Juan de Mella

For the early 20th-century politician, see Juan Vázquez de Mella (1861–1928).

Juan de Mella (1397–October 12, 1467) (called the Cardinal of Zamora) was a Spanish Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal.

Biography

Juan de Mella was born in Zamora, Spain, the son of a nobleman, Fernando de Mella, notary of the episcopal curia and escribano de número of Zamora, and of his wife, Catalina de Alfonso.^[1] His brother Alfonso was a member of the Fraticelli.^[1]

In 1417, he began his studies at the Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé at the University of Salamanca.^[1] There, he studied theology and canon law and obtained a doctorate in canon law.^[1]

After obtaining his doctorate, he became a professor of canon law at the University of Salamanca.^[1] He was made dean of Coria and archdeacon of Madrid.^[1] He was also a prebendary and a member of the cathedral chapter of the Cathedral of Toledo.^[1]

During the pontificate of Pope Martin V, he traveled to Rome to defend Archbishop Diego de Anaya before the papal court.^[1] He then remained in Rome throughout the papacy of Pope Eugene IV (the Kingdom of Castile, where Mella came from, remained loyal to Eugene, while the Crown of Aragon supported Antipope Felix V).^[1] In 1432, Eugene appointed Mella auditor of the Sacred Roman Rota.^[1] Mella represented Eugene at the Council of Basel in 1432.^[2] Mella also served as regent of the papal chancery.^[3]

On April 12, 1434, the cathedral chapter of the León Cathedral elected Mella Bishop of León, to replace Bishop Alfonso de Cusanca who had been transferred to the see of Osma.^[1] Bishop Cusanca, however, declined his transfer, leading to Juan de Mella being renamed Bishop of León on August 26, 1437.^[1] Throughout this period, however, he continued residing in Rome.^[1] In 1440 Jean de Mella became bishop of Zamora, a position he held until 1465.

Bishop Mella participated in the Council of Florence.^[1] He was a member of the commission that drafted the papal bull Laetentur Caeli, which attempted to reunite the Latin Church and the Greek Church.^[1] This bull resulted in the announcement of reunification at Florence Cathedral on July 6, 1439.^[1] Mella was transferred to the see of Zamora on April 6, 1440, while his brother Fernando became auxiliary bishop and vicar general of León in his place.^[1] In Zamora Cathedral Mella endowed the chapel of San Ildefonso (now known as the capilla del cardenal after him) with five chaplaincies and an altar by Fernando Gallego.

In the consistory of December 17, 1456, Pope Callixtus III made Mella a cardinal. He received the red hat and the titular church of Santa Prisca on December 18, 1456. Mella was known as the Cardinal of Zamora.

Cardinal Mella participated in the papal conclave of 1458 that elected Pope Pius II.^[1] He later participated in the papal conclave of 1464 that elected Pope Paul II.^[1] Mella served as Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals in 1459. On May 20, 1465, Cardinal Mella was transferred to the see of Sigüenza, a post he remained in until his death.^[1]

He died of bubonic plague in Rome on October 12, 1467.^[1] He was buried in San Giacomo degli Spagnoli, a church on the Piazza Navona that was replaced in the nineteenth century by Nostra Signora del Sacro Cuore because of its ruined condition. The cardinal's remains were transferred to Santa Maria in Monserrato degli Spagnoli.^[1]

References

1. Biography from The Biographical Dictionary of the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
2. His oration appears in Mansi's collection of councils in volume 30, columns 538-542.
3. Thomas M. Izbicki, "Notes and Late Medieval Jurists: I. Juan de Mella: Cardinal and Canonist," Bulletin of Medieval Canon Law 4 (1974), p.49; Adalbert Mischlewski, "Ergänzungen zur Biographie Juan de Mellas," Bulletin of Medieval Canon Law 8 (1978) p.55.