Juan de Mella

Juan de Mella (1397 – October 12, 1467) (called the Cardinal of Zamora) was a Spanish Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal.

Cardinal

Juan de Mella
Cardinal-Priest
ChurchSanta Prisca (1456–1465)
S. Lorenzo in Damaso (1465–1467)
Orders
Created cardinal17 December 1456
by Pope Calixtus III
Personal details
Born1397
Zamora, Spain
Died12 October 1467
Rome
BuriedS.Giacomo degli Spagnoli
NationalityCastilian
Occupationcanon lawyer
Professionbishop
EducationDoctor in utroque iure
Alma materUniversity of Salamanca
For the early 20th-century politician, see Juan Vázquez de Mella (1861–1928).

Biography

Juan de Mella was born in Zamora, Spain, the son of a nobleman, Fernando de Mella, notary of the episcopal curia and escribano de número of Zamora, and of his wife, Catalina de Alfonso.[1][2] His brother Alfonso de Mella, O.Min., was a member of the Fraticelli.[3]

In 1417, Juan began his studies at the Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé at the University of Salamanca.[4] There, he studied theology and canon law, becoming Baccalarius in decretis in 1412. He then obtained a doctorate in canon law, though the date of the degree is unknown.[5] His tomb inscription appears to indicate that he was Doctor in utroque iure (Civil and Canon Law).

After obtaining his doctorate, Juan de Mella became a professor of canon law at the University of Salamanca.[5] He was made Dean of Coria by 1421.[6][7] He was also a prebendary and a member of the cathedral chapter of the Cathedral of Toledo.[8]

Auditor of the Rota

During the pontificate of Pope Martin V, he traveled to Rome as Procurator of King John II to defend Archbishop Diego de Anaya before the papal court.[2] Anaya had been excessively loyal to Benedict XIII and was in danger of being deposed. Anaya had also been the founder of the College of St. Bartholomew, of which Mella had been a member. Mella then remained in Rome throughout the papacy of Pope Eugene IV. The Kingdom of Castile, where Mella originated, remained loyal to Eugene, while the Crown of Aragon supported Antipope Felix V.[2] Mella was one of the prelates who represented Pope Eugene as an envoy to and substitute president of the Council of Basel in 1432. He also delivered an oration to the council of behalf of the pope.[9] At the end of 1432, Pope Eugene appointed Mella Auditor of the Roman Rota; he took his oath of office on 23 January 1433.[10] He continued to exercise the function for forty years.[11] The Pope also named him Archdeacon of Madrid.[12]

Mella also served as regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary.[13]

Bishop

On April 12, 1434, the cathedral chapter of the León Cathedral elected Mella Bishop of León, to replace Bishop Alfonso de Cusanca who had been transferred to the see of Osma.[2] Bishop Cusanca, however, declined his transfer, leading to Juan de Mella being renamed Bishop of León on August 26, 1437.[14] Throughout this period, however, he continued to reside in Rome.[2] In 1440 Jean de Mella became bishop of Zamora, a position he held until 1465.[15]

Bishop Mella participated in the Council of Florence. He was a member of the commission that drafted the papal bull Laetentur Caeli, which attempted to reunite the Latin Church and the Greek Church. This bull resulted in the announcement of reunification at Florence Cathedral on July 6, 1439.[16] Bishop-Elect de Mella signed the final decrees on 6 July 1439: Ego Ioannes de Mella confirmatus Legionen. subscripsi.[17]

Mella was transferred to the see of Zamora on April 6, 1440, while his brother Fernando became auxiliary bishop and vicar general of León in his place.[2] In Zamora Cathedral Mella endowed the chapel of San Ildefonso (now known as the capilla del cardenal after him) with five chaplaincies and an altar by Fernando Gallego.[18]

In 1455, Bishop de Mella was in Wrocław, where he conducted a court case involving the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights and his subjects, and found for the former. He and the Bishop of Wrocław received a letter from Pope Calixtus III ratifying their decision.[19]

Cardinal

In the consistory of December 17, 1456, Pope Callixtus III made Mella a cardinal. He received the red hat and the titular church of Santa Prisca on December 18, 1456. Mella was known as the Cardinal of Zamora.[20] In March 1465 he was transferred to the title of San Lorenzo in Damaso[21]

Cardinal Mella participated in the papal conclave of 1458 that elected Pope Pius II.[22] He later participated in the papal conclave of 1464 that elected Pope Paul II.[23] Mella served as Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals in 1459. On May 20, 1465, Cardinal Mella was transferred to the see of Sigüenza, a post he held until his death.[24]

Cardinal Juan de Mella died of the 'peste' (plague) in Rome on October 12, 1467.[2] He was buried in San Giacomo degli Spagnoli, a church on the Piazza Navona that was replaced in the nineteenth century by Nostra Signora del Sacro Cuore because of its ruined condition. The cardinal's remains were transferred to Santa Maria in Monserrato degli Spagnoli.[2] His tombstone inscription has been recorded:[25]

IO·DE MELLA GENERE HISPANO FAMIL INGENVO
CAESAREI AC PONTIFICII IVRIS CONSULTISS S.
LAVR·IN DAMASO PBRO CARD·ZAMOREN
SACRVM
VIX·ANN·LXX·OBIIT XIII·OCTOBR·A SALVTE NRA MCCCCLX·VII·PONT·MAX·PAVLI·II·AN·QVARTO
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References
  1. Thomas M. Izbicki, "Notes and Late Medieval Jurists: I. Juan de Mella: Cardinal and Canonist," Bulletin of Medieval Canon Law 4 (1974), p. 49  – via HeinOnline (subscription required)
  2. Biography from The Biographical Dictionary of the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
  3. Manuel Ambrosio Sanchez, "La represión de la dissidencia ideológica en el discurso religioso medieval," in: Santiago Carrillo; et al. (1998). Disidentes, heterodoxos y marginados en la historia (in Spanish). Universidad de Salamanca. pp. 90–92. ISBN 978-84-7481-891-8. For recent discoveries, including an autobiographical report: Juan Aranzadi (2012). Milenarismo vasco: Edad de Oro, etnia y nativismo (in Spanish). Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial España. ISBN 978-84-306-1581-0.
  4. Francisco Ruiz de Vergara (1766). Historia Del Colegio Viejo De S. Barholomè, Mayor De La Celebre Universidad De Salamanca (in Spanish). Primera parte (segunda ed.). Ortega. pp. 88–90.
  5. Vergara, p. 89. Izbicki, p. 49  – via HeinOnline (subscription required) ;
  6. Cerchiari, Emmanuele - Capellani Papae Et Apostolicae Sedis Auditores Causarum Sacri Palatii Apostolici Seu Sacra Romana Rota
  7. Cesareo Fernandez Duro (1882). Memorias históricas de la ciudad de Zamora, su provincia y obispado (in Spanish). Tomo I. Madrid. p. 233. ISBN 978-84-9761-080-3.
  8. Vicente Beltrán de Heredia, p. 313.
  9. See Pope Eugene's letter to the notary and referendary Juan de Mella and two colleagues (7 May 1333), authorizing them to preside over the Council in the absence of the Cardinal Legates, who were detained in Rome on business. J. D. Mansi (ed.) Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus Trigesimus (Venetiis: Antonius Zatta 1792), 538–542.
  10. Emmanuele Cerchiari, Capellani Papae Et Apostolicae Sedis Auditores Causarum Sacri Palatii Apostolici Seu Sacra Romana Rota Volumen II (Rome: Vatican Polyglot Press 1920), p. 46. He is characterized as Decanus Caurien.
  11. Cardella, p. 128.
  12. Izibcki, p. 50.
  13. Izbicki, p. 49. Adalbert Mischlewski, "Ergänzungen zur Biographie Juan de Mellas," Bulletin of Medieval Canon Law 8 (1978) p. 55  – via HeinOnline (subscription required) . Mischlewski points out that Mella held the post of Regent in 1438, and is attested again in 1443.
  14. Eubel, p. 174.
  15. Eubel, p. 271.
  16. Izbecki, p. 51.
  17. Horatius Iustinianus (1638). Acta sacri oecumenici concilij Florentini ab Horatio Iustiniano bibliothecae vaticanae custode primario collecta, disposita, illustrata (in Latin). Roma: typis Sac. Congr. de Fide Propaganda. p. 319. J.D. Mansi (ed.) Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio editio novissima Tomus XXXI (Venice 1798), p. 1037.
  18. El Duque de Berwick y Alba, ed. (1931). Catálogo histórico y bibliográfico de la Exposición Internacional de Barcelona (1929-1930) (in Spanish). Tomo I. Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia. p. 208. ISBN 978-84-96849-34-1. Enrique Lafuente Ferrari (1987). Breve historia de la pintura española (in Spanish). Tomo I. Madrid: Ediciones Akal. p. 124. ISBN 978-84-7600-181-3.
  19. Augustin Theiner (1861). Vetera monumenta Poloniae et Lithuaniae gentiumque finitimarum historiam illustrantia (in Latin). Typ. Vaticanis. pp. 98–101. Łukasiewicz, Krystyna (2012). "Deceptive Practices in Fifteenth Century Europe: The Case of Władysław III Jagiellon (Varnensis)". The Polish Review. 57 (2): 3–20, at p. 16. JSTOR 41558078.
  20. Conradus Eubel, Hierarchia catholica medii aevi Tomus II editio altera (Monasterii 1914), p. 12 and p. 31 no. 175.
  21. Eubel, p. 63.
  22. Eubel, II, p. 12 note 9, contains a list of the cardinals who participated in the Conclave of 1458.
  23. Eubel, II, p. 14 note 4, contains a list of the cardinals who participated in the Conclave of 1464.
  24. Eubel, p. 235.
  25. Vincenzo Forcella, Inscrizioni delle chiese e d'altri edificii di Roma III (Roma: Bencini 1873), p. 212, no. 498. 'Sacred (to the memory of) Joannes de Mella, Spanish by birth, of a respectable family, expert in Civil and Canon Law, Priest of San Lorenzo in Damaso, Cardinal of Zamora. He lived seventy years, died on 13 October 1467, in the fourth year of Pope Paul II.'

Books
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Giacomo Tebaldi		 Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals
1459		 Succeeded by
Pietro Barbo
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