In 1276 and 1277 there were four popes and three conclaves. In 1275 Pope Gregory X (Tedaldo/Teobaldo Visconti) was in the process of returning to Italy from the Council of Lyon. Of this particular autumn and winter Fra Salimbene reports unusual weather [Chronica, p. 264-265 ed. Parma 1857]:
Item eodem anno MCCLXXV incoepit pluvia venire in temporalibus nundinarum sancti Mauricii, et ante Nativitatem Domini venit diluvium maximum aquarum et duravit per plures dies: et inundationes aquarum magnae fuerunt, et flumina sparserunt et exiverunt de locis suis, et sparserunt per episcopatum reginum; et hyems tota fuit pluviosa. Et eo anno et sequenti fuerunt pluviae et diluvia magna, in planitie: et eodem anno in montanis partibus fuerunt nives magnae ultra modum, et fuerunt ultra modum in quibusdam locis per montaneas partes altae nives per v brachia; et in quibusdam majores, per vi brachia: et duravit praedicta nix per plures menses per praedictum annum et sequentem. Et fuit maxima mortalitas porcorum, et aliarum bestiarum in praedictis partibus montaneae propter famem; quia non habebant aliquid, quod darent praedictis bestiis ad manducandum, et coquebunt eis foenum, et pistabant pro porcis pascendis. Et eodem anno venit Gregorius decimus cum curia sua ete cardinalibus suis a civitate lugdunensi in civitatem reginam, id est Regium, die v. decembris in festo sancti Nicolai; et hospitatus fuit in palatio episcopi regini, et sequenti die recessit, quia ibat Romam: et infirmatus fuit in civitate Aretii, et stetit ibi infirmus multis diebus. Anno Domini MCCLXXVI, Indictione IV, obiit supradictus Papa Gregorius decimus in civitate Aretii, quae est civitas Tusciae, decimo die ianuarii....
The Pope departed Vienne shortly after September 30, 1275, and arrived in Lausanne on October 6 [Potthast, p. 1700]. There he met with the Emperor-elect Rudolph, King of the Romans, and on October 20 received his oath of fealty [Campi, Dell' historia ecclesiastica di Piacenza II, p. 483]. There were seven cardinals with the Pope at the time [Johann Friedrich Böhmer, Regesta Imperii (1844) p. 73, quite unaccountably says there were six cardinals], and their names are mentioned in the record of the oath-taking: Petrus Ostiensis, Ancherus Pantaleone of S. Prassede, Guglelmus de Bray of S. Marco, Ottobono Fieschi of S. Adriano, Giacomo Savelli of S. Maria in Cosmedin, Gottifridus de Alatri of S. Giorgio in Velabro, and Mattheus Rosso Orsini of S. Maria in Porticu.
Pope Gregory was in Milan on Tuesday, November 12, 1275 [Annales Placentini Ghibellini, in MGH 18, 562], at Reggio Aemilia on December 5, and in Bologna on December 11 [Potthast 21092]. On December 18, he arrived at Florence, but stayed there only one day. He was unwilling to enter the city because the Florentines were still under interdict and excommunicated. But the Arno was in flood, and so technically he had to enter the city and cross by means of the Ponte Rubaconte [Ricordano Malespini, Istoria Fiorentina, cap. ccii, in Muratori, RIS VIII, 1021; admittedly, a later compilation based on Giovanni Villani Cronica VII. 50]. He celebrated Christmas in Arezzo, and died there on January 10, 1276. At the moment of his death there were only three cardinals in Arezzo, the three cardinal-bishops Peter of Tarantaise, Peter Juliani and Bertrand de St. Martin; the rest were in Rome or elsewhere [Sternfeld, 239]. King Charles of Anjou, Senator of Rome, was in Rome as well, engaging in business. He heard of the Pope's death by January 15th [Sternfeld, 243 n. 16]. The Conclave opened (and ended) on January 21. The vacancy in the Holy See lasted eleven days. The late pope's regulations for the conduct of a conclave Ubi Periculum, promulgated at the Second Council of Lyons, worked successfully. Eleven of the cardinals who had elected Gregory were still alive and very experienced at lengthy proceedings. That fact no doubt played a part as well in the single day conclave.
At the opening ceremonies of the Council of Lyons in 1274, the following fifteen Cardinals were present [Carini, Brevis Historia Concilii Lugdunensis, pp. 250-251, no doubt written by a ceremoniere]:
Gregory X had created five cardinals: (Giovanni) Pietro Giuliani, Vicedomino de Vicedomini, Bonaventura, Peter of Tarantaise, and Bertrand de Saint-Martin.
On June 6, 1274, a Consistory was held in Lyons [AugustinusTheiner, Codex diplomaticus dominii temporis Sanctis Sedis 1 (Romae 1861), p. 186], and the following thirteen cardinals were present:
Cardinal Giovanni Orsini of S. Niccolo in Carcere was not present. Cardinal Riccardo Annibaldi was not present. Cardinal Bertrand de Saint Martin Bishop of Sabina was not present. Cardinal Bonaventura died on July 15, 1274. Cardinal John of Toledo died in on July 13, 1275 [Annales of Furness sub anno 1275, in MGH SS 28, 558; Annales de Wintonia, in Annales monastici II (London 1865), p. 121 ed. Luard].
At the time of Gregory's death, there were fourteen cardinals.
There were, therefore, twelve electors present in Arezzo (Eubel I, p. 9 n.4; Sternfeld, 241; Novaes, 258, says ten):
At the II Council of Lyons, Gregory X had granted the privilege to the senior member of the Savelli family of being the Marshal of the Holy Roman Church and Custodian of the Conclave (Cancellieri, 6), though it seems that the family first exercised the privilege after the death of the Savelli pope, Giacomo Savelli, Pope Honorius IV, in April 1287.
The ten days having passed, which were required by the Constitution Ubi Periculum of Gregory X, the Cardinals assembled at Arrezzo on the Vigil of St. Agnes (January 20) and heard the Mass of the Holy Spirit.
si eumdem pontificem in civitate, in qua cum sua curia residebat, diem claudere contingat extremum, Cardinales qui fuerint in civitate ipsa praesentes, absentes expectare decem diebus tantummodo teneantur. Quibus elapsis sive, absentes venerint, sive non, extunc omnes conveniant in palatio in quo idem pontifex habitabat, contenti singuli singulis tantummodo servientibus clericis vel laicis, prout duxerint eligendum.
The conclave lasted a single day. On Tuesday, January 21, 1276, the unanimous choice of the cardinals on the first scrutiny was Peter of Tarantaise in Savoy, OP, who took the name Innocent V (Novaes, III, 258). The new pope himself describes the events in his Electoral Manifesto Nuper Sanctae [Tomassetti, Bullarium Romanum Turin edition IV, pp. 35-36]:
Nuper sanctae ac venerandae memoriae Gregorio Papa patre ac praedecessore nostro, in continuatione laborum, quos ad Dei prosequenda servitia solers et devotus assumpserat, nobsisque, tunc Ostiensi episcopo ac aliis nostris fratribus, quos tam in Urbe, quam cirac eius confinia, iam diversa loca receperat, tribus tantum ex illis existentibus circa ipsum, de ultramontana redeuntibus regione, ac eodem praedecessore apud Aretium civitatem Tusciae in infirmitate diebus aliquibus deductis de hoc saeculo nequam, quod eo dignum forte non erat, ereopt, et ipsius corpore cum exequiarum solemnitate debita tumulato; licet in pastoris substituendi processu eorumdem fratrum absentia, satisque longa distantia, difficultatem non modicam communi hominum indicio iuvaret; Illo tamen, ut firmiter credimus, eorumdem fratrum corda tangente, cui facile est distincta coniungere, ac etiam inter se distantia insimul adunare, nos, fratres iidem omnes, quibus id personarum suarum status indulsit, sponte ac celeriter convenimus in civitate praedicta: et in omni mansuetudine spontanea palatium, in quo idem praedecessor habitarat, pridie ante festum beatae Agnetis intrantes, in ipso festo summo mane missarum solemniis in honorem Sancti Spiritus celebratis ex more, ipsiusque gratia votis invocata supplicibus, concorditer ad celebrandam electionem instantem scrutinii viam elegimus; et assistente ipso benigno sapientiae Spiritu, qui devote se invocantibus, Ecce adsum, solet dicere invocatus, cuius gratia molimina tarditatis ignorat; primo celebrato et publicato scrutinio (quod tamen nequaquam aliud, sicut nec oportuit, est secutum), in humilitatem nostram, Dei providentia, seu permissione mirabilii, nobisque nimium terribili et stupenda, iidem fratres nullo discordante unanimiter concordarunt: nobis ad summi apostolatus evocatis apicem, et ipsius onus giganteis etiam tremendum humeris nostris debilibus imponentes.
This was another victory for the French and King Charles of Sicily. Innocent V was the first Dominican to become pope. He had been Provincial of his order in France until he was elected Archbishop of Lyons in 1273 (though he was never installed). He took part in the Second Council of Lyons as Bishop of Ostia (created on June 2, 1273). He was charged (along with St. Bonaventura) by the Pope with the real detail work of bringing about the agreement of the Eastern Church to the demands of the Western, in particular to the filioque issue and to papal supremacy. He gave the keynote speech at the opening of the Third Session of the Council. Though the cardinals objected to Pope Gregory's ideas about the regulation of the election of a pope, Peter supported the Pope and brought the majority of the Council around to the papal position. (One of his successor's first acts was to suspend these electoral ordinances, the bull Ubi Periculum.)
King Charles I of Sicily was in Rome, however, from January 8, 1276 (two days before Pope Gregory died) through July 20 (after the election of Adrian V–who was never crowned), except for a brief visit to Viterbo on February 9, and to Macerata on June 5 (Durrieu, 179-180). He was not at Arezzo at all, though he could easily have been, had he chosen to influence the Conclave. Innocent V was crowned in Rome on February 22, 1276, the Feast of St. Peter's Chair, and took up residence at the Lateran Palace [Bernardus Guidonis, in Muratori, RIS III.1, column 605]. The Annales de Wintonia states [Annales monastici II (London 1865), pp. 121-122 ed. Luard]:
Hoc anno [1275/76] obiit dominus Johannes Anglicus de ordine Cysterciensi, cardinalis Portuensis. Item obiit Papa Gregorius decimus mense Januarii, scilicet infra octabas Epiphaniae; cui successit Petrus Tarentacensis, Cardinalis Hostiensis de ordine praedicatorum, consecratus in Papam vii. kal. Martii in urbe, et vocatus est Innocentius quintus. Quo quidem defuncto xi kal. Julii, ut dicitur, successit ei Octobonus diaconus cardinalis....
On February 25, for the first time in thirty years, a Pope celebrated Mass at the High Altar in the Lateran Basilica [Potthast, II, p. 1705; Annales Sancti Rudberti Salisburgensis, in MGH IX, 801, though the date may be questioned; and see the same statements in MGH IX, 706]. On March 2, Pope Innocent V confirmed King Charles I of Sicily as Senator of Rome and as papal Vicar of Tuscany [Potthast 21103]. King Charles appointed Msgr. Pierre de Latyera as his Procurator at the Roman Curia. Innocent V's Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church was Magister Raymondus Marci [Letter of King Charles I of Sicily (May 25, 1276), in Sternfeld, Der Kardinal Johann Gaetan Orsini, p. 349].
He attempted to pursue a policy balanced between Guelph and Ghibbeline, hoping (in vain) to avoid more civil war. Innocent was able, however, to arrange a reconciliation between the party of Cardinal Ottobono Fieschi, which favored King Charles of Sicily, and the exiles from Genoa. [Muratori, 361; Potthast 21099]. The peace which he had arranged was confirmed by Adrian V (still calling himself Episcopus electus] on July 23, 1276 {Potthast 21149]. He ruled the Church from January 21 to June 22, 1276. (Novaes, 259), and was buried in the Lateran Basilica.
The Brother of Mateo de Romano: Monumenti storici publicati dalla R. Deputazione Veneta di storia patria. Serie terza. Cronache e diarii, Vol. II. Antiche Cronache Veronesi (Venezia 1890), pp. 409-469. "Annales Veronenses"
Brevis Historia Concilii Lugdunensis: edited by Isidoro Carini, in Specilegio Vaticano di documenti inediti e rari estratti dagli Archivi e dalla Biblioteca della Sede Apostolica Volume I (Roma: Ermanno Loescher 1890), 241-258.
Monumenta historica ad provincias Parmensem et Placentinam pertinentia. Chronica Fr. Salimbene Parmensis, Ordinis Minorum (Parmae: Petrus Fiaccadori 1857).
J. Guiraud and L. Cadier (editors), Les registres de Grégoire X et de Jean XXI (1271-1277) (Paris, 1892-1898) [BEFAR 2 série, 12].
Redlich, Wiener Briefsammlung: Oswald Redlich, Eine Wiener Briefsammlung zur Geschichte des deutschen Reiches .... (Wien 1894) [Mittheilungen aus dem Vaticanischen Archive, II. Band]. E. Martene-U. Durand Thesaurus novus anecdotorum II (Paris 1717).
Lorenzo Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa Tomo primo, parte secondo (Roma: Pagliarini 1792). Ludovico Antonio Muratori, Annali d' Italia Volume 18 (Firenze 1827). Giuseppe de Novaes, Elementi per la storia de' Sommi Pontefici terza edizione Volume III (Roma 1821). G. Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica Volume 32 (Venezia 1845) 264-278. Pietro Maria Campi, "Apologio dell innocente e s. vita del gran pontefice Gregorio il Decimo," in Dell' historia ecclesiastica di Piacenza parte seconda (Piacenza 1651), pp. 315-339; "Vita Gregorii Papae Decimi patria Placentini," pp. 343-349.
Paul Durrieu, Étude sur les registres angevines du Roi Charles Ier Tome second (Paris 1888), 179-180. Fritz Walter, Die Politik der Kurie unter Gregor X (Berlin 1894), 8-32. Augustin Demski, Papst Nikolaus III, Eine Monographie (Münster 1903) 34-37. R. Sternfeld , Der Kardinal Johann Gaetan Orsini (Papst Nikolaus III) 1244-1277 (Berlin 1905) 238-244. Francesco Cancellieri, Notizie istoriche delle stagioni e de' siti diversi in cui sono stati tenuti i conclavi... (Roma 1823) 5-6. J. Mothon, Vie du Bienheureux Innocent V (Rome 1896). F.Gregorovius, History of Rome in the Middle Ages, Volume V.2 second edition, revised (London: George Bell, 1906) 473-474. H. D. Sedgwick, Italy in the Thirteenth Century Volume II (Boston-New York 1912) 71-80. Marie-Hyacinthe Laurent, Ciro Giannelli and Louis Bertrant Gillon, Le Bienheureux Innocent V (Pierre de Tarentaise) et son temps [Studi e testi, 29] (Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana 1947).
On Bernard Ayglier, OSB, abbot of Montecassino, see: Luigi Tosti, OSB, Storia della Badia di Monte-cassino Tomo III (Napoli 1843) 6-32; 65-89
On Vicedomino de' Vicedomini, and the myth of his one-day papacy, see: F. Cristofori, Le tombe dei pape in Viterbo (Siena 1887), 185-202. Novaes, 262. Moroni Dizionario di erudizione storico ecclesiastica 32, 279-280.
On Cardinal Orsini: Augustin Demski, Papst Nikolaus III, Eine Monographie (Münster 1903) 34-37. Richard Sternfeld, Der Kardinal Johann Gaetan Orsini (Papst Nikolaus III.) 1244-1277 (Berlin: E. Ebering 1905).
Suspension of Gregory X's constitution on papal elections: Adrian V (Ottobono Fieschi) suspended the arrangements of Pope Gregory orally in a consistory: Giordano, quoted in Reynaldi, Annales Ecclesiasticae sub anno 1276. They were officially cancelled by the Bull Licet of Pope John XXI on September 30, 1276. A. Ceccaroni Il conclave (Roma 1901) 57.
© 2008, 2009 John Paul Adams, CSUN
john.p.adams@csun.edu