Saint Sergius I

Pope Sergius I (c. 650 – 8 September 701) was the bishop of Rome from 15 December 687 to his death on 8 September 701, and is revered as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. He was elected at a time when two rivals, Paschal and Theodore, were locked in a dispute about which of them should become pope. His papacy was dominated by his response to the Quinisext Council, the canons of which he steadfastly refused to accept. Thereupon Emperor Justinian II ordered Sergius' arrest, but the Roman people and the Italian militia of the exarch of Ravenna refused to allow the exarch to bring Sergius to Constantinople. Sergius I came from an Antiochene Syrian family which had settled at Panormus in Sicily. Sergius left Sicily and arrived in Rome during the pontificate of Adeodatus II. He may have been among the many Sicilian clergy in Rome due to the Caliphate's attacks on Sicily in the mid-7th century. Pope Leo II ordained him cardinal-priest of Santa Susanna on 27 June 683, and he rose through the ranks of the clergy. He remained cardinal-priest of Santa Susanna until he was selected to become pope. Pope Conon died on 21 September 687 after a long illness and a reign of less than a year. His archdeacon, Paschal, had already attempted to secure the papacy by bribing the exarch of Ravenna, John II Platyn. A more numerous faction wanted the archpriest Theodore to become pope. The two factions entered into armed combat, each in possession of part of the Lateran Palace, which was the papal residence. To break the deadlock, a group of civic authorities, army officers, clergy, and other citizens met in the Palatine imperial palace, elected Sergius, and then stormed the Lateran, forcing the two rival candidates to accept Sergius. Though pretending to accept Sergius, Paschal sent messengers to Platyn, promising a large sum of gold in exchange for military support. The exarch arrived, recognised that Sergius had been regularly elected, but demanded the gold anyway.