SERGIUS
729
SEROUX
were improved by Sergius, who, on his death, was
buried in St. Peter's.
Liber Pontificalis, ed. Duchesne, II, 86 sqq.; various annals in Mon. Germ. Hist.: Script., I; the Letters of Hincmar of Reims in F. L., I, 126, and of Sergios himself in Mon. Germ. Hist.: Epp., V, 58.3; Duchesne, The Beginnings of the Temporal Sovereignty of the Popes (London, 1908), 1.38 .sqq.; Mann, Lives of the Popes in the early Middle Ages, II (London, 1906), 232 sqq.
Horace K. Mann.
Sergius III, Pope, date of birth unknown; con- secrated 29 Jan., 904; d. 14 April, 911. He was a Roman of noble birth and the son of Benedict. He became a strong upholder of the party opposed to Pope Formosus; as this party was not ultimately successful, the writings of its supporters, if they ever existed, have perished. Hence, unfortunately, most of our knowledge of Sergius is derived from his op- ponents. Thus it is by an enemy that we are told that Sergius was made Bishop of Caere by Formosus in order that he might never become Bishop of Rome. However, he seems to have ceased to act as a bishop after the death of Formosus, and was put forward . as a candidate for the papacy in 898. Failing to secure election, he retired, apparently to Alberic, Count of Spoleto. Disgusted at the violent usurpation of the papal throne by Christopher, the Romans threw him into prison, and invited Sergius to take his place. Sergius at once declared the ordinations conferred by Formosus null; but that he ])ut his two predecessors to death, and by illicit relations with Marozia had a son, who was afterwards John XI, must be regarded as highly doubtful. These assertions are only made by bitter or ill-informed adversaries, and are incon- sistent with what is said of him by respectable con- temporaries. He protected Archbishop John of Ravenna against the Count of Istria, and confirmed the establishment of a number of new sees in Eng- land. Because he opposed the errors of the Greeks, they struck his name from the diptychs, but he showed his good scn.se in (L'claring valid the fourth marriage of the Greek emperor, Leo VI. Sergius completely restored the Lateran Basilica, but he was buried in St. Peter's.
Liber Pontif.. II, 236; Letters of Sergius in P. L.. CXXXI; Letters of St. Nicholas I, the Mystic in L.\.bbe, Condi., IX, 1246 sqq.; Fedele, Ricerche per la storia di Roma e del papato nel secolo X in Archivio Rom. di storia pat. (1910), 177 sqq.; Mann, Lives of the Popes in the early Middle Ages, IV (St. Louis, 1910), 119 sqq.
Horace K. Mann.
Sergius IV, Pope, date of birth unknown; con- secrated about 31 July, 1009; d. 12 May, 1012. Peter Pig's Snout {Bucca Porci) was the son of Peter the shoemaker, of the ninth region of Rome {Pino), and before he became Sergius IV had been bishop of Albano (1004-9). He checked the power of the Pa- tricius, John Crescentius, who dominated Rome by strengthening the party in favour of the Germans. Little is known of the doings of Sergius except that by grants of privilege, the papyrus originals of some of which still exist, he exempted several monasteries from episcopal jurisdiction. Though his own teni- poral power was small, various nobles placed their lands under his protection. He showed himself a great friend of the poor in a time of famine, and was buried in the Lateran Bascilica.
Liber Pontificalis, II, 267; Letters, Privileges of Sergius, in P. L., CXXXIX; Mann, Lives of the Popes in the early Middle Ages, V (St. Louis, 1910), 142 sq.
Horace Mann.
Sergius, Patriarch of Constantinople. See Monothelitism and Monothelites.
Seripando, Girolamo, Italian theologian and car- dinal, b. at Troja (Apulia), 6 May, 1493; d. at Trent. 17 March, 1563. He was of noble birth, and intended by his parents for the legal profession. After their death, however, and at the age of fourteen he entered the Augustinian Order, at Viterbo, where he joined
the study of Greek and Hebrew to that of philosophy
and theology. After a short stay in Rome, whither
he had been called by his superior general, he was ap-
pointed lecturer at Siena (1515), professor of theology
at Bologna (1517), and vicar-general (1532), which
last charge he filled with great credit for two years.
He won such reputation for eloquence by his dis-
com'ses in the principal cities of Italy, that the
Emperor Charles V often made it a point to be
present at his sermons. Elected superior general in
1539, he governed for twelve years, with singular pru-
dence, zeal, and piety. He attended (1546) the ses-
sions of the Council of Trent, where he distinguished
himself by his zeal for the purity of the text of Holy
Writ, and also by his peculiar views concerning orig-
inal sin and justification. Paul III sent him as his le-
gate to the emperor and to the King of France, after
which mission he was offered the Bishopric of Aquila.
Seripando not only declined this dignity, but even re-
signed his charge of superior general (1551), and with-
drew into a small convent, from the retirement of
which he was called (1553) on a mission from the city
of Naples to Charles V. Upon completion he was ap-
pointed Archbishop of Salerno. He proved a zealous
and efficient pastor. A few years later (1561) Pius IV
made him cardinal and second legate of the Holy See
at the Council of Trent. Upon the death of Cardinal
Gonzaga, he became first president of the same Coun-
cil. Seripando was an elegant and prolific writer, and
a vigorous controversialist, rather than an orator.
Tlie following are his principal published works:
"Novse constitutiones ordinis S. Augustini" (Venice,
1549); "Oratio in funere Caroli V imperatoris" (Na-
ples, 1559); "Prediche sopra il simbolo degli Apostoli,
etc." (Venice, 1567); " Commentarius in D. Pauli
epistolam ad Galatas" (Venice, 1569); "Commen-
taria in D. Pauli epistolas ad Romanos et ad Gala-
tas" (Naples, 1601); "De arte orandi" (Lyons,
1670); and several of his letters, included by Lago-
marsini in "Poggiani epist. et orationes" (Rome,
1762).
Ellies Dupin, Hist, del'iglise (Paris, 1703); Ratnald-Mansi, Annal. eccl. (Lucca, 1735-6); Ossinger, Bihl. August. (Ingoi- stadt, 1768). „ t. /-.
Francis E. Gigot. Sermon. See Homiletics.
Seroux d'Agincourt, Jean -Baptiste- Louis - George, b. at Beauvais, 5 April, 1730; d. at Rome, 24 September, 1814. He was a descendant of the counts of Namur. He entered the French cavalry while a young man, but soon resigned in order to devote him- self to his family. Louis XV appointed him collector of the taxes. A disciple of Count de Caylus, the archajologist, in 1777 he visited England, Belgium, Holland, and a part of Germany; in 1778 he went to Italy, where he devoted himself particularly to the study of the Catacombs of Rome. He formed the plan of imitating for Christian art the work which Winkelmann had done for ancient art, and of studying Christian art from its antiquity up to the Renaissance. This task, in which Louis XVI was also interested, was far from being finished at the time of his death. During the Revolution, d'Agincourt's property had been confiscated; however, during the Empire, the sale of his work brought the distinguished archaeolo- gist once more into comfortable circumstances. D'Agincourt lacked Winkelmann's critical acumen. The reproductions published in his "Histoire de I'art" are imperfect and at times even altered. He took the paintings from the walls of the Catacombs and in this way often caused their destruction. His work is entitled: "Histoire de I'art par les monu- ments, depuis sa decadence au IV^^e siecle jusqu' k son renouvellement au XVI^e" (Paris, 1825).
Lecleecq, Manuel d'archeologie chretienne, I (Paris, 1907), 15 sqq.
R. Maere.
