THE PROPHECY of the pseudo M. — Under the name of M. a celebrated prophecy concerning the succession of the Roman pontiffs, from Celestine II (1143) onward, until the end of the world, gained credence. Each pontiff is designated by a brief motto: 111 in all. This prophecy began to circulate in 1595, when the Benedictine Arnold Wion included it in his Lignum vitae, published that year in Venice.
Its apocryphal character is evident from an examination of the prophecy, which must have been written only a few years before its publication. Indeed, from Celestine II to Gregory XIV (excluded), the brief mottos applied to the pontiffs correspond either to their coat of arms, their family name, their baptismal name, their cardinalitial title, or the pope’s country of origin. From Gregory XIV onward, however, the mottos become enigmatic; and although some fit, most remain shrouded in great uncertainty, many are downright nonsensical, and only by force can they be reconciled with actual history (Pastor). The text of the prophecies is closely related, even verbally, to the Epitome of the history of the popes by Platina, prepared by Panvinio and published in 1557, whose errors it also reproduces. In Wion’s edition, the prophecies up to Gregory XIV are accompanied by a brief explanation by Ciacconio. The reason for its composition is unclear. Harnack, for example, connects it with the Conclave of 1590, as having been disseminated by the supporters of Cardinal Simoncelli, to whom the motto Ex antiquitate urbis, which was to belong to the new Pontiff, would have been well suited. Gregory XIV was elected instead, and the mottos began no longer to fit. Two other prophecies, likewise apocryphal and less well known, are also attributed to M.: one concerning Ireland and the other Spain. - Vedi tav. CXXV.