SEDE VACANTE

November 29, 1268—September 1, 1271

Pope Clement IV (Guy Foulques), because of the hostile conditions in the city of Rome, resided first in Perugia and then in Viterbo in Tuscany. His finances had been in a perilous state for years. In Epistle 116 (August 1, 1265) he writes to King Charles of Anjou (Gieseler,122 n. 2; Epistula 52 Thumser p. 35):

Thesaurus apud nos nullus latet, nec nos eum multiplicare proponimus illis modis, quibus multi homines vellent. Vide partes orbis concussas, et scire poteris causas inopiae. Anglia adversatur, Almannia vix oboedit, Francia gemit et queritur, Hispania sibi non sufficit, Italia non subvenit, sed emungit: et unde potest Romanus Pontifex, si Deum timet vel reveretur homines, sibi vel aliis in militia vel pecunia subvenire?

In fact his legate in France, Cardinal Simon de Brie (Brion) was actively working to collect the 10% levy owed to the pope by the clergy in France as well as a subsidy for a contemplated crusade in the Holy Land (Epistulae 55, 69, 99, 101, 112,114, 115, 168, 176, 208, 248, etc. Thumser). Clement died in Viterbo on November 29, 1268. The vacancy in the Holy See lasted two years, nine months and two days.

The Hohenstaufen dynasty of German emperors had finally come to an end: Frederick Augustus died in 1250; his son Conrad IV in 1254, and his bastard Manfred in 1266. In the Fall of 1267 the supporters of Conradin, Frederick's grandson, raised a revolt in Sicily while Conradin marched south; he entered Rome on July 24, 1268, but in August he was forced to flee by King Charles. Conradin was captured at Genoa and executed in Naples on October 29, 1268. This gave the popes the chance to begin rebuilding a Guelf party in northern Italy.

But they also had to contend with the ambitions of Louis IX's brother, Charles of Anjou, who entered Rome on May 23, 1265, where he was made Senator and was proclaimed king of Sicily. Pope Clement wrote to King Charles (Epistulae, 121 [ed. M. Thumser]: December 20, 1265) that if he would come to the pope at Viterbo, Clement would crown him himself:

...Ecce nos, sicut sepe iam scripsimus, prompti sumus et fuimus committere alii hoc officium, ne ipsorum offensam incurras, et, licet decentius videretur, quod a nobis coronam reciperes comminus constitutus, non sic sumus honoris avidi, quin malimus tue necessitati consulere quam honorem nobis in hoc negotio cum tuo vel tuorum periculo reservare. Illud ergo pro certo teneas, quod, quicquid tuis instillent auribus, qui sunt tecum, quicquid tibi suggerant, qui nobis-cum, fixa est apud nos ista sententia, quod hoc tempore cum multorum publico preiudicio curiam non turbabimus, nec peccare nos credimus, si ad tempus preferimus orbem Urbi, quamvis eam pre ceteris orbis partibus caritatis sincere brachiis amplectamur. Si ergo veneris, tuus erit nobis et nostris fratribus gratus nimis et iucundus adventus, et tuo capiti coronam regiam imponemus. Quod si tuum adventum impediat vel necessitas vel voluntas, mittere tibi proponimus unum ex episcopis cardinalibus, duos presbyteros et vel unum vel duos diaconos cardinales, et tu alium tecum habes, ut sic celeriter et celebriter coronatio tua fiat. Et, si tibi defuerit impositio manus nostre, cordis appositio numquam deerit Domino concedente, quod applicabimus ex affectu ad ea, que tui respicient commodi vel honoris augmentum....

He was crowned, however, in Rome on January 6, 1266. Pope Clement IV had appointed five cardinals to carry out the coronation ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica: Riccardo Annibaldi, Raoul de Grosparmy, Ancher Pantaleoni, Matteo Orsini, and Goffredo da Alatri (cf. Clement IV, Epistulae, 135 [ed. M.Thumser]; cf. Sternfeld, 65). According to the terms of the Investiture, Charles was to pay Clement 50,000 ounces of gold, but Charles was in even greater need of money than the Pope.

 In 1269, Charles I made considerable efforts to consolidate the Guelf party in Lombardy in the absence of a pope. A parliament was held at Cremona, which won the cooperation of Piacenza, Cremona, Parma, Modena, Ferrara, and Reggio. However, the Imperialist party was also reorganizing, with allegiance from Milan, Como, Vercelli, Novara, Alessandrina, Tortona, Torino, Pavese, Bergamo, Bologna, and the Marchese of Montferrat.   The cities of Milan, Piacenza and others, however, soon went over to Charles (Muratori, 322-325, from the Chronicle of Piacenza). .Pisa and Lucca made peace and joined Charles' side in 1270 (Muratori, 329). Charles and his Angevins made friends, but also many lasting enemies, as the Sicilian Vespers of 1282 testify. There was also the problem of reclaiming the Papal States from civil war, and Rome from the hands of the Roman nobility. The electors in the conclave, therefore, were deeply divided with respect to their loyalties and their expectations for the next reign.

Eodem tempore maxima discordia erat inter cardinales Romae qui erant XVII. Undecim ex ipsis videlicet dominus Richardus de Annibaldis, dominus Octavianus, dominus Ubertus de Coconaria et alii fovebant partem Imperii, alii scilicet dominus Ioannes de Gaytanis, dominus Octobonus de Fisco et alii fovebant partem Karoli et erant in Viterbio ita discordes: una pars volebat pastorem de ultramontanis partibus, scilicet illa Karuli, alia volebat pastorem Ytalicum et imperatorem ut unus in spiritualibus et alius in temporalibus mundum, sicut just postulat, gubernaret. (Annales Placentini Ghibellini, MGH SS XVIII, 533).

The Podestà of Viterbo was Alberto da Montebuono of Aretino.  Raniero (Rayniero, Renier, René) Gatto, thrice Captain General of the Province of the Patrimony of St. Peter, was the Captain of the People of Viterbo. The Gatti were the leading family in Viterbo, having provided a bishop in the previous century, and regularly providing the Captain of the People down into the fifteenth century. Both Alberto and Raniero were followers of King Charles. It was Raniero Gatto who built the Episcopal Palace at Viterbo, also called the Papal Palace, beginning in 1266 (Cristofori, 11). It was in this palace (below) that the longest conclave in papal history would take place.

In the Spring of 1270, around Pentecost (June 1, 1270), under the influence of St. Bonaventura it is said, Raynerio Gatto, the Captain of the People, locked the cardinals into the Episcopal Palace, next to the Cathedral. Nonetheless, it took an additional sixteen months to bring the conclave to an election (Cristofori, 13).

Murder of Henry of Cornwall

During the Conclave, on March 13, 1271 (Walter, 22), the citiy of Viterbo saw the murder of Henry of Cornwall, eldest son of King Henry III of England, by Guido de Montfort, son of Simon de Montfort, in an act of revenge:

Porro Rex Siciliae cum nepote suo rege Francorum .... Remeantes quoque per Campaniam, Cardinales, qui tunc in Viterbio morabantur, una cum Domino Henrico filio Regis Alemanniae, similiter remeante, decreverunt consultum esse et honestum si forte discordantes in electioni futuri Pontificis inducere possent ad electionem concorditer faciendam. Dum autem essent Viterbii, super praedictis mutuo tracturi, Cardinalium votis, iam paene concorditer adunatis, ut eorum adiuti consilio et assensu Romanae Sedis, multo tempore Pastoris solacio viduate, de idoneo praesule providerent; ecce protinus, instigante humani generis inimico Simon de' Monteforti, cum Guidone fratre suo, necnon Comite Rufo, cuius filiam duxerat in uxorem, non sine assensu credi poterit Aymerici fratris eorundem, quodam die satis mane, non modica loricatorum stipatio caterva subito ingredientes ecclesiam quandam civitatis eiusdem ubi Dominus Henricus (Regis) Romanorum primogenitus, eorum ex avunculo cognatus, peractis iam Missarum sollemniis, quas audierat orationi devotus incubebat, evaginatis gladiis inhumaniter irruerunt in ipsum, proditorem, ac potius interfectorum eum, licet mendaciter proclamantes, ut ipse nimirum tam tumultuoso clamore perterritus velociter ab oratione prosiliens cucurrit ad altare, super quod paulo ante Deo Patri Unigenitus Filius Redemptor mundi fuerat immolatus. Sed lictores crudelissimi consanguinitatis foedere violato, spreta loci sacri, ac temporis reverentia, adherentem altari mucronibus confodientes, inflictis vulneribus, letiferis inhumanissime peremerunt, vulnera vulneribus imprimentes, donec spiritum exhalaret. Facta quidem fuit haec inaudita sceleris perpetratio die Veneris, crastino S. Gregorii, videlicet tertio Idus Martii (in) civitati Viterber, in ecclesia Sci. Blasii; praesentibus tunc in eadem civita tota coetu Cardinalium; Rege Siciliae et nepote suo Philippo in Regem Francorum protinus promovendo.... (Thomas Wykes, Chronica, in MGH SS XXVII)

This took place in the Cathedral of S. Lorenzo in Viterbo (or the Church of S. Sylvester: Cristofori 59, or, as above, in the Church of S. Biagio), in the presence of the cardinals, of King Philip III of France, and of King Charles of Sicily. (Cristofori, 6-7, 56). Some sources give a date of 1270. Charles' itinerary, however, indicates that the date had to be 1271. From October 13, 1269, he was at either Capua or Naples steadily until he left for Palermo in July, 1270 and from there for Tunis. The sources that speak of "the future King Philip" at Viterbo, therefore, are wrong.

The Chronicler is certainly right, whether by inference or by certain knowledge, that Charles and Philip had come to Viterbo to put pressure on the Cardinals to settle the matter of the papal succession. He is surely wrong, however, in thinking that the cardinals were on the point of reaching a conclusion, though he may well be right that the murder of Henry of Cornwall complicated matters rather than resolving them. Charles certainly wanted a resolution, by the production of a pope who would sanction his "crusade" against Constantinople rather than one against Jerusalem, and who would reject Manuel VIII's offers of church union. He was to be disappointed.

[Note: According to Paul Durrieu, Étude sur les registres angevines du Roi Charles Ier Tome second (Paris 1888). King Charles' itinerary (pp. 168-176) brought him to Viterbo: in 1268: April 4-30 (He was at Trani when the Pope died); in 1269: not at all; in 1270: not at all; in 1271 March 10, 12-17, 20-31, April 1; in 1272: not at all; he is attested at Rome from March 29 to June 4.]

Electors

At the time of Clement's death, there were twenty or twenty-one cardinals, though

• Raoul de Grosparmy, former bishop of Évreux (1259-1261), Cardinal Bishop of Albano (December 24, 1261), did not attend. He was in France, acting as Papal Legate to King Louis IX. As a longstanding friend of the king and his former Chancellor, he accompanied Louis on his ill-fated Crusade to Tunisia, where he died, October 24, 1270, of the plague. King Louis had died on August 25. Though he did not attend the Conclave of 1268-1271, the Cardinal was in correspondence with the Sacred College, on the subject (inter alia) of the embassy of Michael VIII Palaeologus to Louis IX. (Setton, 106-108).  Cardinal Odo of Châteauroux was also in correspondence with Theobald II , the King of Navarre (1253-1270), who was with King Louis in his crusade in Africa (Giovanni Villani Croniche fliorentine VII. 37 [tr. Selfe, 248]). Theobald died at Trepani on December 4, 1270.
  
  
• Bernard Ayglier, OSB, former abbot of Lerins and current Abbot of Monte Cassino (1263-1282), the only (alleged) creation of Clement IV, did not attend. He is addressed only once in a letter from Pope Clement IV ( #531, July 28, 1268), but, unlike all the other cardinals, who received numerous letters from the Pope, he does not appear in connection with Curial business or papal diplomacy. His cardinalatial titulus and rank, if any, is unknown. He was a strong partisan of King Charles of Anjou, and his brother was Archbishop of Naples. In 1269, Bernard acted as Charles' ambassador to Venice (Tosti, 15), and then in 1270 worked to arrange the marriage of King Charles to the sister of the King of Hungary, Ladislaus V (Tosti, 16-17; 67-68); on December 27, 1270 he was back in his monastery at Montecassino (Tosti, 80). He did arrive in Viterbo in November of 1271, but it was two months after the election of Gregory X (Tosti, 18; 69). After the reunion of the eastern and western churches at the Lateran Council, he was sent by Gregory X as legate to the Emperor Michael Paleologus (Tosti, 30-31). He died on April 3, 1282 (Tosti, 32). Neither Tosti himself, nor the documents written by Bernard which he cites, ever refer to Bernard as a cardinal; indeed the letter from Viterbo says, "Sani sumus per Dei gratiam, et opera nostra in oculis Domini papae sunt et omnium dominorum nostrorum cardinalium gratiosa, bene procedunt, scilicet negotia, et procedent." It seems very strange, moreover, that Charles, who had a great interest in the outcome of the Conclave at Viterbo, did not send one of his most loyal supporters there to vote. There is good reason to doubt that Bernard was a cardinal at all.

There were, therefore, nineteen electors present in Viterbo:

1. Otto (Eudes or Odo of Châteauroux), born in the Diocese of Bourges, former Chancellor of the University of Paris (1238-1244), Cistercian monk and Abbot, Cardinal (1244-1273) Bishop of Tusculum (Frascati), Cardinal Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church † January 25, 1273 in Orvieto. (Cardella, I.2, 267). This was his fourth papal election.
2. Enrico de' Bartholomei ["Hostiensis"], of Susa in Piedmont, Bishop of Sisteron (1244), Archbishop of Embrun (1250), Cardinal (1262-1271) Bishop of Ostia and Velletri † November 7, 1271 at Viterbo.
3. Giovanni of Toledo, an Englishman, a Cistercian, Cardinal (May 28, 1244) Priest of S. Lorenzo in Lucina, then Cardinal Bishop of Porto, from December 24, 1261 †1274 at Lyons (or July 13, 1275: Grauert, 117 n.1, 125, and 127) He had served in the Roman Curia for nearly sixty years. This was his fourth papal election (Cardella, I.2, 269)..
4. Stephen (III), a Hungarian, archbishop of Strigonia (Esztergom), named Cardinal (1252-1272) Bishop of Palestrina by Innocent IV. †1272.
   
   
5. Simon Mompitié de Brion, Cardinal (December 24,1261-1281) priest of Santa Cecilia, future Pope Martin IV (1281-1285) (Panvinio, 172). He had been Clement IV's legate in France.
6. Annibaldus Annibaldi della Molara, OP, a Roman, Cardinal (1262-1272) priest of XII Apostolorum †1272. He is mentioned as deceased in King Charles of Sicily's oath of fealty to Pope John XXI on October 7, 1276, where he and his uncle negotiated some terms with King Charles which became part of the oath of fealty (Cristofori, 348).
7. Ancherius Pantaleoni, nephew of Pope Urban IV, Cardinal (1262) priest of Santa Prassede †1288 or 1286
8. Guilelmus (Guillaume) de Bray (or Brie), diocese of Reims, Cardinal (1262-1282) priest of S. Marco †1282 Chamberlain of the Sacred College of Cardinals (Sternfeld, 323).
9. Simon Paltanieri, from Monselice near Padua, Cardinal (December 24, 1261-1276?) Priest of S. Silvestro e S. Martino ai Monti
10. Guido di Borgogna (Guy de Bourgogne), Abbot of Cîteaux, Cardinal (1262) Priest of San Lorenzo in Lucina in succession to his fellow Cistercian, Giovanni of Toledo †1272 or 1273
    
    
11. Ricardus Hannibaldi (Riccardo Annibaldi, uncle of Cardinal Annibaldo) de Molaria, a Roman, Cardinal Deacon of Sancti Angeli in Pescheria (1237-1274). Archpriest of the Vatican Basilica (by Innocent IV). Ghibelline. Opponent of the Orsini. This was his sixth papal election.
12. Octavianus (Ottaviano) Ubaldini, of Florence, Archbishop of Bologna, Cardinal (1244-1273) Deacon of Sta. Maria in Via Lata †1273 (Fra Salimbene, Cronaca, puts it in March 1272). Strongly Ghibelline in sympathies (Cardella, I.2, 275). This was his fourth papal election. Dante puts him in the Sixth Circle of Hell
13. Ioannes (Giovanni Gaetano Orsini), Cardinal (1244-1277) Deacon of S. Niccolo in Carcere, Grand Inquisitor, future Pope Nicholas III (1277-1280) Strongly Ghibelline. This was his fourth papal election.
14. Ottobonus (Ottobono, Ottoboni) Fieschi, of Genoa, Cardinal (1251-1276) deacon of S. Adriano, Archpriest of S. Maria Maggiore (Basliica Liberiana); nephew of Innocent IV and future Pope Adrian V (1276). Strongly Guelf, in opposition to the Doria and Spinola. Acceptable to King Charles. This was his fourth papal election.
15. Godefridus (Geoffroy, Goffredo da Alatri in Lazio), Cardinal (December 24, 1261-1287) Deacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro †1287.
16. Hubertus (Uberto de Cocconato), a Lombard or Piedmontese. Chaplain of Alexander IV. Cardinal (December 24,1261-1276) Deacon of S. Eustachius †1276. Ghibelline.
17. Iacobus (Giacomo Savelli), Cardinal (December 24,1261-1285), grandnephew of Honorius III. Deacon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, future Pope Honorius IV (1285-1287)
18. Giordano Pironti dei Conti di Terracina, Cardinal (1262-1269) Deacon of SS Cosma e Damiano, Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church † October, 1269, during the Sede Vacante (cf. Cristofori, Conclave 15 n. 1, for a date of November 7, 1270)
19. Matteo Rosso Orsini, nephew of Nicholas III, Cardinal (1262-1305) Deacon of Santa Maria in Portico †1305

Cardinal Enrico of Ostia

Of Cardinal Enrico de' Bartolommei, the celebrated canonist known as "(H)Ostiensis", it is said, "Being in the conclave after the death of Clemens IV., he became sick by mere ennui, and renounced his right of election; but having left the place, he became better (H. Rose, A New General Biographical Dictionary [1857] 274, on the authority of Ciacconio, Vitae Pontiff et Cardin. See Cartwright, 19). The date of his departure was June 8, 1270, according to a document in the Archives of Viterbo (Ceccaroni, 3; Cristofori, 21 n. 5), and it was with the permission of seventeen cardinals.

Nos miseratione divina ep(iscop)i, p(res)b(yte)ri, et diaconi Sacros(an)c(ta)e Roman(a)e eccl(es)i(a)e card(ina)les infirmitatem venerabilis fr(atr)is n(ost)ri H(enrici) Ostiensis et Velletren(sis) Ep(iscop)i, fraterno compatientes affectu, Vobis Alberto de Monte Bono Potestati, et Raynerio Gatto, quo pro Capitaneo Viterbiensium te geris, et Communi Viterbiensi tenore presentium, sub debito fidelitatis, quo nobis, et Ecclesi(a)e Roman(a)e tenemini, districte precipiendo mandamus quatenus cum idem Ep(iscop)us iuri et voci, sibi competentibus in electione Romani Pont(ificis), renunciaverit coram nobis, quantum ad presentem vacationem dumtaxat, volens ut, non obstante eius absentia; sine ipso hac vice libere procedamus ad providendum Roman(a)e Eccl(es)i(a)e, de Pastore ratam habiturus et gratam, electionem, seu provisionem, quam de Romano Pontifice, absque ipso et eius requisitione, duxerimus faciendam, ac instanter petierit vobis mandari ut de Palatio in quo sumus inclusi, ipsum permicteretis exiere eundem Ep(iscop)um de ipso palatio statim egredi libere permictatis, nec ipsum de cetero aliquatenus detineatis invitum. Datum Viterbii in Palatio discooperto Ep(iscop)atus Viterbien, IV id(ibus) Iun(iis) ann(o) D(omi)ni MCCLXX, Ap(osto)lica sede vacante.

The cardinals are apparently very unhappy about the possible ramifications of going forward with the electoral process without the presence of the Dean of the Sacred College, and so they exact from him a specific renunciation of his right to speak and vote, so that they can continue in his absence. But there is also a document from the Vatican Archives, in which the citizens of Viterbo, led by their Podestà and Captain, are required to swear to respect the Conclave and not molest the entourages or property of the cardinals. The document is dated (Cristofori, 343-344, from Felice Contelori (†1644), Felicis Contelorii Collectanea de Romanis Potificibus, et S. R. E. Cardinalibus Volume II, 53-56)

Anno D(omi)ni DCCLXX, XI Kalendas Septembris [August 22, 1270], indictione XIII, Sede Romana vacante. Per pns. publicum instrumentum appareant universis quod R(everendissi)mus P(ate)r O(tho) E(pisco)pus Tusculanus S(anctae) R(omanae) E(cclesiae) Camerarius ex parte sua et totius collegii R(everendissi)morum P(atr)rum d(omi)norum Card(ina)lium, videlicet:
S(tephani) Prenestini
I(ohannis) Portuen(sis)
H(enrici) Ostien(sis), E(pisco)porum
S(imonis) S(an)c(t)i Martini
A(ncheri) S(an)c(ta)e Praxedis
G(uidi) Sci Laurentis in Lucina
G(uilelmi) Sci Marci
Simonis Sce. Cecilie et Annibaldi Basilice XII Ap(ostol)orum, P(resbyter)orum
O(ctaviani) Sce Marie in Via Lata
Ioh(ann)is. Sci. Nicolai in Carcere Tulliano
O(ctoboni) Sci. Adriani
I(acobi) Sce. Marie in Cosmedin
G(odefridi) Sci. Georgii ad Velum Aureum
V(berti) Sci Eustachii
M(athei) Sce. Marie in Porticu, Diaconorum Cardi(na)lium
apud Viterbium in consistorio majori Palatii congregato, ac etiam ex parte Rmi. Pris. dni. Ricardi Sci. Angeli Diaconi Card(ina)lis in dicto consistorio non existentis, precise et espresse mandavit d(omi)no Alberto de Montebono Potestati et Raynerio qm Raynerii Gatti Cap(ita)neo Civitatis Viterbien(sis) p(raese)ntibus, et astantibus coram ipsis d(omi)nis Cardinalibus, sub debito fidelitatis....

This document appears to indicate that Enrico, Bishop of Ostia, is still participating in the activities of the Cardinals in Conclave on August 22, in other words, that he returned to the Conclave. He did not leave the conclave permanently on June 8, 1270, and there is no evidence of ennui. Nonethess, he did not participate in the electoral compact of September 1, 1271, that instituted the compromise committee. It should also be noted that the Hungarian Cardinal Stephen, Bishop of Palestrina, is still alive on August 22, 1270, and participating, despite notices of his earlier death. There is no explanation given as to why Cardinal Riccardo Annibaldi was not in attendance on this occasion.

On October 25, 1270, Cardinal John of Toledo, Bishop of Porto and Santa Rufina, conducted an admission of nuns into the community he had founded at the Monastery of Santa Maria de Paradiso in Viterbo. The document attesting to the admissions indcates that Cardinal John was existens in palatio episcopali Viterbensi, una cum aliis dominis Cardinalibus s(an)c(ta)e Romanae Ecclesi(a)e, pro substituendo Romano Pontifice.   Also present was the papal Notary Fratellus, who drew up the document, as well as a bishop, the provisor of the monastery, a cleric of the bishop, and Lord Visconte, son of Raynerio Gatto (Cristofori, Tombe 422). The cardinals may have been confined, but they certainly were not isolated.

Conclave myths

It is said, on the authority of Bartholomew of Pisa (Conformitates, I. 8. 2—written ca.1385), that the Saint Bonaventura, Gemeral of the Franciscans, who had come to Italy from Paris in 1271 to attend a General Chapter of his Order, visited the Cardinals at Viterbo and harangued them on the urgency of electing a pope. The cardinals so appreciated his reputation that they empowered him to nominate himself or any other to the Papal See, promising at the same time to ratify his selection. (cf. Cristofori, 13 n. 1; 16, n.2) It is he who was said to have nominated Theobald of Piacenza. Bonaventure's biographer, Fr. Laurence Costelloe, OFM (1902), remarks that "This incident must be regarded as quite authentic, for reference is made to it in the process of our saint's canonization (p. 87)"—profound reasoning perhaps, but not historical reasoning. Cardella (p. 4) notes the incredulity of many writers (and see Ceccaroni, 2-3). The story makes nonsense of the assertion that the cardinals were locked up in conclave, and ignores several canonical rules as to who was entitled to be present and to vote. It is hagiography, not history. Monastic chronicles and biographies are full of anecdotes about "the great refusal". A similar story is told about this same conclave and St. Philip Benizi, the General of the Servites, direct competitors of the Franciscans. (Moroni 24, 295; Montor, 30; Cristofori, 10 n., 15; Cardella, 1.2, 283-284)  He was so impressive to the Cardinals that they actually elected him pope, and sent Cardinal Ottobono Fieschi, the Cardinal Protector of the Servites (and perhaps a second cardinal) to offer him the papal crown. However, when Saint Philip heard what the cardinal(s) had in mind, he fled to the mountains and avoided their call to office.

Dum Viterbii Cardinales Clemente IV. P.M. vite functo de successore eligendo dissiderent, nonnullis Philippum proponentibus illa re cognita clam inde recedens (quod maximae humilitatis argumentum fuit) apud Montem Tuniatum delituit          (Filippo Ferrari, OSM)

This too is hagiography, not history. It hardly conforms to the rest of the information we have about the complete stalemate in the conclave that eventually required a selection by compromise. Additionally, the mendicant orders were not looked upon with favor by some in the Curia, and it is unlikely that either the General of the Franciscans or the General of the Servites would appeal to them. In 1274, the Second Council of Lyons ordered the suppression of all religious orders which had not yet received papal approval, including the Servites, and in 1276 Pope Innocent V sent a letter to Philip Benizi ordering the suppression of his order. In addition, Cardinal Vicedomino de' Vicedomini, a Franciscan tertiary, was elected pope and died on the same day, September 6, 1276—another fiction, made the more remarkable when one notes that the pope who actually was elected by the Cardinals, on September 8, John XXI (Peter Julian of Lisbon) was remarked to be unfriendly to the religous orders (Cristofori, Tombe, 185-203). It might also be noted that a Dominican. Fra Giovanni da Vercelli, was elected pope in 1281 but died before he received notification —a complete fiction, reported in the Annalium Ecclesiasticorum Continuatio of Abraham Bzovius (Cristofori, Tombe, 191; also rejected by Novaes IV 3 note c).

The Compromise

When the seventeen (or eighteen) cardinals could not come to an agreement, they appointed a committee of six cardinals to make the choice ('by compromise'). The Annales Placentini, the "best source" for the conclave, give the names, but with Ottobono Fieschi instead of Giacomo Savelli):

• Simon Paltanieri, of S. Martino ai Monti
• Guido of S. Lorenzo in Lucina
• Ricardus of S. Angeli
• Octavianus of S. Maria in Via Lata
• John of S. Niccolo in Carcere
• Jacopo of S. Maria in Cosmedin