Pope Marinus II (died May 946) was the

bishop of Rome The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

and ruler of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

from 30 October 942 to his death. He ruled during the ''

Saeculum obscurum (, "the dark age/century"), also known as the Rule of the Harlots or the Pornocracy, was a period in the history of the papacy during the first two thirds of the 10th century, following the chaos after the death of Pope Formosus in 896, which ...

''. He was also erroneously called Pope Martin III () leading to the second pope named Martin taking the name

Martin IV Pope Martin IV (; born Simon de Brion; 1210/1220 – 28 March 1285), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 February 1281 until his death in 1285. He was the last French pope to hold his court in Rome before ...

Early career

Marinus was born in Rome, and prior to becoming pope he was attached to the Church of Saint

Cyriacus Cyriacus (, fl. 303 AD), sometimes Anglicized as Cyriac, according to Christian tradition, is a Christian martyr who was killed in the Diocletianic Persecution. He is one of twenty-seven saints, most of them martyrs, who bear this name, of whom ...

in the

Baths of Diocletian The Baths of Diocletian (Latin: ''Thermae Diocletiani'', Italian: ''Terme di Diocleziano'') were public baths in ancient Rome. Named after emperor Diocletian and built from AD 298 to 306, they were the largest of the imperial baths. The project w ...

. He was said to have encountered

Ulrich of Augsburg Ulrich of Augsburg (890 – 4 July 973), sometimes spelled ''Uodalric'' or ''Odalrici'', was Prince-Bishop of Augsburg in the Holy Roman Empire. He was the first saint to be canonised not by a local authority but by a Pope. Life Early year ...

on his visit to Rome in 909, and reportedly predicted Ulrich's eventual appointment as

bishop of Augsburg Diocese of Augsburg () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich. History Early history The present city of Augsburg appears in Strabo as ''Damasia'', a stronghold of t ...

Pontificate

Marinus was elevated to the papacy on 30 October 942 through intervention of

Alberic II of Spoleto Alberic II (912–954) was ruler of Rome from 932 to 954, after deposing his mother Marozia and his stepfather, King Hugh of Italy. He was of the house of the counts of Tusculum, the son of Marozia by her first husband, Duke Alberic I of Spolet ...

. This period is known as ''

'' due to the power of Alberic and his relatives over the

popes The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

. Marinus concentrated on administrative aspects of the papacy, and sought to reform both the secular and regular clergy. He extended the appointment of Archbishop

Frederick of Mainz Frederick (died October 954) was the Archbishop of Mainz from 937, following the late Hildebert, until his death. He was a son of Reginar, Duke of Lorraine. Immediately, Frederick acted as an opponent of Otto the Great, one of the most consist ...

papal vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

and

missus dominicus A ''missus dominicus'' (plural ''missi dominici''), Latin for "envoy of the lord uler, also known in Dutch as Zendgraaf ( German: ''Sendgraf''), meaning "sent Graf", was an official commissioned by the Frankish king or Holy Roman Emperor to sup ...

throughout

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Francia The Kingdom of the Franks (), also known as the Frankish Kingdom, or just Francia, was the largest History of the Roman Empire, post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks, Frankish Merovingian dynasty, Merovingi ...

. Marinus later intervened when the

bishop of Capua The Archdiocese of Capua () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Capua, in Campania, Italy, but its archbishop no longer holds metropolitan rank and has no ecclesiastical province.Benedictine monks The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, the ...

. In fact, throughout his pontificate, Marinus favoured various monasteries, issuing a number of

bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine * Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding *Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...

in their favour. Marinus occupied the palace built by

Pope John VII Pope John VII (; c. 650 – 18 October 707) was the bishop of Rome from 1 March 705 to his death on 18 October 707. He was an ethnic Greek, one of the Byzantine popes, but had better relations with the Lombards, who ruled much of Italy, than wi ...

atop the

Palatine Hill The Palatine Hill (; Classical Latin: ''Palatium''; Neo-Latin: ''Collis/Mons Palatinus''; ), which relative to the seven hills of Rome is the centremost, is one of the most ancient parts of the city; it has been called "the first nucleus of the ...

in the ruins of the ''Domus Gaiana''. He died in May 946 and was succeeded by Agapetus II.Mann, pg. 223

Name

Because of the similarity of the names Marinus and Martinus,

Marinus I Pope Marinus I ( ; died 15 May 884) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 882 until his death on 15 May 884. Controversially at the time, he was already a bishop when he became pope, and had served as papal legate to Constanti ...

and Marinus II were, in some sources, mistakenly called Martinus II and Martinus III.

Notes

References

* Mann, Horace K., ''The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Vol. IV: The Popes in the Days of Feudal Anarchy, 891-999'' (1910)

External links

Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Latina with analytical indexes
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marinus 2 Popes Italian popes 946 deaths Year of birth unknown 10th-century popes Burials at St. Peter's Basilica