Sergios II, Patriarch of Constantinople

Sale: Triton XI, Lot: 1160. Estimate $2500.  Closing Date: Monday, 7 January 2008.  Sold For $3100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Sergios II. Patriarch of Constantinople, 1001-1019. PB Seal (45mm, 39.05 g, 1h). +QKE BOHQEI Tw Cw DOVLw, Theotokos Hodeghetria standing facing, wearing chiton and maphorion, holding child Christ, who extends his right hand in benediction; MP [Q]V across field / CE[RG]Iw/ [ARCIE]PI/CK Kw[N]CTAN/TINOVPOL/ NEAC Pw/ – M, – in six lines across field; [ornament above]. BLS II 12; DOCBS -; Seyrig -; Vatican -; Orghidan -; Jordanov -. VF, minor suspension damage, brown-gray surfaces.

From the Robert E. Hecht Collection.

The 12th century historian John of Jerusalem records that, amid mounting antagonism between the eastern and western churches, Sergios II ended the practice of commemorating the Pope in church services in Constantinople.