Conclave 1730

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Benedict XIII.
Clement XII.

The conclave of 1730 elected Clement XII. as the successor to Benedict XIII.

background

Pope Benedict XIII died on February 21, 1730 at the age of 81. The following conclave is the longest and is considered the most corrupt of the 18th century. It was opened on March 5th with 30 cardinals when many cardinals were still on their way, 56 cardinals at the top. The cardinals from Portugal were absent due to tensions between Rome and Lisbon. In the course of the conclave, nearly half of the cardinals were proposed to succeed him.

Factions

The 12 cardinals, Benedict XIII. appointed, but it was not under a unified leadership. A second group were the cardinals appointed by Pope Alexander VIII who were allied with the French cardinals, who in turn represented the interests of Louis XV. represented. The "imperial" cardinals were all subjects of Charles VI. , including Giovanni Antonio Davia , the former nuncio in Vienna, who received a salary from the imperial court. The Spanish party was at odds with one another, but largely adhered to the emperor. In addition, there was a Savoyard faction that represented Victor Amadeus II , the King of Sardines , the Zelanti , who opposed secular interference, and finally the Tuscan faction (under Grand Duke Gian Gastone de 'Medici ), who tried financially, Lorenzo Bring Corsini through.

None of these factions were strong enough by themselves to get their candidate the required number of votes.

Political Influences

From around 1600 to the beginning of the 20th century, some Catholic monarchs claimed the ius exclusivae , i.e. H. a right of veto for the election of the Pope, which could be brought forward by one of the Crown Cardinals Each state that demanded the veto was allowed to exercise the right once per conclave. Therefore, the veto was waited until the last moment until the papal election was close to a result. This conclave saw sophisticated maneuvering by the various parties to induce another to veto prematurely. The Spanish party, on the other hand, threatens to leave the conclave if an opposition candidate is about to be elected Pope.

Cardinal Cornelio Bentivoglio declared the veto of Philip V of Spain against the election of Giuseppe Renato Imperiali - in the conclave of 1700 Imperiali belonged to a group of cardinals who had tried to withstand the pressure exerted by foreign powers on the papal election. In 1720 he had tried to get the Republic of Genoa to arrest Cardinal Giulio Alberoni , a former favorite of the Spanish court and later Duke and Grandee of Spain . However, the veto was signed by the Spanish Secretary of State and not the King and was therefore contested. Things dragged on while a messenger was sent to Madrid for confirmation.

The emperor had sent his opposition to Cardinal Pietro Marcellino Corradini when he was in the lead with 30 votes. Corradini had opposed the imperial attempts to influence the Papal States, as well as the attempts to make Hugo Franz von Fürstenberg bishop of Hildesheim .

In mid-May, Italy experienced a series of earthquakes . Tension was high, both inside and outside the conclave, as many interpreted the earthquake as a divine sign of displeasure at the cardinals' inability to elect a pope.

Result

Finally, Cardinal Juan Álvaro Cienfuegos Villazón convinces the German cardinals to accept Lorenzo Corsini as an alternative to Corradini. The Spanish and French political groups agreed. After months of controversy, Corsini was elected on July 12, 1730; he took over the name of his sponsor and called himself Clemens XII. He was 78 years old when he was elected and ruled for almost ten years. One of Clemens' first acts was to set up a commission to investigate embezzlement by officials among his predecessors.

Eligible voters

With the death of Pope Benedict XIII. on February 12, 1730, the college of cardinals comprised a total of 67 cardinals. With the beginning of the conclave on March 5, many cardinals were still missing to elect a new head of the church in the Vatican. In the decisive election for the new pontiff, 52 cardinals were present. However, a total of 55 cardinals took part in the conclave

The 55 participants in the conclave were:

The following 11 cardinals did not participate in the election:

The cardinal protodeacon Benedetto Pamphilj could not appear in the conclave for health reasons. His illness was so severe that he died on March 22, 1730, shortly after the beginning of the conclave in the sedis vacancy.

All of the cardinals present in the conclave came from the pontificate:

literature

  • Ludwig von Pastor , History of the Popes, Volume 34, St Louis 1941 (German: History of the Popes since the End of the Middle Ages, 16 volumes, 1886–1933)
  • Remigius Ritzler, Hierarchia Catholica, Volume 6, Padua 1958
  • Ferdinando Petruccelli della Gattina , Histoire diplomatique des conclaves. Volume 4. Brussels 1864