We encourage you to visit the Popecast website to hear Matt Sewell talk about this pope who reigned in 1555 from April 10 – May 1–one of the shortest reigns in history.
Along with the incredible artifact–the letter signed by him featured below (and translated) Matt Sewell has made Marcellus II truly come alive!
Another contribution to the living history of the papacy!
The Last Pope in History Not to Change His Name
Marcellus II
Here is a link to his website
https://www.facebook.com/thepopecast
Pope Marcellus IIPope Marcellus II: A Very Rare Letter Signed As Cardinal, Dated March 14, 1543, Translated
Pope Marcellus II reigned from the 9th to the 30th of April 1555, making his one of the shortest papacies on record.
Because of this, knowledgeable sources estimate there may be no more than five or six signed documents attributed to him outside of the Vatican. His is reputedly among the rarest of all papal signatures.
The letter is an incredible addition to this Collection. With its acquisition the Papal Artifacts includes all but five popes in the past five centuries.
The Letter
The letter is signed by him as Cardinal of the Saint Cross in Jerusalem, (Cardinal-Priest of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme) from Forli 14.3.1543 to Cardinal Rodolfo Pio from Carpi.
Full Text:
My Reverend Father, Illustrious and most respected Lord
The fifteen scudi per month at the behest of our Lord given
By Sir Egidio Zefiro to the Archbishop Goto, are not given
[this time] because with this reliance he should put himself
On his way to the place of the Council, and in order to help
Him when he will stop in Rome, where he should not move—
Having been the Council concluded since a long time—until
Further orders from his Holiness which, as they made clear,
I believe that his Holiness won’t hesitate to increase his
Commission as I already wrote in more detail to the
Archbishop and could not anything further, except to say
That I will always do anything for your benefit, to his soon
Holiness and Cardinal Farnese of ours, as I did until today.
To your Reverend Lordship I humbly commend myself to You
From Forli, the XIIII of March 1543
On the Backside:
To the Reverend and Illustrios Lord of mine, most respected
Monseigneur the Cardinal of Carpi, legate, etc.
In Rome
[note of the chancellery]
1543 18th of March, Rome
From Forlì 14 as indicated from Cardinal of Saint Cross
Response on behalf of the Archbishop Gotho
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- Pope Marcellus II Coat of Arms
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- Pope Marcellus II Tomb in St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican Grottoes
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- Pope Marcellus II Statue in Siena’s Cathedral
Pope Marcellus II
Pope Marcellus II
Marcellus II
1555-1555
Marcello Cervini de Spannocchi born 1501
There are a few characters in whom the Renaissance spirit and the Christian spirit met in so harmonious a blending that in them the best spirit of the age seemed incarnate. St. Thomas More was one such. Pope Marcellus II was another.
Marcello Cervini was born May 6, 1501, of a noble family of Montepulciano. His father Ricciardo, a scientist, started Marcello on the path to knowledge. Marcello was a serious young man, yet so agreeable that he was liked everywhere. At Siena, where he continued his education, he was so respected that his presence was enough to cut off evil conversation. He completed his education at Rome, where he made such an impression on Clement VII that the Pope ordered Marcello to collaborate with his father on a book dealing with calendar reform. He helped his father not only on the book but on his estates. Marcello proved to be a practical farmer as well as a scholar, a conjunction not always found.
After his parents’ death he settled the family, then went to Rome where he served first in the papal chancery, then in the diplomatic corps. Cardinal Farnese, who had studied under Marcello and liked him, used him a great deal in affairs of state. His advancement was swift. Bishop of Nicastro and administrator of Reggio and later of Gubbio, he took great pains to reform those dioceses. Created cardinal in 1539, he served as legate at Trent, where he did valuable work on the decrees on scripture, tradition, and justification.
Marcello is remembered by scholars as one of the great directors of the Vatican Library. By his cataloguing, his acquisition of new manuscripts and his printing of old ones he contributed a great deal to scholarship. He was a friend to young writers and such scholars as Seripando, Sirleto, and Panvinio owed much to him.
Such then was the man the cardinals chose to succeed Julius III. His election on April 10, 1555, was hailed with joy, especially by those eager for reform. Marcellus II (he retained his own name) wasted no time. He cut down the display of the coronation. He rigidly refused to favor his relatives. He issued severe regulations for his household. He proclaimed his intention of resuming the Council of Trent. Men felt a golden age of the papacy was dawning; but the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.
The long ceremonies of the coronation and Holy Week had so exhausted the delicate Pope that he fell into a fever. In spite of doctors’ orders he continued to work. Although the fever persisted, the doctors were not alarmed; but on May I, 1555, after a pontificate of only twenty-two days, Pope Marcellus died in his sleep.
His memory is enshrined in Palestrina’s great Mass of Pope Marcellus, and still more in the hearts of those who reverence goodness and scholarship.
Bio Information: Popes Through the Ages by Joseph Brusher S. J., p 444, Third Edition, Published 1980
His memory is enshrined in Palestrina’s great Mass of Pope Marcellus, and still more in the hearts of those who reverence goodness and scholarship.
This Mass was last performed during the coronation of (soon-to-be) Pope St. Paul VI.
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