MAESTRO DI CAMERA. - Praefectus cubiculi Sanctitatis Suae (at the Roman imperial court: magister admissionum), in Italian "m. di c. of the Pope or of His Holiness," or introducer. He is the second of the palatine prelates, after the majordomo, with whom he is responsible, according to their respective functions, for directing and enforcing the ceremonial of the pontifical Court, of audiences, and of the Secret Chamber or Antechamber. He has the task of introducing into the presence of the pontiff personages and all those who are admitted.

He enjoys the title of excellency, and in the 16th-19th centuries he was often invested with the archiepiscopal dignity (cf. Notizie di Roma per l'anno 1725, Rome 1725, p. 231; Notizie per l'a. 1766, ibid. 1766, p. 319 ff.). The office ceases with the death of the pope. At the Lateran patriarchate, in the early development of the pontifical household, the functions of m. di c. seem to have been assigned to the so-called secundicarius (v. PRIMICERIUS). The sub-m. di c., who is sometimes found as a member of the pontifical household, was called proximus ab admissionis. The appellation m. di c. itself was not, however, always specific to the office to which it is attached today. Under Nicholas III (1277), for example, five m. di c. are recorded, the last of whom is the auditor camerae. In the Avignon period the office took on substance, and from the 15th century onward the chronological series of the m. di c. is preserved (cf. under Pius IV: Th. R. v. Sickel, Ein ruolo di famiglia des Papstes Pius IV, Innsbruck 1893, p. 35; for the complete list, G. Moroni, s. v., XLI, pp. 132-39). In the 17th century, to designate it, the phrase "m. di c. of Our Lord" is used. He has notable functions and prerogatives and replaces the prelate majordomo in his absence, while he in turn is replaced by the cupbearer (v. FAMIGLIA PONTIFICIA). Among his other prerogatives is that of custodian of the pontifical seal (anulus piscatoris): at the death of the pontiff he delivers it to the cardinal camerlengo, who has it broken. There is record of this custom as far back as Innocent X (1644-55).

He is assisted in the ceremonies of the antechamber and of audience by the participating secret chamberlains (cubicularis intimi seu secret).

Bibliography9 works

BIBL.: cod. Vat. lat. 5028 (a. 1585), ff. 1-102; Vat. lat. 5040, ff. 1-29; Vat. lat. 8193, part 2 (17th-18th cent.), ff. 547-79; Vat. lat. 12353 (17th-18th cent.), ff. 50-51; D. Sestini, Il m. di c., Florence 1625; P. L. Galletti, Del primicerio della S. Apostolica e di altri ufficiali maggiori del S. Palazzo Lateranense, Rome 1766; F. de' Medici, Regolamento per il servizio interno dell'anticamera pontificia, ibid. 1843; R. Ruffo della Scaletta, La famiglia pontificia, in Vaticano, Florence 1946, pp. 169-70; Annuario pontificio, 1951, Vatican City 1951, pp. 916, 937.

Giuseppe Palazzini

@incollection{ec7_maestro_di_camera, author = {Palazzini, Giuseppe}, title = {Maestro di Camera}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VII}, pages = {1809}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/maestro-di-camera} }

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