MARINO I, POPE. — Also designated as Martin II. Born at Gallese near Rome, died at Rome on 15 May 884. As a deacon, he took part in the legation sent by Nicholas I (November 866) to Constantinople to clarify the situation of the Bulgarian neophytes, whom the Byzantine patriarch claimed to include within his jurisdiction; however, the legation was halted at the border of Bulgaria. Later, he was in Constantinople among the presidents of the Eighth Ecumenical Council (869–70), in which Photius was condemned.
Upon his return to Rome, Marino was appointed bishop of Caere (Cerveteri), and the Bulgarians vainly requested him as their bishop. In Naples in 882, he worked to break the alliance of Bishop Athanasius with the Saracens. He served as treasurer and archdeacon of the Church of Rome when he was elevated to the papacy upon the death of John VIII (16 December 882): the first instance of a bishop being elected pope, contrary to canon law (cf. Annales Fuldenses, ad an. 882, in MGH, Script., I, p. 397), as it was forbidden for bishops to change sees.
Marino’s pontificate marked a strong reaction against the policies of his predecessor. Many condemnations imposed by John VIII were annulled, and several exiles were reinstated, including the bishop of Porto, Formosus (the future pope), who had been reduced to the lay state with the prohibition ever to return to Rome.
When Guido, Duke of Spoleto, resumed hostilities
MARINO I, POPE — Silver denarius.
MARINO I — MARIN-SOLA FRANCISCO
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various commentaries on the *Pater noster*; *Avvertimenti intorno alla Confessione* (ibid. 1720); *I venerdì in onore dei sette dolori di M. Vergine* (ibid. 1730), where a historical notice appears regarding the “Compagnia dei sette Dolori di M. detta del Suffragio,” established in 1615 in the Barnabite church of St Alexander in Milan.