SEDE VACANTE 1431

February 20, 1431 — March 3, 1431

No coins have been identified.

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The Marshal of the Holy Roman Church and Guardian of the Conclave was Giovanni Battista Savelli.

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Pope Martin V (Colonna) died on the night of 19/20 February, 1431, at the age of 63, of apoplexy. He had reigned as Pope for thirteen years, three months, and nine days (Platina, 294). His death is noted in the 15th century Memoriale of Paolo dello Maestro (Pelaez, 81; Constant, 323 n. 3):

XIV Feb. morio Papa Martino Quinto....a di prima Martii, li cardinali se misero in Conchiave in nella Minerva et fu di Jovii alle 24 hore, e fu sbarrata la piazza della...Die X di Marzo fu coronato papa Eugenio, su le scale di S. Pietro.

Preliminaries

The Venetian ambassador, Francesco Tornabuoni, wrote to the Signoria that the Cardinals were disposed to get on with the novendiales and have a quick election. That being the case, the Venetians decided not to interfere with the proceedings, though their favorite was of course the Venetian Antonio Correr, the Cardinal Bishop of Porto. The Florentine government, however, wrote to Cardinal Orsini that they offered him all their support and hoped to see him elected . But they also made the same representations to Cardinal Condulmaro (Bishop of Siena), to Cardinal Albergati (Bishop of Bologna), and to Cardinal Casini (Petruccelli, 240). The Romans favored Cardinal Colonna, a nephew of the deceased pope. The generations-long feuds between the Orsini and Colonna, however, cancelled out each other's chances.

Conclave

The Conclave was enclosed on March 1, 1431, according to the Memoriale of Paolo Benedetto di Nicolai dello Maestro (Pelaez, 84; Cancellieri, 12-13 calls him the papal Master of Ceremonies, but this is premature; see Constant, 162):

Anno 1431 à 13 Febr. morto Papa Martino V, quale visse nel Papato 14 anni, et tenne un quieto e tranquillo stato, che s' andava con l'auro in mano, attorno Roma, ducento miglia di notte, e di giorno securo, e fece grandissimo bene alla Città di Roma. 1 di Marco li Cardinali si misero in Conclave nella Minerva à 24 hore, e fu sbarrata la piazza della Minerva e fu guardata da Romani.

The Dominican convent, next to the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, was chosen for the conclave for the sake of security, since the square in front of the Basilica was easily closed off and defended. Business began on March 2, 1431. There were approximately nineteen or twenty cardinals in total. One cardinal, Domenico Capranica, was not allowed to participate in the Conclave. He had been named cardinal by Martin V in secret consistory on July 23, 1423, and was confirmed in another secret consistory on May 26, 1426, but his appointment was not published until November 8, 1430. In the parlance of the subject, his mouth had been closed, but not yet opened; he was entitled to the status and prerogatives of a cardinal, but he had not served his novitiate and was entitled neither to speak in consistory nor to vote in a papal election. Capranica applied, nonetheless, for admission to the Conclave, and was refused by the Cardinals.

The Cardinals

Thirteen cardinals of a total of 19 (or twenty) were in attendance.

1. Antonio Correr, from Venice, nephew of Pope Gregory XII, Cardinal (1408) bishop (1409) of Porto and Sta. Rufina. [He did not become Dean of the Sacred College or Bishop of Ostia and Velletri until after the election of Eugenius IV] (died January 19, 1445)
2. Giordano Orsini, a Roman, bishop of Sabina, Grand Penitentiary. (died May 29, 1438)
   
   
3. Alfonso Carrillo de Albornoz, a Spaniard, Cardinal (1423-1434) Priest of SS. IV Coronati (pseudocardinal Deacon [1408] of S. Eusebio of Antipope Benedict XIII). (Novaes, 67) Died 1434 at Basel.
4. Gabriele Condulmaro, from Venice, Cardinal Priest (1408) of S. Maria in Trastevere; nephew of Pope Gregory XII, Bishop of Siena He was a partisan of the Orsini, and disliked by Martin V. (Christophe, 95). Elected Pope Eugenius IV, and died on February 23, 1447.
5. Antonio Panciera (or Pancierini) de Portu, from Friuli, Cardinal priest of the title of S. Susanna, 1414 (a cardinal of the antipope John XXIII). He became Bishop of Frascati under Eugenius IV in 1431. Died in Rome on July 3, 1431.
6. Branda Castiglione, of Milan, Placentinus, Cardinal Priest of the title of S. Clemente, 1414 (a cardinal of the antipope John XXIII). Became Bishop of Porto in 1431 under Eugenius IV.
7. Lucido de' Conti, a Roman, relative of the Dukes of Poli, Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Cosmedin (a cardinal of the antipope John XXIII).
8. Jean de la Roche Taillée or Taisle, of Lyons, Rothomagensis, Cardinal (May 24, 1426-1437) Priest, title of S. Lorenzo in Lucina. Archpriest of the Liberian Basilica. Died 1437.
9. Antonio Casini, of Siena, Senensis, son of the Physician of Pope Urban VI; Cardinal Priest, title of S. Marcello (1426-1439). Died in Florence in 1439.
10. Niccolò Albergati, O.Carth., a nobleman from Bologna; Cardinal Priest (1426-1443), title of S. Croce in Gerusalemme, administrator of Bologna. Made Camerlengo and Grand Penetentiary by Eugenius IV.   Died in Siena, May 10, 1443.
11. Ardicino (or Arduino) della Porta, of Novara, a legist; Cardinal deacon of Ss. Cosma e Damiano (1426-1434). Died in Rome in 1434.
12. Prospero Colonna (aged 22), Roman nobleman, nephew of Pope Martin V. Cardinal (1426-1463) deacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro. Deprived of his benefices by Eugenius IV on October 9, 1433, and outlawed along with his Colonna relatives, the Savelli and the Gaetani. He was absolved by Nicholas V, whom he crowned.  Died in Rome on May 24, 1463.
13. Giuliano Cesarini, Roman nobleman, Professor of Law at Padua; Legate in Bohemia, Nuncio in France and then in England; Cardinal deacon of S. Angelo in Pescheria (1426-1444). Died November 10, 1444, while on a mission to Poland and Hungary.

[Panvinio (297) lists Albergati and Cesarini as absent, but he lists Ludovicus Alamanus, Arelatensis, Cardinal Priest of Sta Caecilia; Juan Cervantes, Cardinal Priest of S. Pietro in vinculis; and Hughes of Cyprus, Cardinal Deacon of S. Adriano, as present–a total of fourteen cardinals out of nineteen. Bartolommeo Platina states (295) that there were eighteen cardinals in the Conclave.]

The Electoral Compact

Facilities had been prepared for the cardinals in the Convent of the Dominicans, attached to the Basilica of S. Maria sopra Minerva. There is an inscription in the Sacristy of the church which reads: MEMORIAE • CREATIONIS • HIC • HABITAE | SVMM • PONTIF • EVGENII • IIII • ET • NICOLAI • V. The cardinals immediately entered into an electoral compact, to which Cardinal Condulmaro was a signatory (Gregorovius, 26, citing Reynaldi's text; quoted by Gieseler, Compendium, 312-313 n.3.). Among its provisions were articles about the creation of cardinals, requiring their majority consent to any new creations:

Item, quod non creabit cardinales, nisi juxta formam et ordinationem factam in Concilio Constantiniensi, quam servare tenebitur, nisi de consensu et consilio majoris partis Domm. Cardd. aliud fiendum videretur.

Election of Eugenius IV

On March 2, 1431, the forty-eight year old Gabriele Condulmaro was elected unanimously as pope. Paolo di Nicolai dello Maestro noted (Pelaez, 81; Cancellieri, 13):

Alli tre, alle 21 hora, fu creato Papa Eugenio IV, e fu di Sabbato, lo quale si chiamava Monsignore di Siena, et abitava in Trastevere, e fu Venetiano.

He took the name Eugenius IV. On March 11 he was crowned, on the steps of the Vatican Basilica by Cardinal Albornoz, the Cardinal di Santi Quattro (Panvinio, 298). Paolo di Nicolai dello Maestro noted (Pelaez, 81):

nell'anno preditto a di .XI di marzo fu coronato papa Eugenio in nelle scale di Sancto Pietro, e miseli la renno in capo lo cardinale di Sancti Quattro; e poi annò a Sancto Ioanni Laterano e fu adestrato dalli offitiali di Roma, e poi se ne tornò a Sancto Pietro.

The Diaria rerum Romanarum of Stefano Infessura, however, states (26; cf. Platina, 295):

Die 11 martii fu coronato lo Eugenio secondo, lo stile di Santo Ioanne Laterano, et po' alla sua coronazione tornò a palazzo, e fece consistorio generale, et fonce de molte gente nella sala granne, in nella quale per la ditta pressura si ruppe lo arrizatore, e credendo la gente che cadesse la sala grande, ogni homo con festinanza si diè a fuggire , et per la detta pressura ce affocò le vescovo de Senegallia, fratello di Pietro Mellino, et hoc fuit in modo praedicto die 16 martii.

The new Pope immediately set out to revise and clarify the rules for making cardinals. He appointed his nephew Francesco Condulmaro Vice-Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church. On March 12, 1431, he issued a decree convoking an ecumenical Council, to meet at Basle. Cardinal Capranica applied for recognition as a cardinal, but this was refused by Pope Eugenius, perhaps because Capranica was associated with the Colonna. Capranica took his grievance to the Council of Basel. Since he had been elected with the support of the Orsini, Pope Eugenius immediately launched what amounted to a war against his predecessor, Martin V Colonna, and all the Colonna interests; there was good evidence that the Colonna were already conspiring against him within a month of the coronation (Fumi, 611-618). On April 22, 1431, hostilities broke out into the open, as Paolo di Nicolai dello Maestro noted (Pelaez, 81):

nell'anno 1431 a dì 22 di aprile, e fu lo die di sancto Iuorio, venne lo Prencipe [Antonio Colonna, principe di Salerno] cioè lo nepote di papa Martino V, e pigliao porta d'Accia come nemico, e venne per infino a Cancto Iuorio e là si fisse. Partiose Sefano Colonna a dì 24 di aprile e venne per infino alla casa, e poi venne a Sancto Marco con molta iente d'arme e famti, e la trovao la sbarra de' Romani e fecero un granne battaglia dove che Stefano colonna fu rotto e sconfitto da Romani: fulli sbudellato lo cavallo sotto, e furno presi de molti della soa gente, e fullui messa a sacco la casa e qualla dello Prencipe e monte altre case de' loro seoventi.

Soon the entire Ghibelline nobility of Rome and Latium were in arms against the Papacy. On May 18, 1431, Pope Eugenius excommunicated the Colonna. By September the papal adherents were close to a definitive victory, but the illness of the Pope himself (poison?) induced him to offer peace, which was accepted and concluded on September 22, 1431 (Gregorovius, 26-30).

Tomb of Cardinal Capranica (Santa Maria sopra Minerva)

SEDENTE PAVLO • II •
DOMINICO CAPRANICENSI :TT: SANCTAE + IN HIERVSALEM
PRESBYTERO CARDINALI •ANTISTITI FIRMANO • MAIORI
POENITENTIARIO • XII APOSTOLICIS LEGATIONIBVS CLARO
PACIS ITALICAE IN ANNOS XXV • CONSTITVTORI • DOCTRINA
RELIGIONE ET SANCTIS SEMPER OPERIBVS ADMIRABILI
ANGELVS EIVSDEM • TT • CARDINALIS
VNANIMI FRATRI AC SIBI COMMVNE MONIMENTVM HOC FECIT
VIXIT IDEM • DO • AN • LVIII•