia and Milan over the possession of Crema, he obtained from Frederick I the independence of Cremona; in 1186 he went to Germany to secure the reconstruction of the Castrum Manfredi, the first stronghold of a system of fortifications to which he gave particular impetus; in 1203, while the Fourth Crusade was in progress, he followed Cardinal Pietro da Capua, the papal legate, to Armenia and then to Constantinople. Returning to his homeland in 1205, he intervened with an arbitration in the internal strife of Cremona (1210). In 1212 he welcomed Frederick II to the city and in return received confirmation of Cremona’s privileges.
His literary output covered various fields. Lost are an early *Liber mythologiarum* (cf. the prologue of the *Chronica* and the *Summa ad C.* 26 q. I), the *Acta et obitus s. Homoboni Cremonensis*, a *Tractatus de humilitate*, various *Chronicorum libri* and a *Historia Romanorum Pontificum*. What remain are a *Chronica universalis*, the first example in Italy of a treatment from the beginning of the world, a *Summa canonum* and a liturgical treatise, the *Mitrale*. The *Chronica*, first compiled up to events of 1201 and continued after his return from the East up to 1213, draws on the Bible, St Jerome, Prosper of Aquitaine, Orosius, Isidore, Bede and especially Paul the Deacon and Godfrey of Viterbo’s *Pantheon*; but its most vital part, widely used by Salimbene, is that relating to events closest to the author, so much so as to constitute one of the most important sources for the history of the Fourth Crusade. The *Summa canonum*, whose attribution to S. has been doubted without foundation, written in Mainz between 1179 and 1181, is notable for its many synoptic tables and tabular distinctions: it shows the influence of the school of Simon of Bisignano. The closing section, written later, is known as the *Apologia Sichardi* because it contains a defence of the work against malicious detractors. The *Mitrale*, in nine books, is among the most important liturgical treatises of the Middle Ages for the breadth of its subject matter and the clarity of its exposition: it deals with sacred buildings and furnishings (bk. I), Orders and vestments (bk. II), the Holy Mass (bk. III), the liturgical year and Sunday and feast-day Offices (bks. IV-VIII), and relics (bk. IX). Its principal sources are Amalarius of Metz and Honorius of Autun’s *Gemma animae*. The *Mitrale* was extensively drawn upon by G. Durand for his *Rationale* (v.).