ARMELLINI, MARIANO. – Benedictine of the Cassinese Congregation, b. at Ancona on 10 December 1662, d. at Foligno on 4 May 1737.
A monk in the monastery of S. Paolo in Rome, he later became abbot in the monasteries of Assisi and Foligno. His familiarity with Antonio Magliabechi, while he was in Florence teaching philosophy and theology there, and much more the exhortations and example of Prospero Mandosio, author of the Biblioteca Romana, led him to compose the cycle of his historical works:
Biblioteca Benedictino-Casinensis, 2 vols., Assisi 1731–1732; (the letters V and Z have a new enumeration,
Appendix..., Foligno 1732); Catalogi tres episcoporum, reformatorum et virorum sanctitate illustrium e congregatione Casinensi, Assisi 1733 (the third catalogue, however, beginning with the letter C, was continued under the title: Continuatio catalogi virginum sanctitate illustrium..., Rome 1734); Additiones et correctiones Bibliothecae Benedectino-Casinensis, Foligno 1735, with a 20-page appendix: Appendix de quibusdam aliis per Italiam O. S. B. congregationum... vitis. Other works remained in manuscript.
Although the successive additions give a cumbersome appearance to this extensive collection of memoirs on the illustrious men of the Cassinese Congregation, from its origins (15th century) to the author’s own day, its value is nevertheless considerable, both for its accuracy and for the number of pieces of information often thereby rescued from oblivion. Consultation is facilitated by various indexes, and the figures are listed under their personal names.
At De Rossi’s school, and after extensive reading of Bosio and explorations of the cemeteries, the young archaeologist was able to compile his first studies, beginning with the Scoperta d'un graffito storico del cemeterio di Pretestato (Rome 1874). The first investigation of a church dates from 1875: the oratory of the archangel Gabriel and of the Seven Sleepers on the Via Appia. In the supposed Ostrian Cemetery (the Comm. Maius), A. discovered what he considered to be the tomb of St. Emerentiana (Scoperta della cripta di S. Emerenziana e di una memoria relativa alla cattedra di S. Pietro nel cimitero Ostriano, Rome 1877). Then, in 1880, came the important monographs Il Cimitero di S. Agnese (ibid.) and Le catacombe romane descritte (ibid.). To crown his studies of the catacombs, the substantial volume Gli antichi cimiteri cristiani di Roma e d'Italia (ibid.) appeared in 1893: a synthesis of De Rossi’s work, and dedicated to him. As for the churches, however, the first edition of Le Chiese di Roma dalle loro origini fino al sec. XVI (ibid.) had already appeared in 1887; it had a second edition in 1891 (with the variant: dal sec. IV al XIX). The work was republished in 1942 under the care of C. Cecchelli. We should also mention the popularizing pamphlet Le lezioni popolari di archeologia cristiana (Rome 1883) and the more substantial Lezioni di archeologia cristiana (Rome 1898), compiled posthumously by his friend Giovanni Asproni. We must also recall his collaboration on and continuation of the Cronochetta mensuale di archeologia e storia, as well as other minor studies on the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
A. was a man of the most upright character, of militant faith, and of extraordinary devotion to the Apostolic See. In the brief course of his life he gave proof of learned industry, both in his writings and in his teaching (at the Apollinare lycée and in other ecclesiastical institutions; among his pupils was also Pius XII). He was one of the founders of the Collegium Cultorum Martyrum (v. ROMA). He died while commenting to the students of Propaganda Fide on the epitaph of Pope Fabian.