Conclave 1455

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The conclave of 1455 (April 4-8) elected Alonso de Borja to succeed Pope Nicholas V. The conclave was the first to be held in the Apostolic Palace , where almost all but five of the following conclaves were held. The conclave was also the first to use the access process for elections , which was derived from the procedure in the Roman Senate : a cardinal can vote after an unsuccessful ballot to a candidate who had already received votes.

The early defeat of the Greek Cardinal Bessarion - a potential compromise candidate between the Colonna and Orsini factions - is a remarkable demonstration of persistent dislike for certain characteristics of the Eastern Church , such as bearded priests, centuries after the Oriental Schism . Although western canon law had banned beards in priests since at least the 11th century, the issue was still debated in the 16th century.

The vote

The College of Cardinals was essentially divided into two factions: the supporters of Prospero Colonna and those of Latino Orsini . Among the cardinals considered eligible were Barbo , Trevisan , Capranica , Orsini and Bessarion. Capranica received the most votes in the first three ballots, the other votes were scattered; Orsini and the French cardinals rallied against Capranica, who was close to Colonna.

On April 6, Easter Sunday, the political groups began to consider neutral candidates. Cardinal Bessarion received eight votes here, until his candidacy was destroyed by a speech by Alain de Coëtivy , addressing Bessarion's earlier membership of the Orthodox Church as well as his adherence to Greek features, such as his full beard. His address has come down to us from eyewitnesses as follows:

Should we elect a Greek, a mere intruder, to be Pope, head of the Latin Church? Bessarion still wears his beard, and surely he shall be our Lord! How poor must our Latin Church be if we cannot find a worthy person in it, but have to fall back on a Greek, and also on one who attacked the Roman faith until yesterday! And now that he has returned, shall he be our master and the leader of the Christian army? Behold, such is the poverty of the Latin Church, that it cannot find an apostolic sovereign without resorting to a Greek! Oh fathers! Do what you think is right; but for myself and those who think with me, we will never agree with a Greek head of the church! " "

Bessarion made no attempt to defend himself, claiming he was not interested in being elected; his call for reform and austerity would have been unpopular with many Renaissance cardinals. Nevertheless, the famous humanist scholar remained a strong candidate in the 1464 conclave that followed .

It is known that the first votes on the following Easter Monday were unorganized; for example, the minorite Antonio de Montefalcone, not a cardinal, received a vote. The nucleus for the required two-thirds majority for Borja probably consisted of the French, Spanish and Venetian cardinals: Trevisan, Coëtivy, Barbo, Orsini, Estaing , Carvajal , La Cerda , Rolin and Torquemada , with Borja very likely not voting for himself; on the other hand, he almost certainly did not receive the votes of Colonna, Capranica and Bessarion.

Eligible voters

Fifteen cardinals attended the conclave:

cardinal origin rank Title (church) Appointed on by Remarks
Giorgio Fieschi Liguria Cardinal Bishop Bishop of Palestrina December 18, 1439 Eugene IV. Cardinal dean ; Bishop of Albenga
Isidore of Kiev Greek Cardinal Bishop Bishop of Sabina December 18, 1439 Eugene IV. Archbishop of Ruthenia
Bessarion Greek Cardinal Bishop Bishop of Frascati December 18, 1439 Eugene IV. Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem ; Administrator of Mazara del Vallo; Legate in Bologna
Alonso de Borja Catalonia Cardinal priest Santi Quattro Coronati May 2, 1444 Eugene IV. Bishop of Valencia ; Pope Calixtus III.
Juan de Torquemada , OP Spanish Cardinal priest Santa Maria in Trastevere December 18, 1439 Eugene IV.
Ludovico Trevisan Venice Cardinal priest San Lorenzo in Damaso , Patriarch of Aquileia July 1, 1440 Eugene IV. Camerlengo
Pietro Barbo Venice Cardinal priest San Marco July 1, 1440 Eugene IV. later Pope Paul II; Cardinal deposit ; Bishop of Vicenza
Juan Carvajal Spain Cardinal priest Sant'Angelo in Pescheria , Bishop of Plasencia December 16, 1446 Eugene IV.
Antonio de la Cerda y Lloscos , O.SS.T. Catalonia Cardinal priest San Crisogono , Bishop of Lérida February 16, 1448 Nicholas V.
Latino Orsini Rome Cardinal priest Santi Giovanni e Paolo December 20, 1448 Nicholas V. Administrator of Bari
Alain de Coëtivy France Cardinal priest Santa Prassede , Bishop of Avignon December 20, 1448 Nicholas V. Administrator of Nîmes
Filippo Calandrini Liguria Cardinal priest Santa Susanna , Bishop of Bologna December 20, 1448 Nicholas V. Cardinal deposit ; Camerlengo
Guillaume d'Estaing , OSB France Cardinal priest Santa Sabina December 19, 1449 Nicholas V. Bishop of Fréjus
Domenico Capranica Capranica Prenestina Cardinal priest Santa Croce in Gerusalemme , administrator of Fermo July 23, 1423 ( in pectore , admitted to the College on April 30, 1434) Martin V. (confirmed by Eugene IV) Cardinal proto-priests ; Major Penalty
Prospero Colonna Rome Cardinal deacon San Giorgio in Velabro May 24, 1426 Martin V. Cardinal Protodeacon

Six cardinals did not take part in the conclave:

cardinal origin rank Title (church) Appointed on by Remarks
Pierre de Foix , OFM France Cardinal Bishop Bishop of Albano September 1414 Antipope John XXIII. Legacy in Avignon; Administrator of Arles and Dax
Guillaume d'Estouteville , OSBClun. France Cardinal Bishop Bishop of Porto-Santa Rufina , Archbishop of Rouen December 18, 1439 Eugene IV. Legacy in France; Administrator of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne
Peter von Schaumberg Germany Cardinal priest San Vitale , Bishop of Augsburg December 18, 1439 Eugene IV.
Dénes Szécsi Hungary Cardinal priest San Ciriaco alle Terme Diocleziane , Archbishop of Esztergom December 18, 1439 Eugene IV. Chancellor of Hungary
Jean Rolin France Cardinal priest Santo Stefano al Monte Celio , Bishop of Autun December 20, 1448 Nicholas V.
Nikolaus von Kues Germany Cardinal priest San Pietro in Vincoli December 20, 1448 Nicholas V. Bishop of Brixen

literature

  • Artaud de Montor: The lives and times of the popes. 1911, pp. 147-149
  • John Leslie Garner: Caesar Borgia. 1912, p. 31
  • John M. McManamon: Funeral oratory and the cultural ideals of the Italian humanism. 1972, p. 72
  • DS Chambers: Papal conclaves and Prophetic Mystery in the Sistine Chapel. In: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Volume 41, 1978, pp. 322-326
  • Kenneth Meyer Setton: The Papacy and the Levant. 1978, p. 162
  • James Harkins: Plato in the Italian Renaissance. 1990, p. 214
  • Francis A. Burkle-Young: The election of Pope Calixtus III (1455). 1998
  • Philip Joshua Jacks, William Caferro: The Spinelli of Florence. 2001, p. 66
  • Robert I. Rotberg: Politics and political change. 2001, p. 62
  • John Peter Pham: Heirs of the Fisherman. 2004, p. 85

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