Conclave 1523
The conclave of 1523 elected Giulio de 'Medici as Pope Clement VII to succeed Pope Hadrian VI. who died on September 14, 1523. The conclave began on October 1, 1523 and lasted until November 10, 1523.
background
Hadrian had only been elected Pope the year before. His poor health had not only inspired the cardinals to engage in political activities before his death. Francis I of France , who had a large army in northern Italy, wanted to use his military power to enforce the French Cardinal Jean de Lorraine or a pro-French Italian Cardinal like Niccolò Fieschi in the foreseeable next election . However, his army had suffered a heavy defeat in the Battle of Bicocca on April 27, 1522 , so that when the news of his death arrived, he limited himself to sending the three French cardinals to Rome immediately.
Emperor Charles V , who had emerged stronger from the Battle of Bicocca as the victor, had already supported Giulio de 'Medici as an advocate of imperial policy within the College of Cardinals at Hadrian's election . Henry VIII of England would have preferred Thomas Wolsey to be elected, but was unable to prevail; he now sent two letters, one assisting Medici, one assisting Wolsey, which were to be distributed to the quorum in that order.
With the bookmakers, i.e. outside the conclave, Alessandro Farnese was the favorite over Giulio de 'Medici - it was not possible to maintain secrecy about the processes in the conclave, as the ambassadors reported daily on the election and living conditions.
The conclave
The conclave opened on October 1st with 35 cardinals. Ten cardinals were absent. Cardinal Giulio de 'Medici had 16 or 17 supporters, Cardinal Pompeo Colonna the second most. The cardinals opposed to the emperor and the Medici successfully demanded that the first vote be delayed until the French cardinals, who were known to be on their way, had arrived. They appeared on October 6th and increased the number of voters to 35. In the distribution of the sleeping cells, Medici drew lot with the cell under the painting Christ gives Peter the key to the kingdom of heaven by Pietro Perugino , which was seen as a sign of the election as Julius II was also accommodated here - but this means above all that the voting took place in the chapel of S. Nicolas and the sleeping quarters were in the Sistine Chapel .
Niccolò Fieschi was the French candidate and received eleven votes; Bernardino López de Carvajal was sent into the race by the imperial party as a test, he received twelve. For the next ballot, both parties switched to Gian Maria Ciocchi del Monte as their candidate, who received one more vote and thus too little for the required two-thirds majority (cf. Akcess (election mode) ) - Medici had previously agreed to give del Monte his vote give but broke his word.
According to tradition, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey received 22 votes on the tenth day of the conclave, but this does not correspond to reality
On the 13th day the imperial party began to vote for Medici, the French for Farnese. The Medici supporters stayed with their choice as the French faction began to crumble. Colonna (who despised Medici despite his close ties to Charles V) held a block of four votes against Medici. However, on October 18, when the French parliamentary group proposed the candidacy of Franciotto Orsini (the Colonna and Orsini families were rivals in Rome), Colonna was forced to give Medici his support and won him twenty votes.
Cardinal Giulio de 'Medici now easily obtained the required 27 votes by access and accepted the name Clement VII.
Eligible voters
Marino Sanudo gives a list of 35 cardinals who were present at the conclave on October 1st, taken from a note made by the Venetian ambassador:
- Bernardino López de Carvajal , Bishop of Ostia and Velletri, Cardinal Dean
- Francesco Soderini , Bishop of Palestrina
- Niccolò Fieschi , Bishop of Sabina
- Alessandro Farnese , Bishop of Frascati , later Pope Paul III.
- Antonio Maria Ciocchi del Monte , Bishop of Albano
- Pietro Accolti
- Achille Grassi , Bishop of Bologna
- Lorenzo Pucci
- Giulio de 'Medici , Archbishop of Florence
- Giovanni Piccolomini , Archbishop of Siena and Administrator of Aquila
- Giovanni Domenico De Cupis , Administrator of Trani
- Andrea della Valle , Bishop of Mileto and Cotrone, Administrator of Gallipoli
- Giovanni Battista Pallavicino , Bishop of Cavaillon
- Scaramuccia Trivulzio
- Pompeo Colonna , Administrator of Potenza
- Domenico Giacobazzi
- Lorenzo Campeggi
- Ferdinando Ponzetta , Bishop of Grosseto
- Silvio Passerini
- Francesco Armellini Pantalassi de 'Medici
- Aegidius de Viterbo , OESA
- Cristoforo Numai , O.Min., Administrator of Isernia
- Gualterio Raimundo de Vich , Bishop of Barcelona and Bishop of Cefalú
- Willem Enckenwoirt , Bishop of Tortosa
- Marco Cornaro , Verona administrator
- Sigismondo Gonzaga
- Innocenzo Cibo , administrator of Turin and Marseille
- Franciotto Orsini
- Paolo Emilio Cesi
- Alessandro Cesarini , Pamplona Administrator
- Giovanni Salviati , Administrator of Ferrara
- Nicolò Ridolfi , administrator of Orvieto
- Ercole Rangoni , Bishop of Adria
- Agostino Trivulzio , administrator of Bobbio and Alessano
- Francesco Pisani
Later came:
- October 6 - Francois Guillaume de Castelnau-Clermont-Lodéve , Bishop of Auch
- October 6 - Jean de Lorraine
- October 6 - Louis de Bourbon-Vendôme , Bishop of Laon , Administrator of Le Mans
- November 10 - Bonifacio Ferrero
Absent:
- Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg , Archbishop of Salzburg
- Thomas Wolsey , Archbishop of York
- Tommaso De Vio
- Albrecht of Brandenburg , Archbishop of Mainz
- Erhard von der Mark , Bishop of Liege
- Afonso de Portugal
literature
- Frederic J. Baumgartner: Behind Locked Doors: A History of the Papal Elections. Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, ISBN 0-312-29463-8 .
- Ferdinand Gregorovius : The History of Rome in the Middle Ages. Translation of the 4th German edition by A. Hamilton. Volume 8, Part 2 [Book 14, Chapter 5], London 1902, pp. 449-450; Pp. 453-458.
- Ferdinando Petruccelli della Gattina : Histoire diplomatique des conclaves. Volume I, Paris 1864, pp. 531-557.
- John Paul Adams: Sede Vacante 1523. online
Remarks
- ↑ Baumgartner apparently assumes that Willem van Enckenvoirt was absent, but all attendance lists testify to his participation.
- ↑ Taunton states that Wolsey did not get a single vote, his name is not mentioned in the reports from the Duke of Sessa to the Emperor. See Ethelred Taunton : Thomas Wolsey. Legacies and reformers. London 1902, pp. 146-147.
- ↑ Santa Croce (Carvajal), Volterra (Soderini), Fieschi, Farnese, del Monte, Ancona; De Grassis, Pucci, Medici, Piccolomini, Trani, Della Valle, Cavaillon (Pallavicini), Como (Trivulzi), Colonna, Giacobazzi, Campeggio, Ponzetto, Silvio da Cortona, Armellino, Egidio Canisio, Aracoeli (Numai), Vich, Enckevoirt; Cornaro, Gonzaga, Cibo, Orsini, De Cesis, Caesarino, Salviati, Ridolfi, Rangoni, Trivulzi and Pisani. See I diarii di Marino Sanuto , Volume 35, Venice 1892, Col. 61–62.