STOCCO e BERRETTONE. – The s. is a kind of sword, richly adorned with gold on the hilt, with scabbard and baldric, which the Roman pontiffs used to send to sovereigns, princes, and illustrious generals who had distinguished themselves in the defense of religion and the Church, both as a sign of gratitude for their victories against heretics and infidels and as an encouragement to protect them still and always. Together with the s., the recipient was also presented with the so-called b. (pileum), a crimson velvet headpiece trimmed with ermine and embroidered in gold, on which stood out a white dove made of pearls, symbolizing the Holy Spirit.
The use of such a gift is extremely ancient, although its date of institution cannot be established precisely; it nevertheless seems to have been inspired in the pontiffs by a passage from II Mach. 15, where we read that Judas Maccabeus, shortly before engaging in battle with Nicanor, general of Antiochus, king of Syria, saw in a vision the priest Onias praying to God for his people and the prophet Jeremiah handing him a golden sword, saying to him: Receive this holy sword which God sends you, with which you shall destroy the enemies of my people Israel (ibid. 15, 16). It is certain, in any case, that this was intended to replace the still more ancient custom of sending the banner of St Peter, adorned with the image of the Apostle and the papal keys.
S. and b. were blessed with a solemn ceremony in the Vatican Basilica on Christmas Day, while the Pope celebrated Mass; some authors wished to attribute the institution of this rite to Sixtus IV (1471–84), though erroneously, since the same Pontiff, who prescribed the formula to be pronounced when the gift was presented, demonstrated quite clearly, with the words volentes approbatas Patrum consuetudines observare, that in his time it was already being practiced. If the person for whom the gift was intended was in Rome, it was delivered to him directly by the Pontiff, who pronounced the following formula: Accipe hunc gladium cum Dei benedictione tibi collatum, in quo per virtutem Spiritus Sancti resistere et eicere valeas omnes inimicos tuos et cunctos Sanctae Ecclesiae adversarios, adiuuante Domino Nostro Iesu Christo; otherwise, it was sent to him by special envoys, together with an accompanying letter, in which the pontiffs customarily explained on each occasion, in an entirely particular manner, the meaning of the sword, which was to be taken as a symbol of justice and prudence, virtues exceedingly necessary in all rulers of men. Among the various persons honored with the gift of the s. and the b. are remembered Louis XI, king of France, who received it from Pius II in 1461; the Emperor Frederick III, who received it from Paul II in 1468; and John III Sobieski, king of Poland, whose valor brought about the Christian victory over the Turks and the liberation of Vienna (1683), and to whom it was sent in 1684 by Innocent XI, who on the same occasion also Golden Rose (v.) to Queen Casimira.