Papal election, 1277

The papal election from May 30, 1277 to November 25, 1277, convened in Viterbo after the death of Pope John XXI, was the smallest papal election since the expansion of suffrage to cardinal-priests and cardinal-deacons, with only six cardinal electors (following the deaths of three popes who had not created cardinals).Miranda, Salvator. 1998. " [http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/conclave-xiii.htm Papal elections and conclaves of the XIII Century (1216-1294)] ."] Because John XXI had revoked "Ubi periculum", the papal bull of Pope Gregory X establishing the papal conclave, with his own bull "Licet felicis recordationis", the cardinal electors were able to take their time in what would be the fifth to last non-conclave papal election.

After six months of deliberation, the cardinals eventually elected their most senior member Giovanni Gaetano Orsini as Pope Nicholas III. From the end of the election until Nicholas III's first consistory on March 12, 1278, the number of living cardinals—six—was the lowest in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.

Cardinal electors

The six cardinal electors were evenly divided between three supporters of Charles of Anjou and three cardinals from prominent Roman families, who opposed the interests of Charles in Italy. [Medley, D.J. 2004. "The Church and the Empire". Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 141915673X. p. 171.] Some sources claim that seven cardinals participated in the election. [Pham, John-Peter. 2004. "Heirs of the Fisherman: Behind the Scenes of Papal Death and Succession". Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195178343. p. 24.] [Some sources indicate that two more cardinals beside those mentioned in the tables belonged to the Sacred College at the death of John XXI: Giovanni Visconti, Bishop of Sabina and dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals, and Teobaldo de Ceccano, cardinal priest and abbot of Fossanova, both created by Gregory X in 1275. Nothing is known about their participation in this election (Visconti seems to have died during sede vacante), and several authors (f.e. Konrad Eubel) doubt that they were ever promoted to the cardinalate. [http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios1275.htm] ]

Absentee cardinals

Procedure

Initially, the cardinals met only once a day for balloting and returned to their respective habitations after the scrutinies.Bower, 1766, p. 307.] For two months, voting proceeded uneventfully along national lines with the French [Cardinal da Alatri, the only non-Roman Italian Cardinal, voted together with French] and Roman cardinals evenly divided.

After six months the impatient magistrates of Viterbo locked the cardinals in the town hall (once elected, Nicholas III moved the papacy back to Rome). [Smith, Philip. 1885. "The History of the Christian Church During the Middle Ages". Harper & Bros. p. 92.]

References

*Bower, Archibald. 1766. "The History of the Popes".

Notes