SEDE VACANTE

Platina is the kneeling figure,
Raffaele Riario is in blue, the future Julius II in the center.
and Pope Sixtus IV seated at the right.


No coins or medals were issued.

Though only twenty-three at the time of the death of Sixtus IV, Raffaele Riario attended the conclave of 1484.

Dean of the Sacred College

The Dean of the College of Cardinals in 1484 was Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (1443-1513), nephew of the late pope and second cousin of the Cardinal Camerlengo. He would be elected Pope Julius II in the conclave of 1503.

Death of the Pope

Pope Sixtus IV died on the evening of August 12, 1484, according to the Diary kept by Giovanni Burchard, the Papal Master of Ceremonies (Burchard, 3G 9T):.

Feria quinta, 12 mensis augusti, inter horam quartam et quintam noctis, vel circa, Romae in palatio apostolico apud Sanctum Petrum in superiori camera una, supra curiam ante bibliothecam respondente, obiit sanctissimus in Christe pater et dominus noster, Dominus Sixtus divina providentia Papa quartus....

It is difficult to imagine and to overestimate the degree of fury that was unleashed against the nephews, friends and hangers-on of Sixtus IV. Indeed every Ligurian in Rome was in danger of his life. Stefano Infessura, the Senatorial secretary, a bitter enemy of the Riario family, was particularly overjoyed at the death of his enemy (Infessura, 155-160):

ita quod tam ex primo dolore, quam ex novissimo infirmatus est febre, iacuitque in lecto, et obmutuit, visusque fuit exanimis per aliquod spatium. deinde reversus, inflato gutture, duodecima die augusti, videlicet die iovis, et quinta hora noctis mortuus est Sixtus. In quo felicissimo die Deus ipse Omnipotens ostendit potentiam suam super terram, liberavit populum Christianum de manu talis impissimi et iniquissimi regis, cui nullus Dei timor, nullus regendi populi Christiani amor, nulla charitatis et dilectionis affectio, sed solum voluptas inhonesta, avaritia, pompa seu vanagloria semper et continue praecipue viguit et in consideratione fuit.

Hic, ut fertur vulgo, et experientia demonstravit, puerorum amator et sodomita fuit.... [this abuse continues for five more pages. Nepotism was the real crime, plus avarice and financial profligacy.]

In the morning, a mob attacked and completely sacked the palace of the dead pope's favorite nephew, Count Girolamo, who was in the field with the army at the seige of the Colonna stronghold of Paliano (Pontano, 38):

Alli 13 andò tutta Roma in arme et erano di molte collette per Roma, e fu messa a sacco la casa del conte Hieronimo, guasto tutto lo giardino, e levato fino alle porte et finestre, furno sachigiati li navilii et magazini a Ripa, quali erano de Genovesi, fuorono rubbate de molte cariche di robba quale se portavano da una casa ad un'altra per salvarle, e certi giovini et Spagnoli li levavano con dire che erano robbe de Genovesi...

Count Girolamo's wife Caterina managed to escape to the Castel S. Angelo, where she commandeered the fortress from the commander of the guard, and made herself safe until her husband could return. The granaries along the Tiber and two Genoese ships loaded with wine were plundered. Stefano Infessura gives the luirid details (Diario, pp. 161-164) The Genoese Hospital was destroyed. Several cardinals met at the palace of Cardinal Riario, the Chamberlain, but their efforts to restore order in Rome were futile (Pastor, 230). On the evening of the 14th Girolamo arrived on the north side of Rome, but was ordered by the cardinals, who feared the influence of a papal nephew with an army on a free election, to remain at Ponte Molle (Milvian Bridge), but he instead joined his wife in the Castel S. Angelo. Cardinal Colonna and his supporters also returned to the city, and Girolamo Riario thought it wise to remove himself to safety with his Orsini supporters at Isola (Infessura, p. 165).

Assembly of a Conclave

On the 17th, the first of the public novendiales masses was sung by the Vice-Chancellor, Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia. Only eleven cardinals attended. The Colonna faction complained that security was lax and their lives in danger, and they refused to attend the ceremonies of the novendiales (Pontano, 39). Cardinals della Rovere (San Pietro in Vincola), Cibo (Malfetta), Savelli, Colonna and Nardini (Milano) were not present.

On the 18th, the Franciscan Cardinal Gabriele Rangone (Bishop of Agria) arrived, raising the number of cardinals present to 13. On the 19th Cardinal Maccone appeared, on the 20th Jorge da Costa (Lisbon) (Pontano, 39).

On the 22nd, the Conservatori of Rome, led by the First Conservator Vangelista de Renzo Martino, and some 200 Roman citizens met with all the cardinals in the sacristy of St. Peter's to speak about the disorders in Rome and to promise that, if the many men in arms did not guarantee the security of the cardinals so that they could elect a pope, the people of Rome themselves would do so.

On the 23rd of August the cardinals decided to begin the conclave the next day, but on the 24th it proved impossible. There was a riot in the Piazza della Rotonda , and several houses were attacked by partisans of the Colonna (Burchard, 11G 18T; Infessura, 168). Security arrangements were made for the entrances to the Vatican Palace, however, and an altar was prepared for the singing of the Mass of the Holy Spirit on the 25th. On the 25th a truce was finally agreed to among the warring factions in Rome: Girolamo relinquished control over the Castel S. Angelo (for the sum of 4000 ducats), the Orsini retired to Viterbo, and the Colonna to Latium (Infessura, 166-167; Pontano, 40-41). On the morning of the 25th, the Mass of the Holy Spirit was sung in the presence of twenty-four cardinals by the Cardinal of San Marco, Marco Cardinal Barbo (Burchard, 25T). In the afternoon of the 25th the cardinals finally entered the Conclave. Burchard (p. 15, 27-29T) provides the names of all of the cardinals and their conclavisti. The Cardinals were Borgia, Oliviero Caraffa, Marco Barbo, Giuliano della Rovere, G.-B. Zeno, Stefano Nardini, Giovanni Arcimboldi, G.-B. Cibò, Philibert Ugonetti (Hugonet of Macon), Giovanni Michaeli (Michiel), Jorge da Costa, Girolamo Basso della Rovere, Gabriele Rangoni, Domenico della Rovere, Juan de Aragon, Pietro Foscari, Giovanni de' Conti, Juan de Margarit, Giovanni Schiaffinati, Francesco Piccolomini, Raffaele Riario, G.-B. Savelli, Giovanni Colonna, G.-B. Orsini, and Ascanio Maria Sforza Visconti. Seven cardinals did not participate. A similar list is provided by the archives of the Ceremonial Congregation (Bourgin, 314). Both lists contain twenty-five names. After lunch, the cardinals and the conclavisti met separately to make necessary arrangements for the details of the conclave.

The Cardinals

Cardinals attending:

1. Giuliano della Rovere, Suburbicarian Bishop of Ostia e Velletri , bishop of Bologna, Administrator of Avignon, Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals. "S. Pietro in Vincoli" Major Penitentiary. Nephew of Sixtus IV.
2. Rodrigo de Borja y Borja (aged 52), Suburbicarian Bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina, Administrator of Cartagena and of Valencia. Archpriest of the Liberian Basilica (S. Maria Maggiore). Vice-Chancellor. Nephew of Callistus III.
3. Oliviero Carafa (aged 54), Suburbicarian Bishop of Sabina (died 1511). Cardinal of S. Eusebio "Neapolitanus"
4. Marco Barbo (aged 64), Suburbicarian Bishop of Palestrina (died 1491). Patriarch of Aquileia. "San Marco" "Aquilegiensis" Nephew of Paul II.
5. Giovanni Battista Zeno (aged 45), Suburbicarian Bishop of Frascati (died 1501). Bishop of Vicenza. Nephew of Paul II. "S. Maria in Porticu"
   
   
6. Stefano Nardini (aged ?), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria in Trastevere (died October 22, 1484). Archbishop of Milan.
7. Giovanni Battista Cibo (aged 52), Cardinal Priest of S. Cecilia (died 1492). Bishop of Molfetta.
8. Giovanni Arcimboldi (aged 63), Cardinal Priest of S. Prassede (died 1488). Bishop of Novara. "Novariensis"
9. Philibert Hugonet (aged ?), Cardinal Priest of SS. Giovanni e Paolo (died September 11, 1494). Bishop of Macon and of Autun. "Matisconensis"
10. Giovanni Michiel (aged 38), Cardinal Priest of S. Marcello (died 1503). Nephew of Paul II. "Sancti Angeli"
11. Jorge da Costa, O.Cist. (aged 78), Cardinal Priest of SS. Marcellino e Pietro (died 1508). Archbishop of Lisbon. "Ulixibonensis"
12. Girolamo Basso della Rovere (aged 50), Cardinal Priest of S. Crisogono (died 1507). Bishop of Recanati. Nephew of Sixtus IV. "Recanatensis"
13. Gabriele Rangoni OFM Obs. (aged 74), Cardinal Priest of SS. Sergio e Bacco (died 1486). Bishop of Eger. "Agriensis"
14. Pietro Foscari (aged 67), Cardinal Priest of S. Niccola fra le Immagini (died 1485). Administrator of Padua.
15. Giovanni d'Aragona (aged 28), Cardinal Priest of S. Lorenzo in Lucina and of S. Sabina in commendam (died 1485). Administrator of Cosenza and of Salerno.
16. Domenico della Rovere (aged 42), Cardinal Priest of S. Clemente (died 1501). Bishop of Turin.
17. Giovanni de' Conti (aged 70), Cardinal Priest of SS. Nereo ed Achilleo (died 1493). Archbishop of Conza.
18. Juan Moles de Margarit (aged 63?), Cardinal Priest of S. Balbina (died November 21, 1484). Bishop of Gerona. "Gerundensis"
19. Giovanni Giacomo Schiaffinati, Cardinal Priest of S. Stefano al Monte Celio, Bishop of Parma.
    
    
20. Francesco Todeschini-Piccolomini (aged 45), Cardinal Deacon of S. S. Eustachio (died 1503). Administrator of Siena. Nephew of Pius II.
21. Raffaele Sansoni Riario (aged 24), Cardinal Deacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro (died 1521). Camerlengo. "S. Georgii" (He is listed among the Cardinal Deacons at the Conclave of 1484 both by Burchard and the Consistorial Archives; cf. Eubel II, 18).
22. Giovanni Battista Savelli (aged 62?), Cardinal Deacon of Ss. Vito e Modesto in Macello Martyrum (died 1498).
23. Giovanni Colonna (aged 28), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Aquiro (died 1508). Administrator of Rieti.
24. Giovanni Battista Orsini (aged 34?), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Domnica (died 1502).
25. Ascanio Maria Sforza Visconti (aged 29), Cardinal Deacon of SS. Vito e Modesto in Macello Martyrum (died 1505). Bishop-elect of Pavia.

Cardinals not attending:

1. Luis Juan del Milà y Borja (aged 54?), Cardinal Priest of SS. Quattro Coronati (died 1510). Bishop of Lérida. Nephew of Callistus III.
2. Thomas Bourchier (aged 80), Cardinal Priest of S. Ciriaco alle Terme Diocleziane (died 1486). Archbishop of Canterbury.
3. Jean Balue (aged 63?), Suburbicarian Bishop of Albano (died 1491). Bishop of Angers.
4. Pedro González de Mendoza (aged 56), Cardinal Priest of S. Croce in Gerusalemme (died 1495). Archbishop of Sevilla and Administrator of Sigùenza.
5. Charles de Bourbon (aged 49), Cardinal Priest of S. Martino ai Monti (died 1488). Administrator of Clermont, Archbishop of Lyon.
6. Pierre de Foix (aged 35), Cardinal Deacon of SS. Cosma e Damiano (died 1490). Administrator of Bayonne, Bishop of Vannes.
7. Paolo Fregoso (aged 56), Cardinal Priest of S. Anastasia (died 1498). Bishop of Ajaccio. Archbishop of Genoa.

The Conclave

On the 26th of August, after mass, celebrated by the Cardinal of S. Marco, Cardinal Barbo, the Cardinals met and began discussions; their main concern was the preparation of documents to be signed by all cardinals, granting extraordinary privileges to the cardinals and circumscribing the powers of the papacy (Burchard, p. 16G) On the next day the cardinals continued their discussions, and finally produced two documents, one for the cardinals themselves to agree to, and one for the new pope to sign, which Burchard quotes in their entirety (Burchard, pp. 17-28G). Had they been carried out, the Church would have been ruled by a self-perpetuating, aristocratic, board of directors, with the Pope as a tightly circumscribed chairman.

On Saturday the 28th , after several cardinals celebrated mass, the Cardinals and the other conclavisti signed the electoral capitulations which had been prepared (Burchard, 17-28G). Cardinal Piccolomini, was the scrutator. Voting began with the Cardinal Vice-Chancellor Borgia, followed by the Cardinal of Naples, Cardinal Carafa (Burchard, p. 29G) When the votes were counted no cardinal had more than ten votes, seventeen being needed to elect. Cardinal Barbo received ten votes. Then in the afternoon, the matter of Cardinal Sforza was raised; he had been named a cardinal at the end of Sixtus IV's life, but the ceremonies of the opening and closing his mouth had not been completed. The issue was whether he was entitled to vote, and the cardinals decided in the affirmative (Burchard, p. 30G):

Fuit his diebus a nonnulis dubitatum, an R.D. Cardinalis Ascanius qui post obitum fel. rec, Sixti Papae quarti, Cardinalis ad Urbem venit, et cui postmodum os apertum non erat, in electionem futuri Pontificis votum dare deberet, cum non esset illa ceremonia de oris aperitione, quae in novis cardinalibus observatur, in eo consumata. Tandem fuit per RR. DD. cardinales conclusum, quod cum non sit praefato Cardinali Ascanio os clausum, possit liber electioni interesse, et in ea votum dare, et ea observata fuisse in aliis. Si autem praefato Ascanio Cardinali per fel. rec. Sixtum papam quartum os clausum fuisset, et tempore clausurae antequam idem Sixtus eidem os aperuisset, ipse Sixtus diem extremam clausisset, quod tunc, propter oris huiusmodi clausuram, non potuisset praefatus Cardinalis Ascanius in electione praedicta votum dare.

A rumor went about on the evening of the 28th (Saturday) that Cardinal Barbo, the Cardinal of St. Mark, had been elected pope, but the rumor was disproved when the evening meals of the cardinals were delivered (Pontano, 42).

The Election

Infessura (pp. 170-171) claims to have the inside information of how the election of the new pope came about. On Saturday evening (he says) Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere said to Cardinal Barbo, who at that time had eleven votes, that, if he would promise his house to Cardinal d' Aragona (son of King Ferdinand), that he would get him three more votes to make fourteen; but Barbo replied that he certainly would not do it, for, if he did do it, the election would not be canonical. Likewise, his house was better fortified than the Castel S. Angelo, and if he did that, it would perhaps be a cause of disturbance to the city and all Christendom, because the King (Ferdinand) could easily come there and make himself master of the City and disturb the order of the Church. Then he went to Cardinal Borgia, the Vice-Chancellor, and asked him if he wanted to make a pope in accordance with their votes. And he consented, so long as he could frustrate the election of Barbo, whom he hated. Then, overnight as the cardinals were sleeping in their cells, della Rovere and Borgia spoke with each of the cardinals (except de' Conti, Barbo, Carafa, da Costa, Piccolomini, de Margarit, and some say Zeno) telling them that if they gave their votes to Cibò, they would receive many benefits. In the morning those who had been sleeping were summoned and told that they had make a pope. "Who?" they asked. "The Bishop of Molfetta," they replied. "How?" "Last night, while you were sleeping, we all agreed." The seven, seeing that there were already eighteen or nineteen votes for Cibò, they went along. It was only the next day that it was discovered all the promises that Cibò had made to get elected. (Infessura provides a list of the simoniacal grants):

Cardinal Savelli: possession of the fortress called Monticelli on part of the Island
Cardinal Colonna: the fortress of Ceprano, the Legateship of the Patrimony, 25,000 ducats for
   restoration of his burned out palace and contents, and the first available benefice worth a
   minimum of 7,000 ducats.
Cardinal Orsini: the Legateship of the Marches and the castle at Cerveteri
Cardinal Ugonetti: the castle at Capranica and the Bishopric of Avignon
Cardinal d' Aragona: Pontecorvo, and the new pope's old palace at S. Lorenzo in Lucina
Cardinal Schiaffinati: the palace of S. Giovanni della Magliana and all of its outbuildings
Cardinal Nardini: the office of Archpriest of the Lateran Basilica, and the Legateship of Avignon
Cardinal della Rovere: the town of Fano, and five other neighboring properties; and the promise
    to make his brother Captain General of the Church

On Sunday, August 29, after private masses and a Mass of the Holy Spirit by the Sacristan, voting began again. It was known that Cardinal Cibò (also called Cardinal Molfetta) would be elected because his conclavists, unlike the rest, did not repair to the chapel, but went to the Cardinal's cell to take care of their property. When the vote was taken (Burchard says he knows nothing about an accessio) Cardinal Giovanni Battista Cibò was elected unanimously; he was fifty-two years old.

Cardinal Cibò was crowned as Innocent VIII on September 12 (Burchard, 75-83 T), and took possession of the Lateran Basilica on the same day (Burchard, 83-90 T).