SEDE VACANTE 1314-1316

Salvador Miranda lists Aegidius Colonna (allegedly created in 1302) as not being in attendance. Curiously, although he notes the absence in 1314, he takes no note of Aegidio Colonna in the Conclaves of 1303 or of 1304-1305, though if Colonna had been made a cardinal in 1302, some comment would have been appropriate.  One must agree that Colonna did not attend any of these conclaves.  He was not a cardinal [cf. Cardella, II, pp. 65-67, who states, on the authority of Angelo Rocca, that Boniface VIII named him but did not publish his name.  There is no documentary proof].  Aegidius Colonna was the son of Pietro Colonna, Castellan of Petrella; who was the son of Pietro Colonna the Lord of Genazzano; who was the son of Gregory Colonna, a soldier; who was the son of Pietro Colonna, a soldier; who was the son of Oddone Colonna, Signore di Colonna, Monteporzio, Zagarolo, Gallicano and Palestrina (though this lineage is somewhat disputed).  Aegidio was a member of the Hermits of St. Augustine. He was a student of Thomas Aquinas, obtained a Doctorate in Theology, and was a Lecturer in Theology at Paris. He eventually became the Definitor of his Order, from 1284, and finally from 1292 the General of the OESA. He was made Archbishop of Bourges in 1295 (1295-1316), in succession to Simon de Bello Loco (Beaulieu) when Simon became a cardinal [Gallia christiana 2, 76-78; Eubel I, 138]. He was present at the Ecumenical Council of Vienne in 1311 [cf. Ehrle, Archiv für Litteratur- und Kirchengeschichte 4, 415-417].  He died in 1316 and was buried in the Church of the Augustinians in Paris.  His epitaph does not mention a cardinalate [Oldoinus, Athenaeum romanum, p. 31].  Conrad Eubel says (I, p. 13, n.9): neque Aegidius Romanus neque Dominicus a.S. Petro ad dign. card. promoti sunt.

The Camerarius S. R. E. was Cardinal Arnaud d' Aux. He was appointed by December 2, 1311 [Leo König, Die päpstliche Kammer unter Clemens V und Johann XXII (Wien 1894), 77].   In accordance with a decree issued by Clement V at the Council of Vienne (October 1311—May 1312),  the Camerlengo remained in office even during the Sede Vacante.  The same decree applied to the Major Poenitentiarius.  The Camerarius Sacri Collegii Cardinalium was Cardinal Bérenguer Frédol, Cardinal Priest of SS. Nereo ed Achilleo, created in April, 1313.  He served until 1323 [P. Baumgarten, Untersuchungen und Urkunden über die Camera Collegii Cardinalium (Leipzig 1898), lii]

Conclave begins, and is ended

According to Prior Amalric (Baluzius, I, 111-112), twenty-three cardinals opened the Conclave in the Episcopal Palace at Carpentras after the obsequies for Pope Clement had been completed. According to the regulations of Gregory X, this would have been on May 1, 1314 (Souchon, 36). The cardinals conducted their business pacifice et quiete, though without a successful election, until the Feast of S. Mary Magdalen on Monday, July 22, 1314.   The Pope who was finally elected makes mention of the situation in his electoral manifesto, Mira et inscrutabilis   [Luca D' Achery, Veterum aliquot scriptorum spicilegium XI (Paris 1672), p. 388 (Lyon, September 5, 1316)]:

... Dudum siquidem, sicut tuam credimus notitiam non latere, sanctae recordationis Clemente Papa V. praedecessore nostro de praesentis vitae moeroribus ad caelestem patriam evocato, nos et fratres nostri ejusdem Ecclesiae Cardinales, de quorum numereo tunc eramus, cupientes eidem Ecclesiae de pastore celeriter providere juxta constitutionem Apostolicam super hoc editam, nos inclusimus in Conclavi quod in civitate Carpentoratensi, ubi tunc Romana curai residebat, ad hoc extiterat praeperatum. Demum vero electionis praedictae negotio imperfecto, ex certis causis legitimis, Conclave praedictum egredi necessitate compulsi, nos ad diversa loca transtulimus, prout unicuique nostrum expediens visum fuit....

It is known that the Italian party had their own candidate from the beginning of the Conclave, Guillaume de Mandagot, Bishop of Palestrina. This is stated by Cardinal Napoleone Orsini himself, in a letter which he wrote to King Philip IV of France in 1314 (between April 20, when Clement V died, and November 29, when Philip died) [Baluzius, II, 289-293]:

Licet aliqui inter nos Italicos sint boni, et bonos alios in diversis partibus cognoscamus, quia tamen non fuimus sicut fuimus, corde sic opere nos communes ad rem facibilem et communem nostros concurrimus cogitatus, et nominavimus a principio et in eo stamus firmi, Cardinalem bonae famae, rectae, ut credimus, conscientiae, excellentis scientiae, probatum in multiplici regimine, et in omnibus suis actibus a cler et populo commendatum, et qui est de regno et aleator honoris Regis et regni, corde sincero, non vacuo verbo, et per defunctum Pontificem ad archiepiscopatum Aquensem et postmodum ad cardinalatum assumptus est, et aliis Cardinalibus est amicitia multa conjunctus, ita quod quasi omnibus erat sicut unus ex eis. Nos in eo nihil habemus aut quaerimus nisi dreditam bonitatem. Hic Dominus Guillermus Dei gratia Episcopus Penestrinus, de quo nos populus et clerus dedimus quod statum Vascones acceptarent.

But the nomination of Guillaume de Mandagot, Bishop of Palestrina, a Frenchman and a subject of the King, was resisted by the Gascons, to everyone's stupefaction, and no explanation for the rejection was forthcoming.

Failed Conclave, 1314

Then, on July 22, 1314, something happened.   Because of very serious discord which arose among the attendants of the cardinals, which nobody in the world was able to pacify (according to Amalric), the Cardinals left the Conclave. They agreed, however, that once they had their retinues under control, they would return to the Conclave. They were unable, however, to achieve that end. Worse, the violence increased and the discord enveloped the Cardinals themselves.

John, Canon of St. Victor's in Paris (Baluzius I, 113) provides more details, in particular as to a fire which was caused by the Gascons and which burned down the greatest part of the city of Carpentras:

Cardinales apud Carpentras ut de pastore providerent Ecclesiae convenerunt. Sed effusa est contentio super principes, nec poterant concordare. Italici talem eligere intendebant qui ad Romanam sedem curiam revocaret. Quod Cardinales Gascones facere formidabant: quia cum sui de Gasconia Italicis multas injurias irrogassent, certi erant quod si in manibus Romanorum inciderent, aequipollentiam sustinerent. Fuerunt ergo diu in tali discordia, licet inclusi multa incommoda sustinerent, quia cibaria eorum subtrahebantur, et domus eorum desuper dissipatae. Tandem haec Vascones non ferentes, ignem in palatio posuerunt, per quem combusta est pars maxima civitatis. Et sic dispersi Cardinales. Et licet secundum statutum in urbe qua moritur Papa debeat electio celebrari, tamen Italici omnino discordabant, volentes quod electio ad curiam Romanam transferretur, et alii alibi. Ideo sunt dispersi.

The Italian cardinals were demanding that the election be transferred to Rome. In the meantime they dispersed, a number of them taking up residence at Valence.

Unwilling to return to the Conclave out of fear of the Gascons, the Italian Cardinals scattered to various towns and castles and for two years remained dispersed. King Philip IV, who was still alive and who had heard of the recent breakup of the Conclave, wrote to Cardinals Bérenger Frédol (Bishop of Tusculum) and Arnaud de Pellegrue (Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Portico, and nephew of Clement V). He exhorted the Cardinals to select some place where they would all feel safe, whether inside his domains or outside of them, suggesting vigorously that that place should be Lyons. He admitted that the Italian cardinals had a valid reason for refusing to go to Carpentras or Avignon. To facilitate an agreement, he suggested that a committee be selected, one member from each side, Gascon and Italian, and as a third member Cardinal Nicolas de Fréauville, his own friend and confessor (Baluze, II, 293-297). His intervention produced no result. King Philip finally died on November 29, 1314.

On September 10, 1314, six of the Cardinals of the Italian faction, gathered at Valence, wrote an indignant public letter, addressed (in one surviving exemplar) to the General Chapter of the Cistercian order as well as to several individual monasteries (Baluzius II, 286-289), and in another copy addressed to King Edward II of England (Rymer, Foedera III, 494-495). The letter was signed by Niccolò Alberti (Ostia and Velletri), Napoleone Orsini (S. Adriano), Guglielmo de Longhi (S. Nicola in Carcere), Francesco Caetani (S. Maria in Cosmedin), Jacopo [Giacomo] Colonna (S. Maria in Via Lata) and Pietro Colonna (S. Angelo in Pescheria). They narrated their own version of the events of July 24, blaming the whole affair on the Gascons and labelling it an act of careful premeditation, led by two nephews of the late Pope Clement, Bertrand de Got and Raymond Guillermi:

...Et quidem dum nos et alii ejusdem Ecclesiae Cardinales post obitum Domini Clementis Papae quinti essemus in palatio civitatis Carpentoratensis ad eligendum futurum summum Pontificem sub uno conclavi, et nos Cardinales Italici ... subito Vascones, seu quod libram examinis sub futuro summo Pontifice teste conscientia formidarent, seu quod armorum violentia crederent hereditario jure Dei sanctuarium possidere, ex deliberato atque proposito, tamen sub palliato colore, deferendi videlicet corpus ejusdem Papae in copiosa peditum et equitum armatorum multitudine convenerunt, et scelus quod mente conceperant producentes in actum, die XXIV Iulii arma sumpserunt bellica, et sub ordinatione Bertrandi de Guto et Raymundi Guillermi Domini Papae nepotum civitatem Carpentoratensium intrantes, multes curiales Italicos, cum soli Italici peterentur ad mortem, inhumaniter trucidarunt, et se ad praedam convertentes et spolia, crescente rabie ac ad crudelia fervescente furore, in diversis civitatis partibus incendia posuerunt. Nec iis contenti, plurimorum Cardinalium ex nobis hospitia duris insultibus et injectis ignibus invadentes, bella ibidem acerrima cum clangore tubatum hostiliter intulerunt.

Invalescente tandem graviori periculo et gravissimo, sicut in captis civitatibus assolet, increbrescente rumore, multitudo Vasconum et equitum armatorum ostium dicti convlavis obsedit acclamando: Moriantur Cardinales Italici. [Volumus Papam, volumus Papam. et ipsis in hujusmodi acclamatione frementibus, alia multitudo Vasconum et equitum armatorum plateam dicti conclavis invasit, similibus circumdato palatio vocibus acclamando, Nos vero praefati Cardinales Italici] circums(a)epti tantis angustiis et mori tam turpiter tam crudeliter metuentes, cum omnia circa conclave armatorum multitudo teneret, neque publicus pateret egressus, tandem posteriorem murum palatii, facto inibi parvo foramine, pro nostro salute rupimus: de Carpentorate postmodum dispersi discedentes non sine mortis periculo ad diversa loca discessimus, et per misericordiam Dei ... ad terras pervenimus amicorum.

A similar letter of complaint and explanation was sent to King Jaime II of Aragon.

This encyclical letter was a particular embarassment to King Edward, who was the overlord of Bertrand de Got, and with whom he had been doing business in the name of Pope Clement and of Bertrand himself, and with whom he was still engaged —Edward was in need of funds for his Scottish War (Rymer Foedera III, 504 and cf. 545 and 571-572). King Edward did write a letter on December 4, addressed to Cardinal Niccolò Alberti, the Bishop of Ostia, urging the cardinals, in the most general terms and most conventional language, to get on with the business of electing a pope. Cardinal Alberti was well-known to King Edward, since he had been the Legate to England and France in 1301, charged with arranging a peace between the two.

King Jaime of Aragon responded to the same cardinals in a letter sent from Lerida on October 20, 1314 (Finke, Acta Aragonensia, 200-201). The King's remarks acknowledge the grave scandal presented to all of Christendom by the failure of the Cardinals to elect a pope, though he very diplomatically avoids taking sides or placing blame, or, for that matter, intervening.

On the Vigil of the Feast of St. Andrew, November 29, 1314, King Philip IV of France died.  He was succeeded by Louis X.

No Conclave, 1315

Early in January of 1315, King Jaime wrote to his accredited representative to the Roman Curia, Bishop Guillaume de Villamarin of Gerona, advising him to approach the Cardinals in Avignon, and, using whatever diplomatic language seemed appropriate to the situation that he might find, convince the Cardinals to proceed to a quick election of a pope. Under no circumstances, however, was the BIshop to respond in any way favorable to a suggestion that the presence of King Jaime at the Conclave might be helpful to resolving any difficulties. The Ambassador-Bishop carried out his mission.

On February 10, 1315, Cardinal Jacopo Colonna, the senior Italian Cardinal, who was staying in Valence, wrote to King Jaime of Spain, protesting that the Cardinals, including himself, were doing everything they could to elect a pope, hoping that the Church could be saved and praying that God would grant it, qui dudum se cum ea electa et sponsa sua clementer a morte roseo sanguineo redempta in finem usque promisit seculi permansurum. (Finke, Acta Aragonensia, 204).

A reply on behalf of the French and Gascon Cardinals who were gathered at Avignon was sent to King Jaime on February 24, 1315, by Cardinal Arnaud de Pellegrue (Arnaldus de Via), a Gascon, the Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Portico. He protests that the cardinals at Avignon had offered ten names to the Italian Cardinals, from among whom they could select the one they wanted as pope. They subsequently offered the Italians any place in all of France or Provence they might choose as a meeting place for the resumption of the Conclave. Both offers were still on the table. The Italian Cardinals made only one counter-offer, a place to hold the Conclave, but it would have to be in the Empire and in Italy (...nominantes nobis loca imperii et loca etiam ultramontanes pro electione hujusmodi celebranda). In other words, the Italian cardinals wanted to be out from under the domination of the French king. Cardinal Guillaume Pierre Godin, OP, (S. Cecilia) wrote a similar letter at the same time (Finke, Acta Aragonensia, 205-206)

King Louis X of France was not entirely neutral in the matter of the election of a pope either. He wished to secure a loan as well as soldiers from Clement V's nephew, Bertrand de Got, for his Flemish War. This would require a favorable attitude on the part of the King to Gascon interests, and that might affect the voting in the Conclave, where the Gascon cardinals held a prominent position. The royal agent in these negotiations, Pierre de Barrières, Bishop-Elect of Senlis, was also instructed to bring the cardinals together again to resume the Conclave. Documents indicate that Bishop Pierre left Paris accompanied by the Comte de Boulogne  on February 3, 1315, and arrived in Avignon on February 17.  He was ordered by King Louis to contact Bertrand de Got, and that they should work jointly to persuade the Cardinals to assemble at Lyon.  The Bishop-Elect was successful in negotiating with Bertrand de Got.  Completely unsuccessful in spurring the Cardinals to action, however, he left Avignon for Paris on April 14 [Bertrandy, 56].   In the same year King Louis' marital difficulties became critical. He had undertaken to marry Clémènce of Hungary, even though his current wife was still alive and kept in confinement for life in the Chateau-Gaillard, having been arrested, tried, and found guilty of infidelity by the Parlement. Nonethess, she and Louis were still legally married, and the dissolution of that marriage would require the active cooperation of a pope. Time was of the essence, since Clemence was already on her way to France from Naples [Bertrandy, 10-11].  Hugh de Beauville, the Royal Chamberlain had left on December 12, 1314, and returned on August 12, 1315 [Bertrandy, 57].   But no pope was forthcoming during those eight months, and therefore no annulment was possible. Queen Margaret presently died, on August 14, 1315, under suspicious circumstances, and five days later Louis and Clemènce were married.

On September 16, 1315, King Edward II of England wrote to each of the twenty-four cardinals [Rymer, Foedera III, 534], having received a detailed briefing from his recently returned procurators, Gilbert Becche and Antonius Pessaigne de Janua; he urged them once again to end the scandal of the vacancy and proceed quickly to the election of a pope. Yet another letter, sent from York on October 5 [Rymer, Foedera III, 538] was tinged with some asperity:

Cur non attenditis quae, exactis temporibus, ipsius ecclesiae prolixa vacatio, quae praedecessorum vestrorum dissentio nota dispendia intulerunt? Cur non praeteritorum confideratio vos edocet mala declinare praesentia, et futura pericula praecavere?

There is a letter from the Cardinals in the Municipal Archives of Perugia which may indicate the split in detail. The Magistrates and Commune of Perugia had written to the Cardinals to deplore the failure to elect a new pope and to urge them to carry out an election. The Cardinals' reply is dated April 10, but unfortunately without a year—which could be 1315 or 1316. The document is signed by fourteen out of the twenty-four cardinals [Déprez, p. 114]:

Not signing are nine cardinals: Niccolò Alberti, OP, Bishop of Ostia e Velletri; Arnaud d'Aux, Bishop of Albano; Giacomo Colonna, Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Via Lata; Napoleone Orsini, Cardinal Deacon of S. Adriano; Pietro Colonna, Cardinal Deacon of S. Angelo in Pescheria; Guglielmo de Longhi, Cardinal Deacon of S. Nicola in Carcere Tulliano; Giacomo Caetani Stefaneschi, Cardinal Deacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro; Francesco Caetani, Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Cosmedin; and Luca Fieschi, Cardinal Deacon of SS. Cosma e Damiano.  With the exception of Arnaud d' Aux, the absent cardinals constitute the Italian Faction.  Their absence presented a difficult problem. Could the Conclave proceed in their absence? The fourteen did not constitute a two-thirds canonical majority, even if they were unanimous in a choice. If they did attempt to proceed, would a schism be provoked? (cf. Finke, Acta Aragonensia, 208 and again 209)  Could Cardinals be deprived of their right to vote?  Surely not.  In earlier elections, when a cardinal was not present (as in 1271), special efforts were made to procure an explicit renunciation of their rights, and even then, after the election (as in 1271 and 1305) the cardinals made every effort to have the absent cardinals sign the Electoral Decree.  Clement V himself had enacted provisions at the I Council of Vienne (1311-1312), in the Constitution  Ne Romani electioni, [Clementines Lib.1, tit. 3, de electione, cap. ii]:

Ceterum, ut circa electionem praedictam eo magis vitentur dissensiones, et schismata, quo minor eligentibus aderit dissidendi facultas, decernimus, ut nullus Cardinalium cujuslibet excommunicationis, suspensionis, aut interdicti praetextu, a dicta valeat electione repelli: juribus aliis circa electionem eandem hactenus editis, plene in suo robore duraturis.

W. C. Cartwright [On the Constitution of Papal Conclaves (Edinburgh 1868), 133-134] remarks:

"It was felt that a Pope of headstrong passions like Boniface VIII. must absolutely be precluded from exposing the Church again to grave peril for the sake of purely personal hatreds and ambitions.  Accordingly, just thirteen years after the memorable degratation of the Colonna Cardinals, A Bull in reference to Papal elections was issued by Clement V., in which the following most remarkable clause was inserted:—But in order that, as concerns the before-mentioned elections, dissensions and schisms be so much the more avoided, as the occasion for dissent is removed from theose elections, we decree that no Cardinal may be expelled from the said elections on the ground of any excommunication, suspension, or interdict whatsoever.  The provision thus made has been subsequently confirmed by Pius IV. and Gregory XV. in so full a manner as to remove all ambiguity on this head....  There are instances of Cardinals who, since this enactment, have undergone extreme penalties, even decapitation; but we know of no instance in which this particular provision in regard to the indelible right of franchise has been set at nought."

1316: French Intervention

Finally, at the end of 1315, after two years without a pope and without a conclave, the king of France decided to intervene again. The Bishop of Senlis embarked on another embassy to the south, departing Paris on December 26, 1315. He spent seventy days going back and forth between Avignon and Valence (Bertrandy, 14). King Louis the Stubborn finally sent his most politically astute brother, Philip Count of Poitou, to persuade the Cardinals to begin their deliberations again. This decision must have been taken not long after Christmas of 1315, for Bernard Guidonis [Baluze, I, 131] remarks that Count Philip had worked for six months without successfully getting the conclave to resume:

... tandem congregati fuerunt pariter et inclusi diligentia, arte, et ingenio Domini Philippi tunc Comitis Pictaviae germani Regis Franciae Ludovici, cui successit in regno Franciae, qui ad hoc antea anno fere dimidio laboraverat multis modis, cum non potuisset in unum locum alias congregari. Et quadragesima die ab inclusione ipsorum, quae facta fuit in Vigilia Apostolorum Petri et Pauli, ipsis tamen quod tunc deberent includi nescientibus pariter et invitis, tandem tractatu praehabito in praefatum Dominum Johannem omnes pariter consenserunt.

It may even be that Count Philip was the force behind the embassy of Pierre de Barrières, Bishop of Senlis. Count Philip took up his residence in Lyons and began trying to pursuade the Cardinals to assemble there under his protection. Movement on the part of the cardinals can be detected in mid-March.

Some details of the movements of the cardinals are provided by the Spanish archives. Joannes Lupi wrote to King Jaime from Avignon on March 18, 1316, that the Norman Cardinal Nicolas de Fréauville, OP, (S. Eusebio) was already almost at Lyons. Cardinal Guillaume de Mandagot (Palestrina) was starting out that very day. Cardinals Bérenger Frédol (Tusculum) and his nephew Bérenguer Frédol (SS. Nereo ed Achilleo) were also departing Avignon that day. The rest of the cardinals would be heading for Lyons soon (Finke, Acta Aragonensia, 206). These, however, were members of the French contingent. There was as yet no sign of the Italians, though they do seem to be assembled at Lyons with the French by the beginning of June..

Unfortunately Louis X died on June 5, 1316, of the effects of a strenuous game of tennis. He was without male issue but with a pregnant wife. (The baby, who was named John, lived only five days, dying on November 20, 1316)   John of St. Victor says that King Louis' death was the turning point for the efforts of Philip Count of Poitou, who had to make some immediate and important decisions as to the government of France. He could not stay in Lyons any longer, neither could he leave the Cardinals without getting them to produce a pope. He had previously sworn that he would not impede the cardinals from coming and going from Lyons (Finke, Acta Aragonensia, 208) , but now he obtained learned advice (de consilio theologorum) that such an oath was illicit. Immediately, therefore, he locked the Cardinals up in the convent of the Dominicans in Lyons [Baluze, I, 115; Muratori RIS, pp. 679-680]:

Comes autem Pictavensis audiens mortem fratris, admodum fuit stupefactus. Non enim utile videbatur ulterius trahere moram in Lugduno nec electionis Papae negotium dimittere imperfectum. Consilio igitur habito judicatum extitit per prudentes quod de non includendis Cardinalibus erat illicitum quod fecerat juramentum. Tunc eos omnes in domo Praedicatorum ad colloquium convocavit. Quibus dixit quod inde non recederent donec de Papa Ecclesiae providissent. Positis ergo custodibus qui eos exire non permitterent, ipse in Franciam est reversus.

Conclave and Election of Jacques Duèse (d'Euse)

Finally on June 28, 1316, the Cardinals unwillingly returned to the conclave and began their deliberations again (Bernard Guidonis, in Baluze, I, column 151):

Et quadragesima die ab inclusione ipsorum, quae facta fuit in Vigilia Apostolorum Petri et Pauli, ipsis tamen quod tunc deberent includi nescientibus pariter et invitis, tandem tractatu praehabito in praefatum Dominum Johannem omnes pariter consenserunt.

Johannes Lupi, the Procurator at the Roman Curia of the King of Aragon, was able to write to King Jaime on June 30 that the Cardinals had been assembled in the Convent of the Dominicans and were ordered by Count Philip of Poitou through his friend the Count of Forez to elect a pope [Finke, Acta Aragonensia, 207]:

Sane, serenissime princeps, vos scire cupio quod die lune vigilia apostolorum Petri et Pauli , que fuit IIII Kalendas Julii, domini cardinales tam Italici quam Citramontani omnes numero XXIII, ut consueverunt alii, ad domum Praedicatorum convenerunt. Ipsis vero in loco solito existentibus milti de familia comitis Pictavensis aparuerunt armati, plures quam diebus aliis retroactis. Et paulo post iuxta horam terciam comes ipse misit ad eos comitem de Foresio, qui ex parte sua notificavit eis, quod darent operam omnino ad eligendum papam. Nam scirent, quod numquam inde exirent, quousque summum pontificem elegissent. Et statim fuit ordinatum inter eos, quod remanerent duo domicelli et unus capellanus cum quolibet cardinalium et alii omnes recederent, et in continenti omnes alii recesserunt. Comes autem ipse Pictavensis, licet disposuisset recedere, deliberavit remanere quousque papam penitus habeamus, et ubi ipsum contingat recedere, comes de Foresio remanebit hic pro eo, qui est potentissimus in pratibus istis, ad custodiam cardinalium et civitatis, qui forcius et arccius constitucionem domini Gregorii X contra eos faciet observari.

There was a certain amount of complaint against the Count of Poitou, who, it was alleged, was excommunicated because he had broken his oath and locked the cardinals up in Conclave. But he paid no attention. Forez became the governor of the Conclave.

It was reported to King Jaime on Wednesday, July 21, by Arnaldo de Cumbis, his Procurator at the Roman Curia, that Cardinal Arnaud d'Aux, a Gascon (Bishop of Albano), would have been elected on the day that the Conclave resumed, had it not been for Count Philip, who caused four votes to be withheld by announcing that Cardinal Arnaud was not acceptable to the King of France (Finke, Acta Aragonensia, 210):

Dicitur tamen hic communiter et ita audivi ab hominibus fide dignis et qui dicunt se scire pro certo, quod Cardinalis Albus fuisset papa die qua fuerunt retenti, nisi Dominus Comes Pictavensis impedivissent, qui sibi abstulit IIII voces pro eo, quia non reputat eum amicum regis Francie, sed pocius creditur, quod fuit, tamen quia ipse vel domus Franciae nollent hominem ita iustum set qui eorum voluntatem in omnibus adimplerent. Alique eciam Gallici dixerunt quod dictus cardinalis nimis diligit vos et dominum regem Maioricarum et totam domum vestram.

Arnaldo also reports that Count Philip made it known to the Cardinals, through the Count of Forez, who the acceptable candidates were, as far as the French Crown were concerned:

Dominus Philippus nunc regens regnum Francie in recessu suo de loco isto dimisit comiti Foresii quandem cedulam, in qua continebatur, quod placebat sibi, quod eligeretur iu papam dominus Tusculanus [Bérenger Frédol],  vel dominus Penestrinus [Guillaume de Mandagot],  vel dominus A(rnaldus) dc Pelagrua vel dominus Berengarius tituli sanctorum Nerei et Achilei presbyter cardinalis, nepos domini Tusculani [Bérenguer Frédol] , vel dominus Portuensis [Jacques Duèse].

The same Arnaldo de Cumbis reported that, since the Cardinals had been enclosed on July 28, only one scrutiny had taken place. Neither did one take place between July 21 and his next letter on July 29. He did pass on some inside information as to the alignment of cardinals and their candidates:

Ytalici nominant dominum Penestrinum [Guillaume de Mandagot] et dominum Alb(an)um [Arnaud d'Aux], Citramontani sunt divisi: Uascones enim volunt dominum Arnaldum de Pelagrua pro quo eciam dominus comes rogavit instanter, Provinciales et alique Gallici vellent dominum Tusculanum [Bérenger Frédol]. Sunt multi insuper, quorum quilibet velle pro se ipso. Et nullomodo Citramontani volunt papam extra collegium, nam cum sint XVII et alii VII possent facere extra collegium, quemcumque vellent, set in hoc eciam non possent esse concordes.

Certainly the preference of the Italians had not changed since the beginning of the Conclave more than two years earlier.   As Cardinal Napoleone Orsini had pointed out, the Bishop of Palestrina was their choice. The statement that Arnaud d'Aux was also their candidate may well explain why he was one of the cardinals, the only Frenchman, who did not sign the letter to the Perugians earlier in the Sede Vacante.   Even under pressure from Count Philip, who held them prisoner in Lyons, it took the Cardinals forty days to achieve a successful election. This came on August 7, 1316 (Bernard Guidonis, in Baluze, I, 133: electus fuit in summum Pontificem in conventu fratrum Praedicatorum Lugduni VII. Idus Augusti, in sabbato). The news was reported immediately, on August 7, to the King of Aragon by his Procurator, Joannes Lupi [Finke, Acta Aragonensia, 212]:

Princeps serenissime. Noveritis, quod die sabbati VII. Idus Augusti dominus Jacobus episcopus Portuensis dudum Avinionensis, qui de Catursio trahit originem et iam pridem fuit cancellarius regis Roberti, electus fuit in summum pontificem. Et eius electio fuit publicata et ipse venit ad ecclesiam cum pluviali et mitra cruce precedente et recepit aliquos ad reverenciam. Et statim reintravit cameram et assumpsit sibi nomen Johannes. Utinam placabilem eum faciat nobis Deus! Et factus est propter discordiam Italicorum. Nam dominus Neapoleo discessit a domino Petro de Collumpna et ipse et dominus Franciscus et dominus Jacobus Gayetanus consenserunt in eum.

In a second letter on August 11, Johannes Lupi had more information to pass on. The change in the votes of the Cardinals had taken place in fact the day before the successful election, on August 6, because of a private meeting of the Italian Cardinals (Finke, Acta Aragonensia, 215-216):

Noveritis itaque, excellentisime d[omine], quod, [cum] varii tracatus habite fuisent inter cardinales, tandem die iovis nonas Augusti domini Italici per se fuerunt in magno colloquio. Et licet aliquale odium esset inter dominum Neapoleonem et dominum P[ietro] de Columpna, tamen usque ad illum diem semper Italici in facto electionis fuerant in concordi proposito, tunc vero, cum Dominus Petrus vellet ad suam voluntatem omnes trahere, patenter fuit rupta eorum concordia, ita quod dominus Neapoleo dixit ei: Faciatis facta vestra, ut melius poteritis, et nos faciemus n[ostra! Et] tunc dominus Neapoleo et dominus Jacobus [Gaye]tani et dominus Franciscus univerunt se cum domino Arnaldo de Pelagrua et sequacibus suis in favorem regis Roberti, ut haberent omnino istum Portuensem [Jacques Duèse].

Et ecce, quod sequenti die, cum ipse iam certus esset de XVIII vocibus cardinalium, cum scrutinium deberet fieri, subito videntes alii, quod complementum vocum haberet etiam sine eis, fecerunt de necessitate virtutem et absque alio scrutinio ipsum concorditer in summum pontificem elegerunt. Et statim assumpsit sibi nomen Johannes, et, ecce, eum papem!

Die lune V. idus Augusti vocati fuerunt ad consistorium cardinales et ordinavit in primis, quod audiencia causarum et litterarum resumeretur Avinione in kalendis Octubris.

The contemporary sources are unanimous that the election was accomplished by twenty-three cardinals (not, of course, including the new pope). In fact, as Johannes Lupi explains, on the morning of August 7 it was clear that Cardinal Duèse had eighteen solid votes, thanks to the faux pas of Pietro Colonna, and therefore, when the hold-outs suddenly realized the fact, they made a virtue out of necessity and without any scrutiny they acclaimed Cardinal Duèse unanimously. The successful candidate was none of the papabili, but rather Cardinal Jacques Duèse, a Gascon, the Bishop of Porto and Santa Rufina.

On August 11, 1316, Arnaldo de Cumbis, one of the Aragonese Procurators at the Roman Curia, wrote to King Jaime, "Dominus Napoleo dixit michi, quod dominus Papa intendit modis omnibus ire Romam, si posset fieri pax predicta." That appears to have been the understanding of the Continuator of Ptolemy of Lucca [Baluzius I, col. 178], who says that Orsini refused to attend at the making of the Last Will and Testament of Pope John on November 3, 1334, because he was still indignant against the Pope quia Papa in sua electione, quae apud Lugdunum celebrata fuit, juravit se numquam ascensurum equum vel mulum nisi iret Romam. Though this may well have been a personal undertaking by Pope John with Cardinal Napoleone, there is some possibility that there were Electoral Capitulations in 1316, and that Cardinal Napoleone Orsini's indignation derives from the breaking of one of those promises [See Souchon, p. 45].

Coronation of John XXII

Pope John XXII was crowned in the Cathedral of St. Jean in Lyons: fuitque coronatus more Pontificum Romanorum Lugduni in Ecclesia cathedrali Nonis Septembris, Dominica prima eiusdem mensis  [Bernard Guidonis, in Baluze, I, 133; and likewise Prior Amalric Augerii, Baluze, 185; Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores III. 2, 488] on September 5, 1316, the first Sunday in September [Bernardus Guidonis; Souchon, p. 36 n.].   The Coronation had been twice postponed so that Count Robert of Poitou, who was now Regent of France, could be present. Count Charles of Valois, Alençon, Perche, Anjou and Maine, the brother of Count Philip the Regent, and Count Louis of Évreux, their uncle, held the reins of the horse on which the Pope rode in procession [Guillaume de Nangis, Chronicon, p. 428; Baluze, I, 794]

qui, mutato nomine, Johannes XXII papa vocatus, ibidem, ante Nativitatem beatae Mariae virginis, sua suscepit insignia, Karolo comite Marchiae, fratre Philippi regentis regna Franciae et Navarrae, eorumque avunculo Ludovico Ebroicensi comite frenum equi cui insidebat regentibus, ejusque festum decorantibus ipso die.

Giovanni Villani has it (Historia Universalis IX. 79, col. 483 Recanati) that John XXII was crowned at Avignon on the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, September 8, 1316. Well informed as he often is on Italian matters, Villani may safely be ignored on this point.  Had John XXII been crowned on September 8, his many grants of September 5-7 would have been contestable, though the grants on those days specifically repair that very deficiency in the same appointments made before his Coronation.

On September 6 the newly-crowned pope bestowed a number of canonries and other benefices on members of the familiae of a number of Cardinals and servants of the King of France and his son [Fayen, Lettres de Jean XXII, nos. 3-13; 16-17];  the largesse was even more extensive on the next day, including a grant to Guillaume Prepositi, nephew of Cardinal Nicolas de Fréauville; Peter and Paul de Comite, cousins of Cardinal Napoleone Orsini [Bliss, Calendar of Papal Registers 2, p.124]; Pietro Colonna, nephew of Cardinal Pietro Colonna; Fentio Albertini, nephew of Cardinal Niccolò Alberti; Riccardo de Montinegro, nephew of Cardinal Jacobus Colonna; Aldebrandino de Comite, cousin of Cardinal Napoleone Orsini; Nicolaus Capoci, nephew of Cardinal Pietro Colonna; Lorenzo del Thedelgariis, nephew of Cardinal Giacomo Caetani Stefaneschi; Petrus, son of Bartholomeo de Papareschi and cousin of Giacomo Caetani Stefaneschi [Fayen, Lettres de Jean XXII, nos. 18-62 and 66-68]; though on September 8, the grants were only five in number [Fayen, Lettres de Jean XXII, nos. 71-75], though they included Giovanni Colonna, the nephew of Cardinal Pietro Colonna, and Matteo de Longis, the nephew of Cardinal Guglielmo de Longhi.  On December 4, it was the turn of Percival de Fieschi, nephew of Cardinal Luca Fieschi [Fayen, no. 202].  Many of hese grants were very likely made from the rotuli provided by each cardinal for the new pope. And it must be admitted that there had been a twenty-eight month dry period during the Sede Vacante, when there was no papal largesse.

At the end of September, John XXII left Lyon and reached Avignon on October 2, where he established himself and the Roman curia [Baluze, I, 152, from Bernard Guidonis]. On December 13, 1316, showing that he intended to stay, he issued a Bull, Ad mensae elpiscopalis (Duhamel, 229-230), in which he ordered new construction work to begin on the episcopal palace at Avignon:

Ad mensae episcopalis ecclesiae Avinionensis augmentum, solicitis studiis, intendentes, illa paterna benevolentia promovemus, per quae status ejus gratis commodis augeatur. Volentes itaque ut Domus seu Palatium episcopale ipsius ecclesiae, prout decens et congruum fore dinoscitur, amplietur, eleemosinariae ac praepositurae novae ipsius ecclesiae Avinionensis, hospitia dictae domui seu palatio episcopali contigua, videlicet hospitium dictae elemosinariae cum hospitali, viridario, domibus et pertinentiis suis, prout protenditur....

This did not present a problem with the Bishop(-elect) of Avignon (1313-1317), who was the new Pope's nephew, Cardinal Jacobus de Via [Eubel, I, 15]. Upon Cardinal Jacobus' death on June 13, 1317, perhaps by "witchcraft", he was succeeded as cardinal by another papal nephew, Jacobus' brother Cardinal Arnauld de Via.

One of John XXII's early acts (April 7, 1317) was to canonize Louis d' Anjou, OMin., Bishop of Toulouse (1296-1297), the son of King Charles II of Sicily [Bernardus Guidonis, in Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores III. 2, 488; Baronius-Theiner 24, sub anno 1317, no. 9 pp. 45-46].  Louis had been Jacques Duèse's 'magister'.  This was certainly pleasing to the House of Anjou and the Kings of France.

Pope John XXII and his Cardinals in Consistory

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