Vatican City celebrated the 400th anniversary of the first meeting of the Council of Trent by issuing a set of fourteen stamps on February 21, 1946. Pope Paul III (1534-1549) called the Council to meet in Trent in 1545. This Alpine city was under the protection of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1519-1556). The emperor sought resolution of turmoil in the Roman Empire caused by the Lutheran Reformation. He also desired Church reform, a broader issue. The Council, which initiated the Catholic Reformation, subsequently met in three sessions, 1546-1548, 1551-1552, and 1562-1563.
The stamps include engravings of central figures responsible for summoning, influencing, or managing the Council of Trent and persons responsible for Catholic reform. The set includes twelve vertical stamps and two horizontal Express Mail stamps. A Latin inscription 'Concilivm Oecvmenicum XIX Idibvs Dec. MDXLV Initivm Tridenti'' (The Beginning of the Ecumenical Council of Trent, 19th Ides of December 1545) appears on each stamp. Date identification reflects both the historic Roman and Julian calendars. 'Poste Vaticane' appears at the top of each stamp, with the postal value at the bottom. The names of persons depicted on the stamps are printed in Latin.
The 1.50-lire (sepia and vermillion) stamp depicts St. John Fisher, bishop of Rochester in England (1504-1535), martyred for refusing to accept King Henry VIII as Head of the Church in England.
Corrado Mezzana designed the stamps which were printed by photogravure. The vertical stamps measure 3 x 4 cm. The horizontal stamps measure 4 x 3 cm. The un-watermarked set is perforated 14 x 14. A total of 2 million stamps (5-cent through 4-lire values) were printed, and 1 million of the 5-lire and 10-lire stamps were printed.
References:
Vatikanstaat," in Michel Europa Katalog, band 3, Südeuropa, Unterschleißheim, Germany: Schwanberger Verlag GMBH, 2008.
"Vatican City," in Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue, part 8, Italy and Switzerland, 7th edition, Ringwood, Hampshire, England: Stanley Gibbons, Ltd., 2010.
Michael A. Mullett, The Catholic Reformation, London: Routledge, 1999.
R. Po-Chia Hsia, The World of Catholic Renewal, 1540-1770, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
