PETER of MALLIUS (Petrus Mallii or Manlii). —
It is known that he was a presbyter assigned to the service of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during the second half of the 12th century, and that he compiled a complete collection of the epigraphic, dedicatory, and sepulchral texts then existing in that basilica.
He was moved to compile this collection because the deacon John had dedicated to Pope Alexander III (1159–81) a work extolling the supremacy of the Lateran Basilica over the other churches. Peter countered with a work of his own, dedicated to the same Pope Alexander III, to uphold in turn the primacy of the Vatican Basilica over the other basilicas and churches of Rome and the world, since it was founded upon the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles and contained the graves of the first popes, as well as for the artistic merit of its construction and its monuments. In some places the pamphlet advanced its arguments almost by paraphrasing those of its opponent.
In describing the Vatican Basilica, the author inserted the texts of the epitaphs of the popes buried there and various inscriptions found in the chapels and other parts of the basilica, in order to exalt ever more the importance of that renowned sacred building.
The manuscript is preserved in St Peter’s Basilica; the text is reproduced in a codex of the Biblioteca Claromontana and published by Inning in the Acta Sanctorum (June, VII, pp. 37–54). Codex Vat. 6757, from the beginning of the 13th century, contains the text with recensio and additions by the Roman presbyter attached to the same basilica; it was edited by Paolo de Angelis in 1646. It was republished by G. B. De Rossi, drawn from Codex Vat. 3627, of the 16th century, which derives from a copy of the late 12th century.