Conclave 1523

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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 .

Pietro Perugino, Christ gives Peter the key to the kingdom of heaven , 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:

  1. Bernardino López de Carvajal , Bishop of Ostia and Velletri, Cardinal Dean
  2. Francesco Soderini , Bishop of Palestrina
  3. Niccolò Fieschi , Bishop of Sabina
  4. Alessandro Farnese , Bishop of Frascati , later Pope Paul III.
  5. Antonio Maria Ciocchi del Monte , Bishop of Albano
  6. Pietro Accolti
  7. Achille Grassi , Bishop of Bologna
  8. Lorenzo Pucci
  9. Giulio de 'Medici , Archbishop of Florence
  10. Giovanni Piccolomini , Archbishop of Siena and Administrator of Aquila
  11. Giovanni Domenico De Cupis , Administrator of Trani
  12. Andrea della Valle , Bishop of Mileto and Cotrone, Administrator of Gallipoli
  13. Giovanni Battista Pallavicino , Bishop of Cavaillon
  14. Scaramuccia Trivulzio
  15. Pompeo Colonna , Administrator of Potenza
  16. Domenico Giacobazzi
  17. Lorenzo Campeggi
  18. Ferdinando Ponzetta , Bishop of Grosseto
  19. Silvio Passerini
  20. Francesco Armellini Pantalassi de 'Medici
  21. Aegidius de Viterbo , OESA
  22. Cristoforo Numai , O.Min., Administrator of Isernia
  23. Gualterio Raimundo de Vich , Bishop of Barcelona and Bishop of Cefalú
  24. Willem Enckenwoirt , Bishop of Tortosa
  25. Marco Cornaro , Verona administrator
  26. Sigismondo Gonzaga
  27. Innocenzo Cibo , administrator of Turin and Marseille
  28. Franciotto Orsini
  29. Paolo Emilio Cesi
  30. Alessandro Cesarini , Pamplona Administrator
  31. Giovanni Salviati , Administrator of Ferrara
  32. Nicolò Ridolfi , administrator of Orvieto
  33. Ercole Rangoni , Bishop of Adria
  34. Agostino Trivulzio , administrator of Bobbio and Alessano
  35. Francesco Pisani

Later came:

Absent:

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

  1. ↑ Baumgartner apparently assumes that Willem van Enckenvoirt was absent, but all attendance lists testify to his participation.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ 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.