SEDE VACANTE 1261

May 25, 1261—August 29, 1261

Death of Pope Alexander IV

Alexander IV (Raynaldus de' Conti) had been made a Cardinal Deacon in 1227 and Suburbicarian Bishop of Ostia in 1231. Until the death of Pope Innocent IV in 1254, he was mostly concerned with his responsibilities as Protector of the Friars Minor. It is said that Alexander was elected in part because he was one of the few people in the papal entourage who had had good relations with the Emperor Frederick II Hohenstaufen (died December 13, 1250).  He was elected at Naples on December 12, 1254, and resided in Naples until the end of May, 1255.  He then moved north to his home town of Anagni, where he is found from June 7, 1255 until the end of the first week of November (not a bad idea, considering, if nothing else, the heat and humidity and unhealthiness of the Roman summer).  He was at the Lateran by November 21, 1255, and lived there until the last week of May, 1256, when he retired to Anagni.   He lived in Anagni again from June 1, 1256, until the end of November, when he returned to the Lateran.  He was there on December 11, and remained until mid-May of 1257.  But on May 23, he was at Viterbo in Tuscany, where he stayed until the second half of October of 1258, when he visited Anagni again.  Alexander's Curia was at Anagni from the end of October, 1258, until the end of July, 1260.  He visited Subiaco from the beginning of August until well into September, 1260, but he was back in Anagni by October 6, 1260.  He was at the Lateran by November 10, after an absence of three and a half years.  But in the first week of May, 1261, he left Rome for the last time and headed back to Viterbo.

Upon the (false) report of the death of Frederick's son Conradin (1252-1268) the Hohenstaufen King of Sicily (a child of eight),  his uncle Manfred (1232-1266), his representative in Sicily, had himself crowned King of Sicily at Palermo on August 10, 1258. In typical Hohenstaufen fashion, Manfred showed no particular respect for the interests of the Holy See or the Church in his domains. His army was composed largely of Muslim Saracens, who lived in colonies in south Italy and Sicily. His influence, in fact, was increasing in the Papal States and even in the Po valley, where he had appointed Uberto Pallavicini as his Captain in Lombardy. At odds with the Pope (Platina Historia 212), who would not sanction his accession and who wanted a crusade against the Saracens, Manfred supported all of the Ghibellines in central Italy against the interests of the Papal States.  On March 25, 1255, Pope Alexander excommunicated Manfred [Potthast 15765]. Despite friendly words at the beginning of his reign to Conradin and even to Manfred, Alexander IV nonetheless signed the papers granting the fief of the island of Sicily to the son of Henry III of England, Edmund, on April 9, 1255 [Potthast 15784]. He even invited Henry III and Haakon of Norway to stop by and conquer the island on their way to the Crusade [Gregorovius V. 1, 308-309]. That was the beginning of his failure as a politician and as a pope.

Since August of 1252 the City of Rome had been under the government of Brancaleone degli Andalo, Count of Casalecchio [Olivieri, Il Senato Romano I, 195-196; Vitale, Storia diplomatica de' Senatori di Roma, pp. 110-119; Gregorovius V.1, 280-299; 310-311; 317-324].  Alexander IV excommunicated Brancaleone, but his words had no effect. The Ghibellines in Rome forced the pope to flee the City.   Florence, too, fell into the hands of their own Ghibelline exiles, who were assisted by the Sienese and supported by Giordano Aglano (Battle of Montaperto on the Albia, September 2, 1260; Villani, Book VI. 78). Alexander excommunicated the Sienese and the Ghibellines on November 18, 1260.

In the first week of May, 1261, the papal court moved to Viterbo [Potthast II, p. 1470], after having spent the period since early November 1260 at the Lateran.  The City of Rome was still in the hands of the Ghibellines [Hampe, p. 13].  Pope Alexander IV died in Viterbo on May 25, 1261, the Feast of S. Urban I, Pope and Martyr, and was buried in the Cathedral of San Lorenzo [Urban IV in his electoral manifesto, O altitudo divitiarum: Baronius-Theiner 22, sub anno 1261 no. 12; Potthast 18120].  According to Platina, he was on his way to broker a peace between Genoa and Venice [Platina Historia, 212; Storia, 101]. The Holy See was vacant for three months and three days.

The Cardinals

The Annales Sancti Justinae Patavini (MGH SS XIX, 181) state:

Anno Domini 1261, cum summus pontifex Alexander sex annis cum dimidio romanam ecclesiam gubernasset, die septimo exeunte Madio [May 25] vite sue cursum in civitate VIterbio pacifice terminavit. Iste toto tempore sui regiminis nullum constituit cardinalem; nam cum quidam de cardinalibus edificare Syon in sanguinibus affectaret, quidam vero vellent viros ydoneos promovere, ipse licet haberet plenitudinem potestatis, timore tamen scandali neutram partem voluit exaudire. Post cuius obitum cardinales numero octo de summo pontifice eligendo magnam inter se discordiam tribus mensibus habuerunt. Tandem, septiformis Spiritus gratia illustrati, die tercio exeunte Augusto [August 29], reverendissimum virum patriarcham Ierosolimitanum, Gallicum natione, qui tunc temporis erat in curia pro negociis etrre sancte, concorditer elegerunt, qui Urbanus quartus mutato nomine est vocatus. Iste quarto mense sui pontificatus numerum cardinalium ampliavit, preclaros viros, vita et scientia insignitos, ad tam sanctum collegium promovendo. De quorum numero, divina providentia faciente, extitit benignissimus dominus Simion de Montescillice, canonicus Paduanus, quem tam forma corporis quam nobilitate generis et gratiosis moribus et multiplici scientia divina gratia decoravit.

Evidently there was a struggle between would-be nepotists in the Sacred College, and reformers. Fearing scandal, Alexander wished to listen to neither party, and so he created no new cardinals (nullum constituit cardinalem) in his six and a half year reign. At the time of Pope Alexander's death there were only eight cardinals [Cristofori, Tombe, 298]. The faces at the electoral meetings were, in fact, familiar from the previous election in 1254.

The footnote on pp. 102-103 in the 1763 Italian language edition of Platina admits that there is no evidence for any cardinals created by Alexander, except perhaps his nephew Andrea Conti ("che intanto trovaronsi VIII. soli Cardinali al nuovo conclave, perche non fece egli alcuna promozione.") [cf. Cristofori, 298].  Onuphrio Panvinio (p. 164) lists Conti's name, but says that Conti refused the promotion. More likely, if Justin of Pavia is correct, Alexander did not appoint his nephew, lest it appear to be nepotism.

But the Annales Minorum (Annales des Frères Mineurs) report that there were eighteen cardinals participating in the election of 1261 [Wadding-Castet, 95]. Onuphrio Panvinio provides a list of the cardinals who participated in the election in his Epitome, pp. 166-167, but it is quite inaccurate; he claims fifteen cardinals. He also claims that Alexander IV created nine cardinals, though he does not know the names of three of them. One of the alleged cardinals, whose name he does not know, he lists as the Patriarch of Jerusalem. This unknown cardinal was Jacques Pantaleone, who was elected pope in the election, and who was not a cardinal. Several of Alexander's alleged cardinals were actually created by Alexander's successor, Urban IV.   The reports of Panvinio and of Wadding (who probably followed him) can be dismissed.

Wilhelm Sievert [p. 147], too, lists eight cardinals. Gaetano Moroni [p. 12], in his article on Urban IV, seems to accept the ninth cardinal, and states that eight of the nine cardinals took part in the election. Étienne Georges [p. 160], too, provides a list of eight cardinals (the list below); a ninth cardinal, he says, was Legate in Germany, but he does not give that cardinal's name or his rank (Could he be counting Stephen, Bishop of Palestrina, twice?). Lorenzo Cardella speaks of the one cardinal of Alexander IV as a Benedictine named Tesoro Beccaria of Pavia, who was made a Cardinal Priest, but after twelve months as a cardinal died in 1258 [Cardella, 290-292]. His titulus as Cardinal (if any) is unknown, and he countersigned no papal documents. He was sent, it was claimed, as Legate to Florence to compose the differences between the Guelfs and Ghibellines, though Giovanni Villani (VI. 65 ff.) and other well-informed authors do not know of his cardinalate or alleged legateship to Florence. Villani does speak of the Popolo of Florence seizing "the abbot of Vallombrosa, who was a gentleman of the lords of Beccheria of Pavia in Lombardy, for they had been told that, at the petition of the Ghibelline refugees from Florence, he was plotting treason. And they made him confess this by torture, and wickedly in the Piazza of Sant' Apollinaire by the outcry of the people they beheaded him, not regarding his dignity or his holy orders. For this the Commonwealth of Florence and the Florentines were excommunicated by the Pope." The sources cited by Cardella all seem to be Benedictine in origin, and the Benedictines considered him to have been a martyr—though the Church did not make him a saint. A Cardinalate and Legateship certainly would have added to Beccaria's posthumous dignity and to the enormity of the crime, but the likelihood is that they are a Benedictine rather than a papal creation.

Salvador Miranda believes that there were two cardinals of the creation of Alexander IV, both Benedictines, in two separate consistories: Riccardo di Montecassino,OSB, Abbot of Montecassino, who was Cardinal Priest of S. Ciriaco alle Terme (created in 1255 or 1256—in other words, at a date unknown; died March 1, 1262); and Tesauro dei Beccheria, OSB Vall. (created in December, 1255, died 1258). Riccardo, it may be mentioned, is the only person said to be Cardinal Priest of S. Ciriaco alle Terme in the entire thirteenth century (cf. Eubel, p. 41). He never countersigned any papal bulls. His absence from the election of 1261 is apparently accounted for nowadays by the story, derived from the Benedictine paleologist (sic!) Mauro Inguanez (who did not publish his material), that Riccardo was deposed by Pope Alexander for participating in the Coronation of Manfred as King of Sicily on August 10, 1258 in Palermo; the deposition took place on the first anniversary of the coronation, August 10, 1259, a neat coincidence; the Pope was very slow to strike, it would seem.   A. Paravicini-Bagliani (II, 545-551) so rightly doubts that Riccardo was ever made a cardinal!

On April 27, 1258, the following eight cardinals subscribed a bull with Alexander IV [Wittemburgische Urkunden V (Stuttgart 1889), no. 1495:, pp. 260-261]:

Ego Odo, Tusculanus episcopus.
Ego Stephanus, Prenestinus episcopus.
Ego frater Iohannes, sancti Laurentii in Lucina presbyter cardinalis.
Ego frater Hugo, S. Sabine presbyter cardinalis.
Ego Riccardus, S. Angeli diaconus cardinalis.
Ego Octavianus, S. Marie in Via Lata diaconus cardinalis.
Ego Petrus, S. Georgii ad velum aureum diaconus cardinalis.
Ego Ioannes, S. Nicolai in carcere Tulliano diaconus cardinalis.

The subscriptiones to papal bulls in the reign of Alexander IV record only the following cardinals [Demski, Papst Nicolaus III, p.12 and n. 1]:

Unfortunately for the reputation of the Annales Minorum, there were not eighteen cardinals, only eight; likewise, it is clear that Urban IV was elected on August 29 and crowned in Viterbo on September 4 (die pr. Nonas Sept.). This is stated clearly by John of Hemingford, an eyewitness (below). The story of the papal Bull without a lead seal is fiction, as is the delay of his coronation by more than eight months. Perhaps Stephen's absence is also a fiction.

Election and Coronation

The story of the election on August 29, 1261, is told by Gregorius, Dean of Bayeux, writing on commission of Cardinal Ancher Pantaleone, the nephew of Urban IV (Assier, p. 3).

...montes transiliens et mare perlustrans, ad partes ultramarinas pervenit: ubi sic corda incolarum de illis partibus commovit, & suavitate morum refecit, quod ecclesiae Hierosolymitanae Trecensis Jacobus beato Jacobo fratri Domini in tam eximio patriarchatu successit. In quo quidem patriarchatu sic patriarchis praefuit & profescit, quod peregrini & incolae ipsarum partium patrem & pastorem amabilem se habere gaudebant. Porro cum pro terrae sanctae subsidio & ejusdem Hierosolymitanae ecclesiae utilibus & arduis negotiis idem pater necesse habuisset sedis apostolicae limina visitare, navigii subsidio maris pelagus navigavit, & ad civitatis Venitiarum littora veniens, & ad civitatem Agnaniensem, ubi tunc sedes apostolica residebat, se transtulit: in qua a bonae memoriae domino Alexandro Papa quarto, qui tunc Romanum regebat ecclesiam, ab ejus fratribus dominis Cardinalibus & tota curia honorifice susceptus & benigne tractatus in eadem civitate aliquantis temporibus conquievit, subsidium terrae sanctae & negotia ecclesiae Hierosolymitanae praedictarum felici consilio promovens & procurans. Eodem vero Alexandro Papa in civitate Viterbensi, ad quam cum tota curia & eodem patriarcha se transtulerat, diem claudente extremum, ipsa Romana ecclesia trimestri vacavit, eisdem Cardinalibus inimico homine super seminante discordiam non valentibus concordare. Sed cum Dei sapientia ab aeterno alto providisset consilio, eumdem Jacobum quem Archidiaconum Episcopum & Patriarcham jam fecerat, summi Pontificatus fastigio honorare eorumdem Cardinalium corda sic disparia ad tantam concordiam & paritatem adduxit, ut concordi voto, voce & animo eumdem Jacobum in summum Pontificem acclamarent, quem iidem Cardinales ad tantae dignitatis sic promotum apicem Urbanum Papam quartam cum ingenti gaudio vocaverunt.

Jacques Pantaleon, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem (since April 9, 1255, the same day that Alexander IV ratified the appointment of Edmund of England as King of Sicily) [Eubel, I, p. 275; Registres d' Alexandre IV  I,  no. 317, pp.85-86; and cf. no. 305, pp. 81-82]  happened to be doing business with the Curia for some time (aliquantis temporibus), first in Agnani and then in Viterbo, when Pope Alexander died. When the cardinals were unable to agree upon one of themselves as a suitable pope, after three months of disputing [Saba Malespina, Rerum Sicularum II. 5: Muratori RIS VIII, 803; Etienne Baluze, Miscellanea VI, 227, speaks of the Sacred College as invidiae livore suffuso], they noticed Patriarch Jacques, who was a vigorous administrator, and chose him as pope (so too Panvinio, 166).

The story is discreetly narrated by the Elect himself in his Electoral Manifesto, the Bull "O altitudo divitiarum", frankly stating that the people were hoping for a quick election in the light of initial enthusiasm, but that the passage of time showed that extended deliberation was not leading to a resolution of the difficult matter. In other words, there was a deadlock, and no cardinal could muster the six votes needed for canonical election [Bullarium Romanum III, 674-676; Baronius-Theiner 22, sub anno 1261 no. 12; Potthast 18120]:

Sane felicis recordationis Alexandro Papa, praedecessore nostro octavo kalendas junii, videlicet in festo beati Urbani Papae et martyris, de carnis nexibus liberato, et ad gloriam supernae patriae, sicut speramus assumpto; ac eius corpore, post celebratas solemnes exequias, in Viterbiensi Ecclesia honorifice, prout decuit, tumulato, fratres nostri episcopi, presbyteri et diaconi cardinales mox pro eligendo successore insimul convenerunt, affectus suos erigentes ad Deum, ut generali Ecclesiae viduatae pastorem idoneum consueta misericordia largiretur. Invocata ergo Sancti Spiritus gratia, ut est moris, inceperunt protinus super electione Summi Pontificis diligentem habere tractatum. Et licet studiose institerint et studuerint instanter, ut cito consequeretur tantum negotium finem bonum, ac divinam clementiam devota et sedula supplicatione pulsaverint, ut illum, qui sibi esset acceptus, et quem apud se ad onus apostolicae servitutis elegerat, ac super cuius meritum considerationis suae radius quiescebat, populo suo in rectorem celeriter concedere dignaretur, fuit tamen eorum in hoc desiderium aliquandiu morae interventione suspensum, et ipsius consummatio negotii per alicuius temporis spatium retardata. Nam cum de summo et universali Praesule, de Patre Patrum, de Pastore Pastorum et Christi vicario ac successore praefati Apostolorum principis ageretur, maiorem utique providentiam et ampliorem deliberationem res tam ardua requirebat.

Demum autem post multam discussionem, longumque tractatum, ad personam nostram, cum tunc Ecclesiae Hierosolymitanae gerentes regimen, pro suis negotiis apud Sedem Apostolicam moraremur, sua unanimiter corda et animos concorditer converterunt, direxerunt vota et firmavere consensus. Et quamvis inter eos essent, qui veluti digniores scivissent et potuissent plenius et laudabilius tantum officium exercere; quamquam etiam multos extra suum collegium eorum anxiae, cogitationi et explorationi solerti mundus offerret, quibus utpote potiorobus magis decuisset imponi tantae sarcinam dignitatis; ipsi tamen nostram insufficientiam aliorum sufficientiae praetulerunt, nos ad summi pontificatus apicem communiter eligentes.

Giovanni Villani (Cronica  Book VI. 88, p. 312 Dragomani) describes the Papal Election:

Avvene che molto poco tempo appresso, nel detto anno 1260, papa Alessandro passò di questa vita nella città di Viterbo, e vacò la Chiesa sanza pastore cinque mesi per discordia de' cardinali; poi elessono papa Urbano il quarto della città di Tresi di Campagna in Francia, il quale fu di vile nazione, siccome figuolo d'uno ciabattiere, ma valente uomo fu, e savio. Ma la sua elezione fu in questo modo: egli era in corte di Roma povero cherico, e piativa una sua chiesa, che gli era tolta, dibbre venti di tornesi l'anno: i cardinali per loro discordia serrarono con chiavi ov'erano rinchiusi, e feciono tra loro discreto segreto, che 'l primo cherico che picchiasse alla porta fosse papa. Come piacque a Dio, questo Urbano fu il primo, e dove piativa la povera Chiesa di llibri venti di tornese, ebbe l' universale Chiesa, come dispuose Iddio, al modo della elezione del beato Niccolaio. Perche fu miracolosa la elezione, n' avemo fatta menzione e memoria; il quale fu consecrato gli anni di Cristo 1262 [sic].

As he tells it, the Cardinals were absolutely unable to agree on one of themselves.  So they agreed that the first cleric who walked through the door would be made pope, and, as it pleased God, a poor bishop from a poor diocese that produced only 20 livres tournois per annum.  The election was miraculous.  The story is incredible.

There is also a very contemporary notice in a letter (Shirley, DLVI, pp. 188-192: September, 1261) written by the cleric John of Hemingford, Procurator of King Henry III of England at the Curia, to his master.   John had an audience with the new Pope, who was elected on August 29 and crowned on the following Sunday. He had been carrying letters from the King for Pope Alexander, which he turned over to the new Pope. He was working with Cardinals Fieschi, Orsini and John of Toledo to expedite the business of the King:

Noverit vestrae dominationis sublimitas quod ecclesia Romana pastoris solatio destituta a vicesimo quinto die Maii usque ad diem Decollationis S. Johannis Baptistae [August 29]... quod dicto die patriarcham Jerusalem oriundum . . . . . . domini regis Franciae in Romanum pontificem elegerunt. Et assumpto nomine Urbanus, utinam re et nomine, Dominico die sequente ab archipresbytero Ostiensi munus benedictionis recepit ante ecclesiam . . . . . . . corona et imperiali diademate coronatus ad palatium sibi deputatum recessit.

Ad quem tempore competenti et congruo, de consilio dominorum Soletani [John of Toledo ?], Ottoboni [Fieschi], Gaietani [Orsini], et quorundam . . . . cardinalium, cum magistro R(ogero) Luvel clerico vestro et procuratore meo accessi, salutans ipsum ut decuit ex parte vestra, et literas vestras domino Alexandro papae directas eidem porrigens, et supplicans . . . . [ut] . . .justis precibus aurem inclinaret benevolem et benignam ....

Nihil autem tunc amplius obtento, requisivi cum socio meo dominos J. Thol(osanum) [John of Toledo], J. Gaietanum [Orsini], et fratrem Hugonem, qui dicebantur prioris negotii promotores ....

Jacopo Pantaleone (Jacques Pantaleon), the new Pope, was born at Troyes in Champagne, the son of a shoemaker or a tailor or a cordelier.  He studied in Paris, where he took degrees of Master of Arts and Master of Canon Law. He had been Canon at Laon [W. Sievert, Römische Quartalschrift 10 (1896), pp. 451-458].  He appeared several times before Pope Honorius III on behalf of the Chapter of Laon against Enguerrand III de Coucy, their overlord. He had been Archdeacon of Laon in the 1230's [Eubel, Herarchia catholica I, p. 530], and then Archdeacon of Campine in the Church of Liège (from September 8, 1243, to November 24, 1248) [Emile Schoolmeesters, Leodium II (Liége 1903), p. 4; Sievert, 465-468].  It was during this time (ca. 1243-1246? Robert was Bishop of Liège from 1240 to 1246) that he first met Hughes de Saint-Cher, who was Professor of Theology at the time (and Chancellor of the University of Paris, according to Sievert, though there is no record of his having held the office of Chancellor ; it was Odo of Châteauroux who had been Chancellor of Paris 1238-1244, and perhaps there is a confusion), and was investigating the visions of a nun from the Diocese of Liège, S. Juliana [Acta Sanctorum April Tomus I, p. 459].   He attended the Ecumenical Council of Lyon in 1245 along with his bishop Robertus de Thorete, and shortly thereafter was named a Papal Chaplain [Sievert, 469].  On November 19, 1247, he was appointed to a Legation being sent to Poland, Pomerania and Prussia, to deal inter alia with problems with the Teutonic Knights, and was given wide powers over prelates, canons, chapters, counts and barons, and other ecclesiastical persons of whatever sort [Potthast 12764].  Fulco of Gniezno and Albert of Prussia were advised of the coming of Jacobus Archdeacon of Laon and Papal Chaplain and ordered to receive him hospitably and carry out his instructions [Potthast 12765].  Pope Innocent also ordered all Crusaders to cooperate with him against the pagans in Prussia [Potthast 12771], and the Master of the Teutonic Knights to make peace with the Duke of Pomerania and Prussia, under Jacobus' direction [Potthast 12772].  He spent all of 1248 in northeastern Europe, and was in the lands of the Teutonic Knights in the winter of 1248/9.  He was back in Breslau in March, 1249, and shortly thereafter began his return to Lyon [Potthast 12763; Sievert 470-505].  It seems as though this was part of a larger initiative against Frederick II, led by Cardinal Petrus Capoccius (died May 20, 1259), to whom numerous detailed instructions were given, involving Mainz and Cologne [Potthast 12752-12756].  Jacques Pantaleon was promoted to be Bishop of Verdun (from 1253-1255).  On April 9, 1255 he was named Patriarch of Jerusalem, the election of the patriarch of Antioch by the canons of the Church of Jersualem having been quashed [Registres d' Alexandre IV, no. 317]:

Sane vacante olim Jerosolimitana ecclesia, tres ex ipsius ecclesie canonicis, reliquis quorum consilio et consensu dies ad eligendum prefigi debuit, certum terminum valde brevem quo electioni sue postulationi faciende de patriarcha futuro una cum eis interesse deberent motu proprio prefixerunt; propter quod illi sentientes se indebite in hujusmodi termini brevitate gravari ad venerabilem fratrem nostrum <Odonem [of Châteauroux]> Tusculanum episcopum, tunc in illis partibus legatum Sedis apostolic(a)e appellarunt.  Idem vero legatus predictos tres ad illorum citari fecit instantiam, ut in termino in ipsius legati expresso litteris in ejus presentia comparerent in hujusmodi appellationis negocio processuri ac eis ne interim procedere ad electionem seu postulationem patriarche presumerent fecit firmiter inhiberi: sed illi hujusmodi citatione ac appellatione contemptis, venerabilem fratrem nostrum O[pizo] patriarcham Antiochensem predicte ecclesie postularunt ac nobis postulationem hujusmodi presentantes, petierunt ut illa admittere curaremus.

Nos autem deliberatione super premissis cum fratribus nostris habita diligenti, postulationem ipsam non duximus admittendam.  Verum ne dicta ecclesia que inter alias orbis nobilitatis titulo ex eo potissime insignata conspicitur, quod terra in qua sita est patris eterni filius nostre carnis indumento vestitus sua voluit insignire presentia et proprii aspersione sanguinis consecrata absque presule diutius remaneret, volentes eidem de tali pontifice cujus industria et sollicitudo tanto congrueret honori ac oneri providere, te Virdunensem episcopum, cujus sollicitudo Virdunensis ecclesie jam impensa, spem firmam exhibet quod circa Jerosolimitanam utpote digniorem ad cujus regimen eadem Virdunensem ascensum tibi tue probitatis experimento paravit curam dante Domino vigilem et debitam adhibendis ipsi Jerosolimitane ecclesie de predictorum fratrum consilio et potestatis plenitudine in patriarcham frefecimus et pastorem, absolventes te a vinculo quo Virdunensi tenebaris eidem et ad dictam Jerosolimitanam ecclesiam transferentes, tibi ad illam transeundi licentiam tribuendo, firma spe fiduciaque concepta, quod tue diligentie studio per quam prefata Virdunensis ecclesia multiplex suscepisse cernitur incrementum, sepedictam Jerosolimitanam ecclesiam in spiritualibus et temporalibus auctore Domino laudabiliter augmentabis.  Ideoque fraternitatem tuam monemus, rogamus et hortamur attente per apostolica tibi scriupta firmatione presentium mandantes quatinus devote suscipiens impositum a Domino tibi onus et summittens fortitudinis tue collum ad hujusmodi collicitudinis sarcinam nente stabili defferenda ad predictam Jerosolimitanam ecclesiam te personaliter conferas, sicque ipsius curam diligenter geras et salubriter ac utiliter exequaris ut predicta ecclesia sub tua vigilantia vitivis amplificetur comodis et optatis consurgat cooperante Domino incrementis.  Dat. Neapoli, idus aprilis, anno primo.

The unusual action of suppression of the election argues that Jacques Pantaleon had powerful support in the Curia,  both from Odo of Châteauroux and Pope Alexander himself. He was also appointed Apostolicae Sedis Legatus in the Holy Land and in the Crusading Army in succession to Odo of Châteauroux, and was granted numerous powers and favors [Registres d' Alexandre IV, no. 950 (Lateran, December 7, 1255); cf. 951-956; Baronius-Theiner 21, sub anno 1255, no. 65-66, p. 498].  He landed at Akko on June 3, 1256 [Continuator of William of Tyre, in Migne, PL 201, col. 1043; Sievert, Römische Quartalschrift 12 (1898) 139].  On November 28, 1260, he and the Canons of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher are ordered to recover property belonging to them which may have been illegally alienated [Potthast 17978].  On March 8, 1261, Pantaleone was ordered to prevent the molestation of the Carmelite fathers [Potthast 18063].  In 1261, his successor as Legate, Thomas Agni de Lentino, OP, Bishop of Bethlehem (1255-1267), arrived at Acre, and Jacques was able to return to the West [Sievert, pp. 144-145].  He was already at the Curia when Pope Alexander moved from Rome to Viterbo in the first week of May, 1261 [Potthast p. 1470; cf. Sievert, p. 146, who has the Curia move from Anagni to Viterbo; in fact, the Pope had left Anagni in October of 1260 and moved to the Lateran for the winter of 1260/1261].

As Urban IV he was crowned at Viterbo on September 4, 1261 by Riccardo Annibaldi, the Cardinal of Sant' Angelo in Pescheria, the Archdeacon of the Holy Roman Church.

Urban IV took immediate steps, on December 17, 1261 [rather than December 24: Eubel, Hierarchia catholica I, p. 8 n.1], on the Saturday Quatuor Temporum, to replenish the numbers of the College of Cardinals [Annales S. Justini Patavini: MGH SS 19, 181; see J. Catalano, Sacrae Caeremoniae sive Ritus Ecclesiastici Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Libri Tres Tomus I (Romae 1750), p. 292; Wenck, p. 151]:

Iste quarto mense sui pontificatus numerum cardinalium ampliavit, praeclaros viros, vita et scientia insignitos ad tam sanctum collegium promovendo.

And Gregory, Dean of Bayeux, confirms the event and adds that there was a second promotion in May of 1262 [Allier, p. 9]:

Sane cum idem dominus Urbanus eandem Romanam ecclesiam videret satis in numero cardinalium diminutam, volens defectum hujusmodi reparare, ut Urbanus nomine urbanitatem in verbo et opere demonstraret, duas ordinationes, unam in Decembre [1261], aliam in maii [1262] mensibus fecit, in quibus cardinales quatuordecim ordinatos ostendit

King Henry III's Procurator in the Curia, Roger Lovel, provided details in a letter of February 6, 1262 [Shirley, pp. 204-206]:

Noverit Excellentia Vestra quod sanctissimus pater Urbanus quartus, sacrosanctae Romanae ecclesiae summus pontifex, Sabbato ante festum Natalis Domini ordinationem cardinalium magnam fecit; in qua venerabilis pater et dominus J(ohannes) titulo S. Laurentii in Lucina presbyter cardinalis electus extitit in episcopum Portuensem, dominus Hugo [Hughes de Saint-Cher (Ugo di S. Caro), OP] cardinalis in episcopum Hostiensem, qui numquam consecrabuntur ante adventum aliorum. Archiepiscopus etiam Narbonensis [Guy le Gros Folcoldi], qui quondam unicam et virginem duxit in uxorem, de qua filios et filias quamplures procreavit, qui quidem postmodum extitit episcopus Annisiensis, et de ecclesia Annisiensi translatus est in archiepiscopem Narbonensem, electus est in episcopum cardinalem; episcopus Ebroicensis [Radulphus or Raoul de Grosparmy] electus est in episcopum cardinalem; qui nondum titulos habent, eo quod absentes fuerunt. Ordinatum est tamen quod unus illorum erit Albanensis et alius Sabinensis. Dominus Jacobus de Sabella, natione Romanus, affinis domini Gaietani, factus est S. Mariae in Cosmidin diaconus cardinalis; dominus Godefridus de Alatro, natione Campanus, affinis domini Ricardi, factus est S. Georgii ad Velum Aureum diaconus cardinalis; dominus Urbertus de Cochenaco, familiaris domini Ottaviani, factus est S. Eustachii diaconus cardinalis; electus quondam adversanus (sic!) familiaris domini Ottoboni [Simon Paltanieri of Padua], natione Lombardus, cui multa crimina opponuntur, factus est similiter cardinalis; cancellarius etiam domini regis Franciae electus extitit in presbyterum cardinalem; qui similiter titulos non habent eo quod in ordinatione antedicta absentes fuerunt.

Lovel was confused about the last cardinal in his list: the former chancellor was Raoul de Grosparmy; the new cardinal priest was Simon de Brie (Brion), keeper of the royal seal of Louis IX in 1261, who was later assigned the titulus of Santa Cecilia (Wenck, 153 n. 2; Jordan, 329). Cardinal Simon Paltineri, Canon of Padua, received the titulus of SS. Silvestro e Martino ai Monti, after an investigation of the charges made against him were disproved. Hughes de Saint-Cher was never consecrated as Bishop of Ostia, and his place was taken by Enrico de' Bartholomei, who was elevated in Urban IV's second consistory for the promotion of cardinals in May, 1262. (Eubel, second edition, 8; the first edition contained errors. cf. Cardella, 294. Platina Storia, 103, makes Enrico one of the cardinals of Alexander IV!.)

Cardinal Simon Paltinieri's promotion had been postponed until an investigation of his qualifications was conducted [Registres d' Urbain IV, no. 39, p. 13 (January 9, 1262); no. 48, p. 16 (February 7, 1262)].  It is said that he subscribed to a bull for the first time on January 9, 1263 (Jordan, 329; Potthast 18462).  But this is outdated information. Charles Piot published a bull of Urban IV, of June 26, 1262 (Datum Viterbii ... VI. Kalendas Iulii, indictione V, Incarnationis dominice anno Mo CCo LXII pontificatus vero domni Urbani papae IIII anno primo), which includes the signature of Simon Paltinieri (p. 33-34). The full list of signatories is:

Absent from the signatories are four of Urban's cardinals: Guy le Gros Foucois, Simon de Brie, Enrico Bartolomei and Giordano Prionti. All of the cardinals who took part in the Conclave of 1261 are present.

Urban did not visit Rome though.  He provided for the city's spiritual needs through a Vicar,  Thomas Agni de Lentino, OP, Bishop of Bethlehem (1255-1267) [see, e.g, Hampe, Urban IV und Manfred, (Heidelberg 1905) p. 88-89 no. 7 (June 1264), pp. 93-94 no. 11 (Spring 1261)].