Election of the Pope in 1277

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The papal election of 1277 (May 30th - November 25th), which took place after the death of Pope John XXI. The Papi di Viterbo was convened in the Palazzo was the smallest papal election since the extension of the right to vote to cardinal priests and cardinal deacons with only seven cardinals voting. Because John XXI Ubi periculum , the papal bull of Pope Gregory X , who founded the papal conclave , had revoked with his own bull Licet felicis recordationis , the cardinal voters could take their time. After six months of deliberation, they finally elected their highest-ranking member Giovanni Gaetano Orsini as Pope Nicholas III. From the end of the election to the first consistory of Nicholas III. on March 12, 1278, the number of cardinals alive - seven - was the lowest in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.

method

Initially, the cardinals met only once a day to vote and returned to their respective apartments after the ballot. For two months the vote was uneventful, with the French and Roman cardinals evenly divided. Cardinal Alatri, the only non-Roman Italian, voted with the French, while the French Bertrand de Saint-Martin remained neutral.

After six months, the impatient magistrates of Viterbo locked the cardinals in the town hall. After his election, Nicholas III. with his administration back to Rome.

Eligible voters

The seven cardinals were evenly divided between three followers of Charles of Anjou and three cardinals from prominent Roman families who opposed Charles's interests in Italy, plus there was an undetermined cardinal.

cardinal origin fraction Rank and cardinal title Appointed on by Remarks
Bertrand de Saint-Martin France neutral Cardinal Bishop of Sabina June 3, 1273 Gregor X. Cardinal Dean
Anchero Pantaleone France Anjou Cardinal Priest of Santa Prassede May 22, 1262 Urban IV. Cardinal proto-priests ; Cardinal deposit
Guillaume de Bray France Anjou Cardinal Priest of San Marco May 22, 1262 Urban IV. Chamberlain of the Holy College of Cardinals
Giovanni Gaetano Orsini Rome Rome Cardinal Deacon of San Nicola in Carcere May 28, 1244 Innocent IV. Cardinal Protodeacon , Inquisitor General,
Cardinal Protector of the Franciscan Order , Pope Nicholas III.
Giacomo Savelli Rome Rome Cardinal Deacon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin December 17, 1261 Urban IV. later Pope Honorius IV.
Goffredo da Alatri Italy Anjou Cardinal Deacon of San Giorgio in Velabro December 17, 1261 Urban IV.
Matteo Rubeo Orsini Rome Rome Cardinal Deacon of Santa Maria in Portico May 22, 1262 Urban IV. Nephew of Giovanni Orsini

One cardinal did not vote:

cardinal origin Rank in cardinal title Appointed on by Remarks
Simon Monpitie de Brie France Cardinal priest of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere December 17, 1261 Urban IV. Papal legate in France, later Pope Martin IV.

literature

  • Archibald Bower : The History of the Popes. 1766.
  • Konrad Eubel : Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volume 1. Leipzig 1913, p. 9.
  • DJ Medley: The Church and the Empire. Kessinger Publishing, 2004, p. 171.
  • John-Peter Pham: Heirs of the Fisherman: Behind the scenes of Papal Death and Succession. Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 24.
  • Philipp Smith: The History of the Christian Church During the Middle Ages. Haper & Bros., 1885, p. 92.

Web links