The 1823 papal conclave was convoked following the death of Pope Pius VII on 20 August 1823. The conclave began on 2 September and ended 26 days later with the election of Cardinal Annibale Sermattei della Genga who became Pope

Leo XII Leo or Léo may refer to: Acronyms * Law enforcement officer * Law enforcement organisation * ''Louisville Eccentric Observer'', a free weekly newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky * Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Arts an ...

. Pius VII, who had been elected in 1800, had reigned as Pope for what was considered a very long pontificate. During his reign as Pope, the Catholic Church had faced, in the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

and its aftermath, a severe attack on its power and legitimacy. Pius himself had been a prisoner of Napoleon in France for six years.

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During Pius VII's papacy, the cardinals had tended to divide into two groups, the ''zelanti'' and the '. The ''

zelanti {{unreferenced, date=April 2014 In Roman Catholicism, the expression ''zelanti'' has been applied to conservative members of the clergy and their lay supporters since the thirteenth century. Its specific connotations have shifted with each reapplic ...

'' were more radically reactionary than the ' and wanted a highly centralised Church and vehement opposition to the secularising reforms that had resulted in France. The ', though anti-liberal, were much more moderate and favoured a conciliatory approach to dealing with the problems that new ideologies and the incipient

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

were creating. The leader of this faction was Pius VII's Cardinal Secretary of State,

Ercole Consalvi Ercole Consalvi (8 June 1757 – 24 January 1824) was a deacon and cardinal of the Catholic Church, who served twice as Cardinal Secretary of State for the Papal States and who played a crucial role in the post-Napoleonic reassertion of the l ...

, but the ''zelanti'' wanted a much less moderate pontiff and they set fervently to this task from the time of Pius VII's death. The length of Pius VII's papacy had a significant influence because of the forty-nine electors who participated in the conclave, only

Giulio Maria della Somaglia Giulio Maria della Somaglia (29 July 1744 – 2 April 1830) was an Italian cardinal. He was, in his later life — a staunch '' zelante'' cardinal who, as Secretary of State under Pope Leo XII, helped enforce an authoritarian regime in t ...

and Fabrizio Dionigio Ruffo were already cardinals when Pius VII was elected in 1800. Forty-seven of the forty-nine electors had had no experience electing a pope. A number of cardinals were thought at the beginning of the conclave to be possible successors to Pius VII. Antonio Gabriele Severoli was at first seen as the most likely '' papabile'', but the veto of

Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to: * Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407) * Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450 * Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547 * Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...

Emperor of Austria The Emperor of Austria (german: Kaiser von Österreich) was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A hereditary imperial title and office proclaimed in 1804 by Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, a member of the Hou ...

ruled him out when he looked to have a reasonable chance. Francesco Saverio Castiglioni then emerged as the most likely candidate. The deceased pope Pius VII had in fact seemingly endorsed Castiglioni by having referred to the latter as Pius VIII, and indeed the candidate who was eventually elected predicted during the conclave that Castiglioni would someday reign under that name (as he did, succeeding the elected Leo in 1829). Castiglioni lost support in the 1823 conclave when the ''zelanti'' Cardinals came to realize that he was quite close to Consalvi. Following the decline of Castigioni's support in this conclave, the experienced Cardinal della Somaglia then had a turn as a possible candidate, but for some the mere fact that he had signed his letters "Citizen Somaglia" during the occupation of the Papal States by Napoleon I of France ruled him out. It was only then that the eventual winner, Vicar of Rome Annibale della Genga, who was being promoted by the ''zelanti'', began to gather support. Whilst his tall, ascetic look and reactionary reputation was not an attraction for the ', the fact that he was seemingly at death's door seemed an attraction for those cardinals by now desperate for a resolution of the conclave. As a result, della Genga was elected on 28 September and took the

regnal name A regnal name, or regnant name or reign name, is the name used by monarchs and popes during their reigns and, subsequently, historically. Since ancient times, some monarchs have chosen to use a different name from their original name when they ...

Leo XII.

was crowned as Pope on 5 October 1823.

References

Sources

*Artaud de Montor, Alexis François (1843). ''Histoire du Pape Léon XII''. Paris 1843, I, pp. 26–84. *Cipolletta, Eugenio (1863). ''Memorie politiche sui conclavi da Pio VII a Pio IX, compilate su documenti diplomatici segreti''. Milano: Legros e Marazzani 1863, pp. 127–164 ased on Neapolitan documents *Iervese, Marco (2016). "La registrazione dei voti nel Barberiano latino 4662." Sermattei and Regoli, ''Il conclave e l'elezione di Leone XII Genga'', pp. 307–317. *Sermattei, Ilaria Fiumi; Regoli, Roberto (edd.) (2016). ''Il conclave e l'elezione di Leone XII Genga, castello, chiesa di San Clemente 31 luglio - 28 agosto 2016.'' Stampato dal Consiglio Regionale Assemblea legislativa delle Marche. Quaderni del Consiglio Regionale delle Marche, n. 209. Ancona 2016. {{Subject bar , portal1= Catholicism , portal2= Christianity , portal3= Vatican City , b=y, b-search=Biblical Studies/Christianity/Roman Catholicism/History , commons=y, commons-search=Papal conclave , n=y, n-search=Roman Catholic Church , q=y, q-search=Popes , s=y, s-search=Popes , v=y, v-search=Christian History , wikt=y, wikt-search=Pope , d=y 1823 in the Papal States

1823 Events January–March * January 22 – By secret treaty signed at the Congress of Verona, the Quintuple Alliance gives France a mandate to invade Spain for the purpose of restoring Ferdinand VII (who has been captured by armed revolutio ...

1823 elections 1823 elections in Europe 19th-century Catholicism 1823 in Christianity September 1823 events

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Sources