Pope Sergius III - Early Career

Early Career

Sergius was the son of Benedictus, and traditionally was believed descended from a noble Roman family, although it has been speculated that he was in fact related to the family of Theophylact, Count of Tusculum. He was ordained as a subdeacon by Pope Marinus I, followed by his being raised to the deaconate by Pope Stephen V. During the pontificate of Pope Formosus (891–896), he was a member of the party of nobles who supported the Emperor Lambert, who was the opponent of Formosus and the pope’s preferred imperial candidate, Arnulf of Carinthia. Formosus consecrated Sergius as bishop of Caere (Cerveteri) in 893, apparently in order to remove him from Rome. Sergius ceased to act as bishop of Caere with the death of Formosus in 896, as all of the ordinations conferred by Formosus were declared null and void, although Formosus’ ordination of Sergius was subsequently reconfirmed by Theodore II. He also actively participated in the farcical Cadaver synod that condemned the pontificate of Formosus.

With the death of Theodore in 898, Sergius, with a small following of Roman nobility led by his father Benedictus, attempted to have himself elected pope, contrary to the wishes of the emperor Lambert, who was also duke of Spoleto. Although he was actually elected, a rival candidate, Pope John IX (898–900), was also elected. With Lambert’s support, John was successfully installed as pope, and one of his first acts was to convene a synod which proceeded to excommunicate Sergius and his followers. Sergius was then forcibly exiled by Lambert, fleeing to his see at Caere, where he placed himself under the protection of Adalbert II, Margrave of Tuscany.

By the time the Antipope Christopher (903–904) seized the chair of Saint Peter by force, circumstances had changed at Rome, with the rise of the magister militum Theophylact, Count of Tusculum, who had been stationed at Rome by the retreating emperor Louis the Blind in 902. Putting himself at the head of a faction of the nobility, he revolted against Christopher, and asked Sergius to return to Rome to become pope. Sergius accepted, and with the armed backing of Adalbert II, he entered Rome, by which stage Christopher had already been cast into prison by Theophylact. Sergius was then consecrated Pope on 29 January 904.

Sergius III owed his rise to the power of his new patron Theophylact, and quickly rewarded him with the position of sacri palatii vestararius, the principal official at the top of papal patronage in control of the disbursements, and thus of patronage. All real power now devolved onto Theophylact, and Sergius essentially became his puppet, and perhaps the first clear sign of this shift in power was the fate of Sergius’ two predecessors, Pope Leo V and the Antipope Christopher. According to the pro-Formosan Eugenius Vulgarius, Sergius ordered both men to be strangled in prison sometime in early 904. That both men were murdered during Sergius’ pontificate appears probable, although other accounts state that Christopher at least was allowed to retire to a monastery; however, given where the real power lay, it seems more likely that either Theophylact gave the orders directly, or that he directed Sergius to give the orders. For the remainder of his pontificate, Sergius would busily promote his family and members of his aristocratic party to positions of authority and prominence within the church.