Pope St. Symmachus
?–514 CE · Sardinia
A Sardinian convert from paganism, Symmachus was elected in 498 on the same day as a rival, the archdeacon Laurentius, igniting the Laurentian schism that split Rome for years. King Theodoric the Great, the Ostrogothic ruler of Italy, ultimately backed Symmachus, and a series of synods affirmed that the pope could not be judged by any earthly tribunal, an important precedent for papal independence. Symmachus aided Catholics persecuted in the East, ransomed captives, supported the African church under Vandal rule, and built and adorned churches in Rome. Despite the contested start, his reign strengthened the Roman see's autonomy and charitable reach.
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Sardinia
We know they were here, but the specifics of what they did at this stop aren’t recorded yet in our corpus.
About Sardinia
Sardinia, the large Mediterranean island west of Italy. In the early Church it was a place of penal exile; several Roman clergy, including Pope Pontian and Hippolytus, were deported to its mines under persecution.
In Sardinia at the same time
In the same place & time
Sages whose lives overlapped with Pope St. Symmachus’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
Across the traditions
In the same tradition
Benedict of Nursia, Boethius, Pope Pelagius I, Pope St. Hormisdas, Pope Anastasius II, Pope St. Hilarius
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers and teachers of other traditions whose lives overlapped with Pope St. Symmachus’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.
Works
No works attributed in the corpus yet.