Papal Conclave, 1523

The 1523 papal conclave elected Cardinal Giulio de' Medici as Pope Clement VII to succeed Pope Adrian VI. According to conclave historian Baumgartner, this conclave was the "last conclave of the Renaissance".Baumgartner, 2003, p. 101.

Background

Adrian VI experienced ill health during the final months of his life, inspiring the cardinals to begin politicking.Baumgartner, 2003, p. 98. Francis I of France had just dispatched a large army into northern Italy in 1522, and expecting to leverage this force to effect the election of French cardinal Jean de Lorraine, or more likely a pro-French Italian cardinal such as Niccolò Fieschi. However, his army experienced a major defeat at the Battle of Bicocca prior to the conclave. In any case, the three French cardinals were ordered by Francis I to rush to Rome.

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, strengthened by the Battle of Bicocca, supported Giulio de' Medici, an advocate for imperial policy within the College. Henry VIII of England would have preferred the election of Thomas Wolsey, but was in no position to effect it; Henry VIII sent two letters—one supporting Medici, the other supporting Wolsey—which were to be distributed to the College in that order. The odds against the election finishing before October were given at 60 to 100.Baumgartner, 2003, p. 100. The odds were given as 80 to 100 against the conclave finishing in November, and those who took them lost heavily.

The ''papabile''

Gambling on papal elections occurred, and the bookmakers favored Farnese, followed by Medici.Baumgartner, 2003, p. 99. Conclave secrecy was non-existent due to the ambassadors who "reported daily" on the balloting and living conditions. Similarly, the law of the conclave requiring the reduction of rations was not followed.

Proceedings

The conclave opened on October 1, with thirty-two cardinals in attendance. Nine cardinals were absent. Baumgartner apparently believes that the only cardinal created by Adrian VI (a fellow Dutchman) was absent, but all the conclave attendance lists show him as participating. Cardinal Giulio de' Medici had sixteen or seventeen supporters; Cardinal Pompeo Colonna had the second most. The "anti-Imperial/anti-Medici" cardinals successfully demanded that the first scrutiny be delayed until the French Cardinals, who were known to be on the way, arrived. On October 6, they appeared, raising the number of electors to thirty-five. Medici drew the lot to have his cell under '' Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter'', a portrait seen as an omen of election as Julius II had been housed underneath it as well. The remark demonstrates incidentally that the voting was taking place in the Chapel of S. Nicolas and the sleeping quarters were in the Sistine Chapel.

Fieschi was the candidate of the French and received eleven votes; Carvajal (the stalking horse of the Imperial party) received twelve. Both parties switched their support in the next scrutiny with Antonio Maria Ciocchi del Monte coming within one vote of election following an accessus. Medici had previously agreed to support del Monte as the final vote, but broke his word and did not come forward.

After the conclave reached its tenth day, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey allegedly received twenty-two votes, although he never received more —conclave mythology of the most unlikely sort.Ethelred L. Taunton, ''Thomas Wolsey: Legate and Reformer'' (London 1902), 146-147, states that Wolsey received no votes at all. His name is never mentioned in the reports to the Emperor by the Duke of Sessa. Moreover, John Clerk, Bishop of Bath, and Thomas Hannibal, English Ambassadors in Rome, told Wolsey he had no chance and why: "We must shewe your Grace the worst. Many of owr cortyers and also Cardynalles cannot abyde the heryng that any one absent shold be chosyn, for feare of translatyng the See, and other sondry inconvenyentes, whiche ded ensue by the last election; whiche obstakyll we have movyd to your 3 foren mydfryndes, to here there opynyons; who answeryd us quod in actam recenti plaga suffred by the long absence of the late Elect, your Graces absence semyd to be a great obstakyll: notwithstondyng they sayd that if ther shold be suche discention in the Conclave, so that the cowd not agre upon no man preesent (the lyke wherof was at the last election), then shuld they be fayne to condescend and chose absentem, and wold as lytll regarde the inconvenyentes affore expressyd now, the they dyd at the last election. And fynally, as farre as we can perceyve, the Cardinall of Medices hath a great hope for hymself, and is advised by his fryndes to attempt the fortune for hymself, and so intendith to doo. Next hymself he wyll do for your Grace all that he can, accordyng unto his promes." ''State Papers, Published under the Authority of Her Majesty's Commission Volume VI, King Henry VIII Part V'' (1849), p. 176. By October 13, the Imperial party started voting for Medici, with the French supporting Farnese. Medici's supporters remained disciplined into November, while the French faction began to crack. Colonna (who despised Medici despite his close ties to Charles V) held a block of four votes against Medici. However, on October 18, when the French faction proposed the candidacy of Orsini (the Colonna family and Orsini family being rivals), Colonna was impelled to throw his support to Medici, giving him twenty votes.

On November 10, Cardinal Ivrea (Ferrero) finally entered the Conclave, having been released from captivity.

Cardinal Giulio de' Medici easily reached the requisite twenty-seven by accessus and took the name Clement VII.

Notes

References

*Baumgartner, Frederic J. 2003. ''Behind Locked Doors: A History of the Papal Elections''. Palgrave Macmillan. .
*Ferdinand Gregorovius, ''The History of Rome in the Middle Ages'' (translated from the fourth German edition by A. Hamilton) Volume 8 part 2 ook XIV, Chapter 5(London 1902) 449-450; 453-458.
* F. Petruccelli della Gattina
''Histoire diplomatique des conclaves''
Volume I (Paris: 1864), 531-557 (featuring English and Florentine documents).

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