Election of the Pope in 1198

The papal election of 1198 was after the death of Pope Celestine III. performed on January 8, 1198; it ended with the election of Cardinal Lotario dei Conti di Segni, who was named Innocent III. assumed. This election was the first time a scrutinium (written and secret) was used.

Death of Coelestin III.

Pope Celestine III was elected in 1191 at the age of 85. Despite his old age, his pontificate lasted almost seven years. On Christmas Day 1197, the 91-year-old Pope declared that he would abdicate if his close colleague Cardinal Giovanni di San Paolo would succeed him. The cardinals rejected the proposal as inconsistent with the rule that papal elections must be free. A few days later, on January 8, 1198, Celestine III died, and the cardinals present at the deathbed immediately began preparing for the election of a new Pope.

Election of Innocent III.

On the same day, the cardinals withdrew to the Septasolium in camera . For the first time the cardinals voted by scrutinium ; some cardinals were elected to run the voting process, counting the votes cast, determining the result and announcing it to the rest of the college of cardinals . In the first ballot, Cardinal Giovanni di Salerno received the most votes (ten), after which he declared that he would not accept the election. In the second ballot, the cardinals united their votes on the 37-year-old Cardinal Lotario dei Conti di Segni, deacon of Ss. Sergio e Bacco, the youngest of all cardinals. He accepted the election and called himself Innocent III, probably as a reference to his predecessor Innocent II (1130–1143), who had succeeded in securing the authority of the Pope over the emperor - quite unlike Celestine III.

On 22 February 1198, the new pope was Cardinal Ottaviano di Paoli , Bishop of Ostia and Velletri, a priest ordained and consecrated bishop , and by Cardinal Graziano da Pisa , Cardinal deacon of Ss. Cosma e Damiano, solemnly crowned .

Eligible voters

At the death of Celestine III. the College of Cardinals comprised 23 people, of whom only 21 were present in Rome.

cardinal	Cardinal title	Appointed on	by	Remarks
Ottaviano di Paoli	Bishop of Ostia and Velletri	December 18, 1182	Lucius III.
Pietro Gallocia	Bishop of Porto-Santa Rufina	1188	Clement III.
Soffredo	Priest of Santa Prassede	December 18, 1182	Lucius III.
Pietro Diana	Priest of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere	March 16, 1185	Lucius III.
Giordano di Ceccano , O.Cist.	Priest of Santa Pudenziana	March 12, 1188	Clement III.
Giovanni da Viterbo	Priest of San Clemente and Bishop of Viterbo and Toscanella	May 1189	Clement III.
Guido Papareschi	Priest of Santa Maria in Trastevere	September 22, 1190	Clement III.
Giovanni di Salerno , OSBCas.	Priest of Santo Stefano al Monte Celio	September 22, 1190	Clement III.
Cinzio Cenci	Priest of San Lorenzo in Lucina	September 22, 1190	Clement III.
Ugo Bobone	Priest of Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti	September 22, 1190	Clement III.
Giovanni di San Paolo	Priest of Santa Prisca	February 20, 1193	Celestine III.
Graziano da Pisa	Deacon of Santi Cosma e Damiano	March 4, 1178	Alexander III	Cardinal Protodeacon
Gerardo Allucingoli	Deacon of Sant'Adriano al Foro	December 18, 1182	Lucius III.	Cardinal deposit
Gregorio de San Apostolo	Deacon of Santa Maria in Portico	March 12, 1188	Clement III.
Gregorio Crescenzi	Deacon of Santa Maria in Aquiro	March 12, 1188	Clement III.
Gregorio Carelli	Deacon of San Giorgio in Velabro	September 22, 1190	Clement III.
Lotario dei Conti di Segni	Deacon of Santi Sergio e Bacco al Foro Romano	September 22, 1190	Clement III.	Cardinal deposit ; Pope Innocent III
Gregorio Boboni	Deacon of Sant'Angelo in Pescheria	September 22, 1190	Clement III.
Niccolò Scolari	Deacon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin	September 22, 1190	Clement III.	Cardinal deposit
Bobo	Deacon of San Teodoro al Palatino	February 20, 1193	Celestine III.	Cardinal deposit
Cencio	Deacon of Santa Lucia in Selci and Camerlengo	February 20, 1193	Celestine III.	later Pope Honorius III. (1216–1227), possibly a member of the Savelli family

Four cardinals were from Celestine III. appointed five by Lucius III, one by Alexander III. and the remaining 13 from Clement III.

At least eight cardinals were absent from the election because, as minister, archbishop, bishop or abbot, they had no residence obligation for Rome or were traveling as papal legates and had no opportunity to be in Rome on time.

cardinal	Cardinal title	Appointed on	by	Remarks
Konrad von Wittelsbach	Bishop of Sabina and Archbishop of Mainz	December 18, 1165	Alexander III	Cardinal dean ; Papal Legate in the Holy Land
Guillaume aux Blanches Mains	Priest of Santa Sabina and Archbishop of Reims	March 1179	Alexander III	Cardinal proto-priests ; Minister in France
Ruggiero di San Severino	Priest of Sant'Eusebio and Archbishop of Benevento	around 1178/80	Alexander III
Pandolfo da Lucca	Priest of Santi XII Apostoli	December 18, 1182	Lucius III.	Papal legate in Tuscany
Adelardo Cattaneo	SRE Cardinalis and Bishop of Verona	March 16, 1185	Lucius III.	In 1188 gave up the titular church of San Marcello after being elected Bishop of Verona
Bernardo, CRSF	Priest of San Pietro in Vincoli	March 12, 1188	Clement III.	Papal legate in Tuscany and Lombardy
Roffredo dell'Isola , OSBCas.	Priest of Santi Marcellino e Pietro	1188	Clement III.	Abbot of Montecassino
Petrus Capuanus	Deacon of Santa Maria in Via Lata	February 20, 1193	Celestine III.	In 1197 he was a legate in Bohemia and Poland; at the death of Coelestin III. he had finished his mission but could not be in Rome in time for the election.

literature

Philipp Jaffé , Regesta pontificum Romanorum ab condita Ecclesia ad annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII , Berlin: Veit et Socius 1851
Thomas Greenwood, Cathedra Petri , Volume 12, 13. London: William Macintosh 1865.
Konrad Eubel , Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi , Volume 1, Münster 1913
Werner Maleczek , Pope and Cardinals College from 1191 to 1216 , Vienna: M. Schöbel 1984
Ambrogio Piazzoni, Historia wyboru papieży , Cracow: Wydawnictwo M., 2003, ISBN 83-7221-648-7 .
Damian J. Smith, Innocent III and the Crown of Aragon , Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0-7546-3492-2 .

Web links

Election of January 8, 1198. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website, English)

Remarks

↑ Giovanni Benedetto Mittarelli, Anselmo Costadoni, Annales Camaldulenses ordino Sancti Benedicti , Volume IV, 1759, p 168: "Defuncto Coelestino III. Romano pontifice die octava januarii hujus anni vel melius septima, cum quidam cardinalium se contulissent ad Septasolium monasterii Clivi-scauri, ut liberius et securius ibi possent de successoris electione tractare ... "

[1] Giovanni Benedetto Mittarelli, Anselmo Costadoni, Annales Camaldulenses ordino Sancti Benedicti , Volume IV, 1759, p 168: "Defuncto Coelestino III. Romano pontifice die octava januarii hujus anni vel melius septima, cum quidam cardinalium se contulissent ad Septasolium monasterii Clivi-scauri, ut liberius et securius ibi possent de successoris electione tractare ... "