Complex sentence: He came from an Antiochene Syrian family which had settled at Palermo in Sicily, and owed his election as Pope Conon's successor to skillful intrigues against Paschalis and Theodorus, the other candidates.
Split into simpler sentences: He came from an Antiochene Syrian family which had settled at Palermo in Sicily. Sergius I owed his election as Pope Conon's successor to skillful intrigues against Paschalis and Theodorus, the other candidates.