New Advent
 Home   Encyclopedia   Summa   Fathers   Bible   Library 
 A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z 
New Advent
Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > S > Servus servorum Dei

Servus servorum Dei

Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99...

(SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD.)

A title given by the popes to themselves in documents of note. Gregory the Great was the first to use it extensively, and he was imitated by his successors, though not invariably till the ninth century. John the Deacon states (P.L., LXXV, 87) that Gregory assumed this title as a lesson in humility to John the Faster. Prior to the controversy with John (595), addressing St. Leander in April, 591, Gregory employed this phrase, and even as early as 587, according to Ewald ("Neues Archiv fur altere deutsche Geschichtskunde", III, 545, a. 1878), while still a deacon. A Bull of 570 begins: "Joannes (III) Episcopus, servus servorum Dei". Bishops actuated by humility, e.g. St. Boniface [Jaffe, "Monum. Mogun." in "Biblioth. Rer. Germ.", III (Berlin, 1866), 157, 177 etc.], and the archbishops of Benevento; or by pride, e.g. the archbishops of Ravenna as late as 1122 [Muratori, "Antiq. Ital.", V (Milan, 1741), 177; "Dissertazioni", II, disser. 36]; and even civil rulers, e.g. Alphonsus II, King of Spain (b. 830), and Emperor Henry III (b. 1017), applied the term to themselves. Since the twelfth century it is used exclusively by the pope. (See BULLS AND BRIEFS.)

Sources

DU CANGE, Glossarium med. et inf. lat.

About this page

APA citation. Meehan, A. (1912). Servus servorum Dei. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13737a.htm

MLA citation. Meehan, Andrew. "Servus servorum Dei." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13737a.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Herman F. Holbrook. Ubi Petrus, ibi Ecclesia.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.

Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster at newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.

Copyright © 2023 by New Advent LLC. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

CONTACT US | ADVERTISE WITH NEW ADVENT