Pope Sergius III - Activity in Italy

Activity in Italy

Now fully installed as pope, Sergius III proceeded to convoke a synod which now annulled all the ordinations of Formosus and demanded all bishops ordained by Formosus be re-ordained. It was alleged that Sergius managed to get the consent of the Roman clergy at the synod by threatening them with exile, violence or through the use of bribery. This decision was exceedingly unpopular, and those affected at sees distant from Rome not only ignored the synod’s instructions, but proceeded to write letters both condemning the revoking of ordinations as well as justifying validity of the original ordinations. The ruling was subsequently reversed again after his death.

Confirming his continued support of the anti-Formosus faction, Sergius honoured the murdered Pope Stephen VI (896–897), who had been responsible for the "Cadaver Synod" that had condemned and mutilated the corpse of Pope Formosus, writing a laudatory epitaph on Stephen VI's tombstone. For centuries it was believed that Sergius then had the much-abused corpse of Formosus exhumed once more, tried, found guilty again, and beheaded, thus in effect conducting a second Cadaver Synod. However, the source for this was Liutprand of Cremona, who mistakenly placed the cadaver synod in the pontificate of Sergius III, instead of Stephen VI.

With regards to the imperial question, although both Sergius and Theophylact did not support the continued nominal rule of Emperor Louis, they were somewhat unwilling to grant the imperial title to the only other contender, Berengar I of Italy. However, on the one occasion that Sergius agreed to crown Berengar in around 906, Berengar was prevented from reaching Rome by the forces of Alberic I of Spoleto and Adalbert II of Tuscany, both of whom had been supporters of Sergius, but were unhappy with his decision to support Berengar. Nevertheless, Berengar’s unwillingness to control his vassals also contributed to the papal reluctance; when Albuinus, the Margrave of Istria began taking papal territory off John, the Archbishop of Ravenna in 907, Sergius had written to Albuinus asking for him to desist. When Sergius was ignored, the pope wrote to the bishop of Pola in 910, making it clear that:

”he would never bestow the (imperial) crown on Berenger till he promised to take the (Istrian) March from Albuinus, and give it to some better man.”

In terms of internal church affairs, Sergius rebuilt the Lateran Palace, which had been shattered by an earthquake in 896,and then stripped of its treasures by the Antipope Christopher. He refurbished it with objects, images and crucifixes, and decorated its newly built walls with frescos. In 905 Sergius provided funds to the Church of Silva Candida, which had been devastated by a Saracen raid. He also helped with the rebuilding of Nonantola Abbey, which had suffered attacks from the Magyars, and finally he granted privileges to various monasteries and churches in West and East Francia.