In the 1303

papal conclave A conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to appoint the pope of the Catholic Church. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church. Concerns around ...

, Benedict XI was elected to succeed

Boniface VIII Pope Boniface VIII (; born Benedetto Caetani; – 11 October 1303) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 until his death in 1303. The Caetani family was of baronial origin with connections to the p ...

pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

Proceedings

Pope Boniface VIII was buried at

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initiall ...

on 12 October 1303, in a tomb which he had prepared for himself. The manhandling of Boniface VIII by the forces of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the

Colonna family The House of Colonna is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It played a pivotal role in Middle Ages, medieval and Roman Renaissance, Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope (Pope Martin V, Martin V), 23 cardinals and many ot ...

before his death gave the cardinals second thoughts about electing anyone hostile to the interests of

Philip IV of France Philip IV (April–June 1268 – 29 November 1314), called Philip the Fair (), was King of France from 1285 to 1314. Jure uxoris, By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre and Count of Champagne as Philip&n ...

.Baumgartner, 2003, p. 47. The Conclave took place at the Vatican Palace next to St. Peter's, where Pope Boniface VIII had died on 11 October 1303. The Conclave began with the Mass of the Holy Spirit on 21 October, and voting began the next morning. A Dominican, and the Order's former Master General (1296–1298), Niccolò Boccasini was unanimously elected

Pope Benedict XI Pope Benedict XI (; 1240 – 7 July 1304), born Nicola Boccasini (Niccolò of Treviso), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 October 1303 to his death on 7 July 1304. Boccasini entered the Order of Preachers i ...

on the first scrutiny.Baumgartner, 2003, p. 48. Niccolò Boccasini and Pedro Rodriguez were the only cardinals, of the seventeen or eighteen, who had stayed with Boniface VIII at

Anagni Anagni () is an ancient town and ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Lazio, in the hills east-southeast of Rome. It is a historical and artistic centre of the Latin Valley. Geography Overview Anagni still maintains the appearance of a s ...

when the papal residence was invaded by the French and the Colonna, and the Pope seized and imprisoned. Benedict's choice of numbering indicates that Antipope Benedict X was considered a legitimate pope at that time. Benedict XI was crowned at the Vatican Basilica on Sunday, 27 October 1303 by Cardinal Matteo Rosso Orsini, the prior Diaconorum. The new pope, Niccolò Boccasini of

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

, was Italian but not Roman, and thus considered neutral in the disputes between the Roman clans, and the international struggle between Charles II and Philip IV. Benedict XI refused to

excommunicate Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the co ...

Philip IV or the Colonna, but also refused to restore to the Colonna their properties that had been seized by Boniface VIII. Pope Benedict left a detailed account of the conclave that elected him, describing how it closely adhered to the procedures mandated in the papal bull '' Ubi periculum''.

Cardinal electors

Two other cardinals, Giacomo and Pietro Colonna (uncle and nephew), had been deposed by Pope Boniface VIII and were thus ineligible to participate in the election.

Notes

References

*Fietta, Lorenzo. 1874. ''Niccolò Boccasini e il suo tempo'' (Padova 1874). *Souchon, Martin. 1888. ''Die Papstwahlen von Bonifaz VIII bis Urban VI'' (Braunschweig: Benno Goeritz 1888), pp. 15–23. *Gregorovius, Ferdinand. 1906. ''History of Rome in the Middle Ages'', Volume V. 2, second edition, revised (London: George Bell, 1906), Book X, chapter 5, pp. 515–525. *Baumgartner, Frederic J. 2003. ''Behind Locked Doors: A History of the Papal Elections''. Palgrave Macmillan. . *Sibilio, Vito. 2004. ''Benedetto XI: Il papa tra Roma e Avignone'' (2004). *Sartor, Ivano. 2005. ''Papa Benedetto XI (Nicolo Boccasino) beato di Treviso'' (Editrice S. Liberale: 2005).
Conclave of 1303 (Prof. J. P. Adams)
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