The 1352 papal conclave (December 16–18) convened after the death of Pope Clement VI, elected as his successor Cardinal Etienne Aubert, who became the fifth Pope of the period of

Avignon Papacy The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon – at the time within the Kingdom of Arles, part of the Holy Roman Empire; now part of France – rather than in Rome. The situation a ...

under the name Innocent VI. This conclave is remarkable because during its celebration

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, t ...

s for the first time in history subscribed the

electoral capitulation An electoral capitulation (german: Wahlkapitulation) was initially a written agreement in parts of Europe, principally the Holy Roman Empire, whereby from the 13th century onward, a candidate to a prince-bishopric had to agree to a set of precondi ...

, which limited the power of elect.The Catholic Encyclopedia: Pope Innocent VI
/ref>

List of participants

Pope Clement VI died on December 6, 1352 at

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label= Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the commune had ...

. During his pontificate he constantly refused to return to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and purchased the sovereignty of Avignon (where resided papal court) from Queen Joan I of Naples. At the time of his death, there were 26 living cardinals. 25 of them participated in the conclave:Salvador Mirand
List of participants of papal conclave of 1352
This list does not mention Cardinal Gaillard de la Mothe either among participants or absentees but it is beyond doubt that he participated in this conclave and, as Cardinal-Protodeacon, he crowned the new Pop

/ref> Nineteen electors were created by Pope Clement VI, and eight of them were his relatives. Of the remaining six three were creatures of John XXII and three of Benedict XII. The post of

Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church The Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church is an office of the papal household that administers the property and revenues of the Holy See. Formerly, his responsibilities included the fiscal administration of the Patrimony of Saint Peter. As regu ...

, the most important during

sede vacante ''Sede vacante'' ( in Latin.) is a term for the state of a diocese while without a bishop. In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the term is used to refer to the vacancy of the bishop's or Pope's authority upon his death or resignation. Hi ...

, was occupied by

Stefano Aldebrandi Cambaruti Stefano is the Italian form of the masculine given name Στέφανος (Stefanos, Stephen). The name is of Greek origin, Στέφανος, meaning a person who made a significant achievement and has been crowned. In Orthodox Christianity the ac ...

archbishop of Toulouse The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toulouse (–Saint Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux) ( la, Archidioecesis Tolosana (–Convenarum–Rivensis); French: ''Archidiocèse de Toulouse (–Saint-Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux-Volvestre)''; Occitan: ''A ...

(not a Cardinal).

Absentee

One cardinal created by Clement VI did not participate in this conclave, because he served as legate in France, where he unsuccessfully tried to establish peace between the Kingdom of France and the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. On ...

in the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagen ...

First conclave capitulation in history

On December 16 twenty five Cardinals entered the conclave in the Palais des Papes in

. Initially, all the electors subscribed the first

conclave capitulation A conclave capitulation was a compact or unilateral contract drawn up by the College of Cardinals during a papal conclave to constrain the actions of the pope elected by the conclave. The legal term '' capitulation'' more frequently refers to the ...

in the history, although several of them (including Cardinal Aubert) made this with reservation, insofar as it was not contrary to church law”. The terms of capitulation were following:Kelly, J.N.D. The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, Oxford, 1986, p. 221 *

College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are app ...

limited to 20; no new cardinals until only 16 remained. * Two-thirds of College needed to approve creating, excommunicating, depriving of suffrage, or reducing the property or revenue of cardinals, or to request subsidies from sovereigns or national clergies. * College granted veto power of papal decisions and policies. * All papal revenue shared with College. Subscription of this capitulation is considered as part of the general strategy of the College of Cardinals to limit papal power and to transform the government of the Church into

oligarchy Oligarchy (; ) is a conceptual form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate ...

instead of

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic ( constitutional monar ...

Election of Pope Innocent VI

After subscribing the capitulation Cardinals started electoral proceedings. Initially, the candidature of Jean Birel, general of the Order of

Carthusians The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order ha ...

, non-cardinal, venerated for his holiness, was proposed. But Cardinal Talleyrand addressed to the Sacred College that it would be unwise, if not dangerous, in such critical circumstances in Europe to elect new Celestine V, it means, a saintly but wholly incompetent Pontiff. The electors eventually agreed with him and abandoned the candidature of Birel in favor of Cardinal Etienne Aubert,

bishop of Ostia The Roman Catholic Suburbicarian Diocese of Ostia is an ecclesiastical territory located within the Metropolitan City of Rome in Italy. It is one of the seven suburbicarian dioceses. The incumbent Bishop is cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. Since ...

, who on December 18 was unanimously elected Pope. He accepted his election and took the name of Innocent VI. On December 30 he was solemnly crowned in the cathedral of Notre Dame des Doms in Avignon by Cardinal Gaillard de la Mothe,

protodeacon Protodeacon derives from the Greek ''proto-'' meaning 'first' and ''diakonos'', which is a standard ancient Greek word meaning "assistant", "servant", or "waiting-man". The word in English may refer to any of various clergy, depending upon the us ...

of S. Lucia in Silice.S. Miranda: Cardinal Etienne Aubert (Pope Innocent VI)
/ref> On July 6, 1353 Pope Innocent VI declared the capitulation agreed by the conclave invalid as violating the rule restricting business during a conclave to the election of the new pope and as infringing the plenitude of power inherent in the papal office. In spite of this, electoral capitulations were subscribed in the majority of the conclaves held in the next 300 years.

References

Salvador Miranda: list of participants of the papal conclave of 1352
* G. Mollat The Popes at Avignon 1305-1378, London 1963 *Kelly, J.N.D. The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, Oxford, 1986 {{Subject bar , portal1= Catholicism , portal2= Christianity , portal3= Vatican City , portal4= France , 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 1352 14th-century elections 1352 Avignon Papacy 14th-century Catholicism 14th century in Europe

List of participants

Absentee

First conclave capitulation in history

Election of Pope Innocent VI

See also

References

References