Pope Marcellus II
pope of the Catholic Church and bishop of Rome from 9 April to 1 May 1555
Pope Marcellus II (Italian: Marcello II; 6 May 1501 – 1 May 1555), born Marcello Cervini degli Spannocchi, was head of the Catholic Church and leader of the Papal States from 10 April 1555 to his death, 22 days later.
Marcellus succeeded Pope Julius III. Before his accession as pope he had been Cardinal-Priest of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. He is the most recent pope to choose to retain his birth name as his regnal name upon his accession, and the most recent pope with the regnal name "Marcellus".
Marcello Cervini's father, Ricardo Cervini, was a personal friend of Pope Clement VII. Cervini served in the household of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. When Farnese became Pope Paul III, Cervini served as his secretary and was employed on a number of diplomatic missions. On 10 April 1555, he was elected to succeed Pope Julius III. He died of a stroke twenty-two days later.
Early life
A native of Montefano, a small village near Macerata and Loreto he was the son of Ricardo Cervini who was the Apostolic Treasurer in Ancona. The family originated in Tuscany, in the town of Montepulciano, which had once been subject to Siena, but later was under the control of Florence. Marcello had two half-brothers, Alexander and Romulus.
Marcello was educated locally, and at Siena and Florence, where he became proficient in writing Latin, Greek, and Italian.
“Pope Marcellus II” enters the record as pope of the Catholic Church and bishop of Rome from 9 April to 1 May 1555. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Pope, Marcellus and pope can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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