(2) 1. MARINO (?-946)

Papacy. Elected pope on October 30 or November, 942 (3). Took the name Marinus II (1). He was consecrated before November 11, 942. He avoided conflicts and wars and dedicated himself to reforming the secular clergy and monks; to restoring church buildings; and to caring for the poor. He granted privileges to the recently founded monasteries of Sankt Mauritius of Magdebourg and of Schildesche, of nuns. On February 4, 943, at the request of Abbot Guidone of Vézelay, he confirmed the possessions and privileges of that monastery by the bull "Quotiens illa tribui". By the bull "Quoniam semper sunt", of March 27, 943, he confirmed the privileges of the monastery of Sankt Bonifatius of Fulda and placed it under the direct jurisdiction of the Holy See, at the request of its abbot Hadamar, future cardinal. On November 11, 943, by the bull "Um summae", he confirmed the possessions of the church of Benevento, at the request of its bishop, Giovanni. In May 944, by the bull "Convenit apostolico moderamini", he granted the church of S. Maria in Foronovo and its privileges to the see of Sabina, at the request of its bishop, Giovanni. On June 21, 944, by the bull "Convenit apostolico moderamini", he confirmed possessions and privileges of the abbey of Montecassino at the request of its abbot, Balduino. In the summer of 945, the pope placed the abbey of S. Paolo fuori le mura, Rome, under the authority of Abbot Balduino of Montecassino. He ordered Bishop Sicco of Capua to return the church of S. Angelo in Formis, which the prelate had given to the jurisdiction of the monastery of Montecassino; in spite of the peremptory tone of the bull, the church was not returned to the monastery until 1072. In a bull issued in early 946, he confirmed the title and the office of apostolic vicar in partibus totius Germaniae Galliaeque to Friedrich, archbishop of Mainz; the office and dignity had been given two centuries earlier to St. Boniface, the apostle of Germany. He created three cardinals in one promotion.

Death. Early May 946, Rome (4). Buried in the pavement of the portico of the Vatican basilica. His tomb was destroyed during the demolition of the old basilica and the construction of the new one in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1792, I, pt. 1, 76-77; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificum Romanorum : et S.R.E. Cardinalium ab initio nascentis Ecclesiae usque ad Clementem IX P. O. M. Alphonsi Ciaconii Ord. Praed. & aliorum opera descriptæ : cum uberrimis notis. Ab Augustino Oldoino, Soc. Jesu recognitae, et ad quatuor tomos ingenti ubique rerum accessione productae. Additis Pontificum recentiorum imaginibus, & Cardinalium insignibus, plurimisque aeneis figuris, cum indicibus locupletissimis. Romæ : P. et A. De Rubeis, 1677, I, col. 709-712; Cristofori, Francesco. Cronotasi dei cardinali di Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Tipografia de Propaganda Fide, 1888, p. XI; Del Re, Niccolò. "Marino II (Martino III), papa." Mondo vaticano. Passato e presente. Città del Vaticano : Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1995, p. 686; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. Les cardinaux des 10 premiers siècles". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1926. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1927, p. 156, no. 2; Kelly, John Norman Davidson. The Oxford Dictionary of Popes. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1986, p. 124-25; Le Liber pontificalis. Paris : E. de Boccard, 1981, 1955. 3 v. : facsims. (Bibliothèque des Écoles françaises d'Athènes et de Rome). Notes: Reprint of the 1955 edition./ Includes indexes./ Vol. 3: "Additions et corrections de L. Duchesne publiées par Cyrille Vogel ... avec L'Histoire du Liber pontificalis dupuis l'édition de L. Duchesne une bibliographie et des tables générales. "Introduction bibliographique" : v. 3, p. 23-42. Responsibility: texte, introduction et commentaire par L. Duchesne, II, LXIX-LXX; 245; Montini, Renzo Uberto. Le tombe dei papi. Roma : Angelo Belardetti, 1957. Note: At head of title: Instituto di studi romani, pp. 154 and 442, appendix III A "Papi sepolti nell'antiva Basilica Vaticana; Piazzoni, Ambrogio. "Marino II." Enciclopedia dei papi. 3 vols. Roma : Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 2000, II, 76-77; Reardon, Wendy J. The deaths of the popes : comprehensive accounts, including funerals, burial places and epitaphs. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., Publishers, 2004, p. 71; Regesta pontificum Romanorum ab conditio Ecclesia. Ad annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII. Graz : Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1956. 2 v. Reprint. Originally published : Lipsiae : Veit et comp., 1885-1888. Original t.p. included : Regesta pontificum Romanorum ab condita ecclesia : ad annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII. Editionem secundam correctam et auctam edidit Philippus Jaffè ; auspiciis Gulielmi Wattenbach; curaverunt S. Loewenfeld, F. Kaltenbrunner, P. Ewald, I, 458-459.

Webgraphy. Biography by Ambrogio Maria Piazzoni, in Italian, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 70 (2008), Treccani; biography by Horace Mann, in English, The Catholic Encyclopedia; biography, in English, Encyclopaedia Britannica; biography, in English, cfpeople.org; five engravings, Bildarchiv Austria. Die Bildplattform der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek.

(1) Piazzoni, "Marino II." Enciclopedia dei papi, p. 76, explains that as happened with Pope Marino I in some of the catalogs of popes, his name was changed to Martino. Thus, Marinus II became the third pope with that name. As a result of this erroneous tradition, Simon de Brie became Pope Martino IV in 1281 without there having ever been a Martino II or a Martino III.
(2) This is according to Kelly, The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, p. 124; and its first biography in English, linked above. "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. Les cardinaux des 10 premiers siècles". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1926, p. 156, no. 2, says that he was created cardinal deacon and that his deaconry is not known.
(3) This is according to Annuario Pontificio per l'anno 2009 (Città del Vaticano : Libreria Editrice Vatican, 2009) p. 12*. Del Re, "Marino II (Martino III), papa." Mondo vaticano. Passato e presente, p. 686, says that he was elected on October 30, 942. Cristofori, Cronotasi dei cardinali di Santa Romana Chiesa, p. XI; and "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. Les cardinaux des 10 premiers siècles". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1926, p. 156, no. 2, say that he was elected pope in January or February 943.
(4)This is according to Kelly, The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, p. 124; and Reardon, The deaths of the popes : comprehensive accounts, including funerals, burial places and epitaphs, p. 71. Cristofori, Cronotasi dei cardinali di Santa Romana Chiesa, p. XI; and "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. Les cardinaux des 10 premiers siècles". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1926, p. 156, no. 2, say that he died in June 946. Le Liber pontificalis, II, LXX, says that he died on May 19, 946 at the latest, according to several catalogs and adds that this date has to be revised because Pope Marinus II's successor, Agapitus II, was consecrated on Sunday May 10, 946. Reardon adds that he died under suspicious circumstances and that if he was murdered, it was probably on orders of Alberico II because the pope had rebelled against him.

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