The 1404 papal conclave (October 10 to October 17) – the papal conclave of the time of the

Great Western Schism The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Vatican Standoff, the Great Occidental Schism, or the Schism of 1378 (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 1378 to 1417 in which bishops residing in Rome and Avignon bo ...

, convened after the death of

Pope Boniface IX Pope Boniface IX ( la, Bonifatius IX; it, Bonifacio IX; c. 1350 – 1 October 1404, born Pietro Tomacelli) was head of the Catholic Church from 2 November 1389 to his death in October 1404. He was the second Roman pope of the Western Schism.Rich ...

, it elected Cardinal Cosimo Gentile Migliorati, who under the name of Innocent VII became the third pope of the Roman Obedience.

Cardinal electors

Pope Boniface IX died on October 1, 1404. At the time of his death, there were only 12 cardinals in the Roman Obedience of the Sacred College. Nine of them participated in the election of his successor: All the electors were Italians. Five of them were elevated by

Pope Urban VI Pope Urban VI ( la, Urbanus VI; it, Urbano VI; c. 1318 – 15 October 1389), born Bartolomeo Prignano (), was head of the Catholic Church from 8 April 1378 to his death in October 1389. He was the most recent pope to be elected from outside the ...

, and four by Boniface IX.

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 reg ...

was at that time Corrado Caraccioli, bishop of Mileto.

Absentee cardinals

Three cardinals, two created by Urban VI and one by Boniface IX, did not participate in this conclave: Hungarian Alsani was the only non-Italian Cardinal in the Roman Obedience.

The election of Pope Innocent VII

Several churchmen and laymen urged "Roman" Cardinals not to elect the successor of Boniface IX and to recognise Benedict XIII of Avignon as Pope (or, at least, to wait for his death and then elect the new pope together with his adherents). Among the supporters of this point of view was Cardinal Protodeacon

Ludovico Fieschi Ludovico Fieschi (died 3 April 1423) was a cardinal during the Western Schism. Life Fieschi came from Genoa, from the family of the counts of Lavagna, a family from which the 13th-century Pope Adrian V and some other cardinals came. On 29 March 1 ...

, who did not attend the conclave and later did not recognise its result. In spite of this, nine cardinals present in

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 ...

entered the conclave on October 10. Initially, they subscribed the

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 ...

, which obliged whoever was elected to do everything possible (including abdication) in order to restore the unity of the Church. After seven days of deliberations Cardinal Cosimo Gentile Migliorati was unanimously elected pope and took the name of Innocent VII. Five days later Cardinal Fieschi officially abandoned the Roman Obedience and recognised Benedict XIII as true pope, so the rite of papal coronation on November 11 was performed by the new Protodeacon Landolfo Maramaldo.S. Miranda: Pope Innocent VII
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Notes

Bibliography

*Martin Souchon: ''Die Papstwahlen in der Zeit des grossen Schismas'', Verlag von Benno Goeritz, 1888

External links

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070927215455/http://www.vaticanhistory.de/vh/html/innozenz_vii_.html Konklave 1404 {{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

1404 Year 1404 ( MCDIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * April or May – Battle of Blackpool Sands: Local English forces defeat an attempte ...

15th-century Catholicism 15th-century elections 1404 Western Schism