1292–1294 papal election
The papal election from April 5, 1292 to July 5, 1294 was the last papal election which did not take the form of a papal conclave. After the death of Pope Nicholas IV on April 4, 1292, the eleven surivivng cardinals (a twelth died during the sede vacante) deliberated for more than two years before electing the third of six non-cardinals to be elected pope during the Later Middle Ages, Pietro da Morrone, who took the name Pope Celestine V.[1]
Within the year, on December 13, Celestine would also become the last pope to voluntarily abdicate.[1] Before abdicating, Celestine re-enacted Ubi Periculum, the Apostolic Constitution of Pope Gregory X, which has governed all subsequent papal elections under the laws of the conclave (with the possible exception of Martin V, elected by the Council of Constance to end the Western Schism, and the papal conclave, 1799-1800 for which Pope Pius VI released the cardinals from the constitutions observation due to the interference of Napoléon Bonaparte).[2]
Cardinal electors
Because Nicholas IV had only elevated one cardinal, Benedetto Caetani, the College was far smaller than the fifteen-member body which had elected Nicholas in 1287.[3]
Deliberation
The eleven electors were relatively evenly divided between the factions of Colonna and Orsini, two powerful Roman families,[4] lead by Giacomo Colonna and Matteo Orsini, respecitvely.[5] The three Orsini cardinals were pro-French and pro-Angevin, while the two Colonna cardinals supported competing Aragonese claims in Sicily.[6] James II of Aragon had bankrolled the Colonna faction with gold, but it is unknown whether simony actually transpired.[7]
After ten days of balloting in Rome, without any candidate approaching the requisite two-thirds, the cardinals adjourned until June and changed the location of the election[8] from Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore to Santa Maria sopra Minerva.[5] After a summer epidemic in the city, and the death of Cholet in August, dispersed until late September.[8][9] The non-Roman cardinals went to Rieti (except Caetani, who went to his native Anagni) while the Roman cardinals remained in the city.[9] As balloting continued into the next summer, the disorder in Rome increased dramatically (even by the standards of a sede vacante, during which, based on the biblical example of Barabbas, all prisoners were released).[8] After the summer of 1293, the cardinals dispersed and agreed to reconvene in Perugia on October 18.[8][9]
The College continued to deliberate fruitlessly in Perugia, where they were addressed by Charles II of Naples in March 1294.[8] By the summer of 1294, cardinals had begun to disperse, leaving only six in Perugia for their final meeting, where a letter was read aloud from a hermit, Pierro de Morrone, stating that God had revealed to him that the cardinals would be punnished for any further delay.[8] Matteo Orsini, the senior cardinal, suddenly nominated Morrone—who would have been well-known by the cardinals as a saintly figure—and the other cardinals rapidly agreed and recalled the departed electors to consent.[8][10]
Consensus was achieved by July 5, 1294, when Morrone was elected.[11] As with the selection of Gregory X by the papal election, 1268–1271, the choice of an outsider, non-cardinal, in this case an "octogenarian hermit," was seen as the only way to break the stalemate between the deadlocked cardinals.[12] That election also could have resulted in the selectin of a hermit, had Saint Philip Benizi not fled to avoid his election after he urged the cardinals to speed up their deliberations.[13]
Coronation
Instead of coming to Perugia (the site of the conclave), Celestine insisted that the cardinals join him in L'Aquila (in Neapolitan territory, and the presence of Charles II of Naples and his son Charles Martel of Anjou) for his coronation, rather than crossing into the bordering Papal States.[14] Celestine rode a donkey to the L'Aquila basililca, which was the nearest cathedral to his hermitage.[11] Because only three cardinals were present at the ceremony on August 29, the ceremony was repeated a few days later when more arrived, making Celestine the first and only pope to be coronated twice.
The Angevin-Neapolitan influence of Celestine can also be seen in his first consistory, during which he elevated twelve cardinals, including seven Frenchmen and three (or five[15]) Neapolitans, the first time in history where a single conclave had swung the College of Cardinals so decidedly in one nationalist partisan direction.[14] The cardinals who were not French or Angevin were members of Celestine's former order.[11] Celestine also moved the Castel Nuovo in Naples, where he continued to live much like a hermit, until he resigned, as advocated by many Roman cardinals, including Benedetto Gaetani (who, a former lawyer, suggested that Celestine first publish a decree establishing the permissability of papal abdication.[14] Gaetani, elected Pope Boniface VIII following Celestine's abdication, proceeded to have Celestine imprisoned while the legality of his abdication remained a prominent subject, and Celestine died a prisoner in 1296.[16]
Notes
- ^ a b Miranda, Salvator. 1998. "Election of April 5, 1292 - July 5, 1294: (Celestine V)."
- ^ Trollope, 1876, p. 87.
- ^ Baumgartner, 2003, p. 43.
- ^ Emerton, 1917, p. 111.
- ^ a b Gregorovius, 1906, p. 516.
- ^ Baumgartner, 2003, p. 43.
- ^ Baumgartner, 2003, p. 43-44.
- ^ a b c d e f g Baumgartner, 2003, p. 44.
- ^ a b c Gregorovius, 1906, p. 517.
- ^ Toropov, 2002, p. 52.
- ^ a b c Baumgartner, 2003, p. 45.
- ^ Rotberg, 2001, p. 59.
- ^ Baumgartner, 2003, p. 41.
- ^ a b c Emerton, 1917, p. 112.
- ^ Collins, 2005, p. 111.
- ^ Toropov, 2002, p. 52-53.
References
- Baumgartner, Frederic J. 2003. Behind Locked Doors: A History of the Papal Elections. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0312294638
- Collins, Michael. 2005. The Fisherman's Net: The Influence of the Popes on History. Hidden Spring. ISBN 1587680335
- Emerton, Ephraim. 1917. The Beginnings of Modern Europe (1250-1450). Ginn & Co. (Available online)
- Gregorovius, Ferdinand. 1906. History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages. G. Bell & Sons. (Available online)
- Rotberg, Robert I. 2001. Politics and political change: A Journal of Interdisciplinary History Reader. MIT Press.
- Toropov, Brandon. 2002. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Popes and Papacy. Alpha Books. ISBN 0028642902
- Trollope, Thomas Adolphus. 1876. The Papal Conclaves, as They Were and as They are. Chapman and Hall. (Available online)