Editing Pope Sergius IV (section)

==Pontificate==
The power held by Sergius IV was small and often overshadowed by the patrician, [[John Crescentius]], the ruler of the city of Rome at the time. With the help of Crescentius, Sergius resisted the attempts of [[Emperor Otto III]] to establish control over Rome. Sergius IV acted to relieve famine in the city, and he exempted several monasteries from episcopal rule.<ref name=Mann/>

A [[papal bull]] calling for [[Muslims]] to be driven from the [[Holy Land]] after the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]] was destroyed in 1009 by the [[Fatimid]] [[caliph]] [[al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah]] has been attributed to Sergius IV, although its authenticity has long been a matter of debate.<ref name="Lair1899">{{cite book|author=Jules Auguste Lair|title=Bulle du pape Sergius IV.: Lettres de Gerbert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FFVGAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA47|year=1899|publisher=A. Picard et fils|location=Paris|language=French, Latin|pages=1–88}}</ref> [[Carl Erdmann]] considered it genuine,<ref name="Erdmann1965">{{cite book|author=Carl Erdmann|title=Die Entstehung des Kreuzzugsgedankens|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n52NxgEACAAJ|year=1965|publisher=[[W. Kohlhammer]]|location=Stuttgart|language=German}}</ref> but it was rejected at length by Aleksander Gieysztor, who suggested that it was actually invented around the time of the [[First Crusade]] in order to help justify that expedition to [[Jerusalem]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Aleksander Gieysztor|title=The Genesis of the Crusades: The Encyclical of Sergius IV (1009–1012)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P98ISQAACAAJ|year=1950}}</ref> Subsequently, Hans Martin Schaller has argued for the document's authenticity.<ref>Hans Martin Schaller (1991), 'Zur Kreuzzugensyklika Papst Sergius' IV.', in: ''Papsttum, Kirche und Recht im Mittelalter. Festschrift für Horst Fuhrmann zum 65. Geburtstag'', ed. Hubert Mordek (Tubingen 1991), 135–153 (in German).</ref>