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The Dean of the College of Cardinals in 1521 was Cardinal Bernardino López de Carvajal (1455-December 16, 1523), the nemesis of Martin Luther. He was named Cardinal Bishop of Ostia and Velletri on July 24, 1521. He had sworn his oath as Cardinal Bishop of Ostia as negotiated between him and Leo X on August 8, with the assistance of Paris de Grassis (in Hoffmann, pp. 470-472).

The Governor of Rome was the Archbishop of Naples, Vincenzio Carafa. He was made a Cardinal by Pope Clement VII.

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Death of Pope Leo X

Pope Leo X (Medici) had been ill since October of 1521, probably with malaria. According to the Venetian ambassador, Gradenigo, he had a fever on the 25th of November. Nonetheless he returned to Rome from his suburban Villa Manliana (Magliano) that day,

and participated in some festivities in the city, culminating in a grand banquet. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey's Roman agent, John Clerk, wrote to his master on the morning of December 2, alleging (on the authority of Cardinal Campeggio) that the Pope had already been dead for eight days (Ellis, 280-281):

... this mornyng the Cardynall Campegius ded send me word that the Popes Holynes was departyed owt off thys present lyff, God rest his sowell, viij days past: what tyme tydings came off the wynnyng of Mylan his Holynes was forth a sportyng, att a place off his awn callyd Manilian vj. myles owt of Rome, and the selff same day comyng whom to Rome tooke colld: and the next day feel in a fever, whiche was his dethe. At his comyng whome from Manliano, I mett his Holynes, and my thought I never sawe hym mor losty.

However, Pope Leo died on December 1, 1521, aged 46, as Paris de Grassis noted (Diario di Leone X, p. 88; Favroni, 227-238):

Die Dominica, quae fuit prima Decembris, horae prope VII, mortuus est Papa Leo Decimus, quin aliquis praevidisset casum suum, nam medici ipsum dicebant leviter aegrotare ex catarrho concepta in Villa Manliana. Parides media nocte ivit in cubiculum mortui papae; et invenit eum mortuum et iam frigidum, quasi nigrum ex catarrho, licet aliqui dixerunt ex veneno. Mane omnes cardinales qui erant in urbe numero vigintinovem venerunt ad palatium... aperto cadavere papae, inventum est cor maculatum et splenae partem corrosam et lienis similiter partem vitiosam, quam tum chiurgi tum phisici viderunt cum stupore, admirati dixerunt pro certo illum fuisse toxicatum . . . .

Paolo Giovio, vita Leonis X (Book IV) speaks more extensively of the pope's death and the charge of poisoning:

Tantae victoriae nuntio accepto pontifex, cum in Manliana villa esset, incredibili laetitia est affectus; nam eo triduo literae de Helvetiorum ambigua fide acceptae, animum incerta et ancipiti spe victoriae suspensum solicitis cogitationibus excruciarant. Nec multo post, priusquam coenaret, obriguit, sensimque exorta est febris a quodam miti tepore longe lenissima, sed quae ei suprema extitit; ob id sequente die in Urbem est revectus, iam certius ac plenius erumpente morbo; pessimumque omen imminentis mortis in ipso cubiculi limine accepit in quo constiterat architectus ligneam offerens sepulchri effigiem, quod tum insigni marmoris caelatura Henrico regi in Britannia parabatur. Sed ea febris, quod ex intervallis lacesseret, a medicis adulantibus aut iudicio deceptis, aliquamdiu neglecta, adeo vehementer demum incubuit ut pene priusquam morbus dignosci posset et fatalis hora sentiretur, turbata ratione sit ereptus; paucis tamen ante horis quam e vita migraret, supplex, iunctis elatisque manibus atque oculis in coelum pie coniectis, Deo gratias egit, constantissime professus, sed vel funestum morbi exitum aequo pacatoque animo laturum, post quam Parmam Placentiamque sine vulnere recuperatas, honestissima de superbo hoste parta victoria, conspiceret. Vixit annis quadraginta septem, imperavit octo totidemque mensibus et diebus undeviginti.

Fuere qui existimarent eum indito poculis veneno fuisse sublatum; nam cor eius atri livoris maculas ostendit et lien prodigiosae tenuitatis est repertus. quasi peculiaris et occulta veneni potestas totum id visceris exedisset. Ob id coniectus est in carcerem Barnabos Malaspina minister a poculis, non obscuro indicio, quod Leonem, pridie quam decumberet, in coena post haustum vini calicem, statim obducta et tristi fronte ab eo quaesivisse constabat undenam sibi adeo amarum et insuave vinum propinasset. Adauxit quoque patrati sceleris suspicionem, quod ipse sub auroram, quum septima noctis hora pontifex expirasset, specie venandi cum canibus Vaticanam portam exivisset, adeo ut a praetorianis uti fugitivus caperetur, his scilicet admirantibus dissolutum hominis ingenium, qui intempestivas absque ullo pudore quaereret voluptates, quum tota aula extincto beneficentissimo domino in lachrymis et luctu versaretur.

The rumor of poisoning is also reported by Girolamo Bonfio in a letter to his barber on December 5, a copy of which found its way to Senator Marino Sanuto in the offices of the Venetian government (Sanuto, 233-234). A more measured opinion, and one with some considerable likelihood of truth, was presented to the Signoria of Bologna by Bartolomeo Angiletti, reminding them that the pope suffered from a fistula which was the despair of his doctors (Sanuto, 239-40). An official examination of the pope's cupbearer, who was accused of administering poison, absolved the man and concluded that the pope did not die of poison but of catarrh (Paris de Grassis, in Hoffmann, p. 480-481). Both the Orsini and the Colonna were in arms and the city of Rome was closed down tightly. All the banks were closed. (Sanuto, 239). Cardinal Armellini, nonetheless, found his way to the Florentine bankers, who provided a loan for the pope's funeral, since the Apostolic Chamber was empty and heavily in debt.

On Monday, December 9, the first of the novendiales masses was held in the Sistine Chapel, the Dean of the Sacred College presiding, and after the Mass the body was carried to the Basilica of St. Peter in solemn procession. There the bull of Julius II against simony was read by Blasius, the Secretary of the Sacred College. Twenty-eight cardinals were present. Cardinal Alessandro Cesarini, former papal protonotary, was appointed to make the necessary preparations for holding the conclave. (Paris de' Grassis, in Hoffmann, 482-483). On Tuesday, the 10th, Cardinal Cornaro arived from Venice, and on the 11th five more. Two more arrived on the 12th.

The Cardinals

There were forty-eight cardinals at the time of the pope's death. Cardinal Ferrero (Ivrea) was detained at Pavia by Duke Francesco Sforza of Milan, and did not reach Rome at all; three other French cardinals did not even attempt the perilous journey (full list of living cardinals: Sanuto, 326-329).

1. Bernardino de Carvajal (aged 57), Suburbicarian Bishop of Ostia and Velletri, Dean of the Sacred College, once Cardinal Priest of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (1495-1507)
2. Domenico Grimani (aged 60), Suburbicarian Bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina (died August 27, 1523) Administrator of Urbino.
3. Francesco Soderini (aged 68), Volaterranus, Suburbicarian Bishop of Palestrina
4. Alessandro Farnese (aged 53), Suburbicarian Bishop of Frascati, Bishop of Parma
5. Niccolò Fieschi (aged ca. 65), Suburbicarian Bishop of Sabina
6. Antonio Ciocchi del Monte (aged ca. 59), Suburbicarian Bishop of Albano, once Cardinal Priest of Santa Prassede
   
   
7. Pietro Accolti (aged 66), Cardinal Priest of S. Eusebio, former Professor of Law at Pisa "Cardinal of Ancona"
8. Achille Grassi (65), Bononiensis, Cardinal Priest of S. Maria in Trastevere, Bishop of Bologna
9. Matthias Schiner (aged 56), Cardinal Priest of S. Pudenziana (died 1522). Administrator of Novara.
10. Lorenzo Pucci (aged 63), Cardinal Priest of SS. Quattuor Coronati, Professor of Law at Pisa, Datary of Julius II and Leo X, Major Poenitentiarius 1520-1529 (died 1531)
11. Giulio de' Medici (aged 43), Cardinal Priest of S. Lorenzo in Damaso, Cardinal Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church, Cousin of Leo X (died 1534) His conclavist was Girolamo Aleander, former Vatican Librarian and future Cardinal (Paquier, L' humanisme 297-298)
12. Giovanni Piccolomini (aged 46), Senensis, Cardinal Priest of S. Balbina, Archbishop of Siena (died 1537)
13. Giovanni Dominico de Cupis (aged 28), Tranensis, Cardinal Priest of S. Giovanni a Porta Latina, Bishop of Trani (died 1553) Secretary of Leo X
14. Raffaele Petrucci (aged 47), Cardinal-Priest of S. Susanna (died December 11, 1522). Bishop of Grosseto
15. Andrea della Valle (aged 56), Cardinal Priest of S. Agnese in Agone (died 1534).Bishop of Mileto.
16. Giovanni Battista Pallavicini (aged 41), Cardinal Priest of S. Apollinaris, Bishop of Cavaillon (died 1524) Doctor of Law, Padua
17. Scaramuzzia Trivulzio (aged ca. 56), Cardinal Priest of S. Ciriaco in Thermis (died 1524) Comensis
18. Pompeo Colonna (aged 42), Cardinal Priest of SS. XII Apostoli (died 1532)
19. Dominico Giacobazzi (aged 77), Cardinal Priest of S. Clemente and of S. Lorenzo in Panisperna in commendam (died 1528)
20. Lorenzo Campeggio (aged 47), Cardinal Priest of S. Anastasia (died 1539) Bishop of Feltre, and Count Palatine. Doctor in Canon and in Civil Law, Padua and Bologna
21. Ferdinando Ponzetti (aged 77), Cardinal Priest of S. Pancrazio (died 1527), Bishop of Grosseto
22. Francesco Armellini de' Medici (aged 51), Cardinal Priest of S. Callisto (died 1527, in the Castel S. Angelo) Cardinal Camerlengo
23. Tommaso de Vio, OP, Cajetanus (aged 52), Cardinal Priest of S. Sisto (died 1534) Bishop of Gaeta
24. Silvio Passerini (aged 51 or 52), Cardinal Priest of S. Lorenzo in Lucina (died 1529) Datary of Pope Leo X, Bishop of Cortona
25. Cristoforo Numai, OFM Obs. (aged ?), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria in Aracoeli (died 1528)
26. Egidio (Canisio) of Viterbo, (aged 49), Cardinal Priest of S. Matteo (died 1532)
27. Guilelmus de Vich (aged 51 or 61), Cardinal Priest of S. Marcello (died 1525), Archbishop of Barcelona
    
    
28. Marco Cornaro (aged 43 or 44), Constantinopolitanus, Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Via Lata (died 1524) Bishop of Padua
29. Sigismondo Gonzaga (aged 51), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria Nuova (died 1525)
30. Innocenzo Cibo (aged 30), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Domnica (died 1550) Grandson of Pope Innocent VIII, Nephew of Pope Leo X, Archbishop of Genoa, 1520-1550
31. Franciotto Orsini (aged 48), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Cosmedin (died 1534) Archpriest of the Vatican Basilica
32. Paolo Cesi (aged 40), Cardinal Deacon of S. Nicola inter imagines (died 1537)
33. Alessandro Cesarini (aged ?), Cardinal Deacon of S. Sergio e Bacco, 1517-1523 (died 1542)
34. Giovanni Salviati (aged 31), Cardinal Deacon of S. Cosma e Damiano (died 1553)
35. Nicolò Ridolfi (aged 20), Cardinal Deacon of (died 1550)
36. Ercole Rangoni (aged ca. 30), Cardinal Deacon of S. Agata de' Goti, 1517-1527 (died 1527)
37. Agostino Trivulzio (aged ca. 36), Cardinal Deacon of S. Adriano (died 1548)
38. Francesco Pisano (aged 27), Cardinal Deacon of S. Teodoro, 1518-1527 (died 1570)

Cardinals absent:

1. François de Castelnau de Clermont (aged 41), Auxitanus, Cardinal Priest of S. Stefano in Monte Celio; "Cardinal of Auch"
2. Bonifacio Ferrer(i)o (aged 45), Cardinal Priest of SS. Nereus and Achilles, Bishoip of Ivrea (a village between Vercelli and Aosta) (died 1543)
3. Albert of Brandenburg (aged 31) Cardinal Priest of S. Pietro in Vincoli (died 1545) Archbishop of Mainz
4. Eberhard von der Marck (aged 49), Cardinal Priest of S. Crisogono (died 1538) Bishop of Liège, Bishop of Chartres, Bishop of Valence.. Son of Robert I, Duke de Bouillon and Prince de Sedan
5. Matthias Lang (aged 52 or 53), Cardinal Deacon of S. Angelo in Pescheria (died 1540) Bishop of Gurk, Bishop of Cartagena
6. Thomas Wolsey (aged 50), Cardinal Priest of S. Cecilia (died 1530) Archbishop of York, Chancellor of England
7. Louis de Bourbon Vendôme (aged 28), Cardinal Priest of S. Martino ai Monti (died 1557) Bishop of Laon
8. Adrian Florenszoon Dedel (aged 62), Cardinal Priest of Ss. Giovanni e Paolo (died 1523). Bishop of Tortosa. Regent of Spain for Charles V
9. Alfonso of Portugal (aged 12), Cardinal, but promotion not effective until age 18 (died 1540) Archbishop of Lisbon and Evora, fourth son of King Manuel I
10. Jean de Lorraine (aged 23), Cardinal Deacon of S. Onofrio, 1519-1550 (died 1550) Bishop of Metz
    
    

Preliminaries

The General Congregations of the College of Cardinals took place at the palace of the Cardinal of Santa Croce, the Dean of the Sacred College (Luzio, 390). At the first Congregation held by the Cardinals after the Pope's death, on December 9, the Archbishop of Naples was appointed Governor of Rome, and a committee of Cardinals (Monte, Santi Quattro, Piccolomini, Armellino and Cesi) to see to necessary arrangements for the State, the Church and the City. On the second day there was a discussion of a proposal by Conte Baldassare Castiglione about the provision of 'quartirone'. At the fourth Congregation, Giovanni Mattheo, the secretary of Cardinal de' Medici, announcing the Cardinal's departure from Milan. On the fifth day, Cardinal Soderini (Vulterano), who had just returned from exile thanks to the death of the pope, appeared and gave a speech exhorting the cardinals toward a good election 'ne inciderent in novam tirannidem' (by which, of course, he meant Cardinal de' Medici). Cardinal Cesarini made a reply in defense of Pope Leo "che quello non era stato tiranno". He was supported by Cardinal Salviati. On the sixth day, there was an exchange between Medici's secretary, Giovanni Mattheo, and Cardinal Soderini, who, having been absent at his first audience with the cardinals, complained of his authoritative remarks made without proper credentials. Mattheo replied in an indignant speech in defense of his cardinal and against Soderini's personal passion and odium. (letter of Bernardo Rutha, December 19, 1521, the day after the conclusion of the novendiales; Luzio, 384-385) . The same enmity between Soderini and Medici is noticed by Peter Martyr (but cf. Henry Hallam, Introduction to the Literature of Europe I-II [1884] 322-323]..

Giovanni Matheo remarks that Leo X had left the papacy with a debt of 1,154,000 ducats. He also notes that the Imperial Orator, Juan Emanuel, was working hard to ensure a victory for Cardinal de' Medici and was visiting each of the cardinals; he had the assistance of the Imperial cardinals, Santa Croce, Vic, Colonna, Valle, Giacobazzi and Campeggio. The imperial party appeared to have 26 votes, which, if true, was sufficient to elect. Ranged against him were the cardinals Fieschi, Ancona [Accolti], Monte, Grassis, Grimani, Volaterra, Como, Trivulzio, Cavaglione [Pallavicini] and Ivrea, and of course the French (Luzio, 385-386). He reports the news, however, that Cardinal Ivrea, Bonifazio Ferrera, had been captured and was being held at Pavia (Luzio, 387). In addition to that, the Camerlengo, Cardinal Armellini de' Medici, and Cardinal Cibo were quarreling about Armellino's purchase of the office of Camerlengo from Cibo in August, and whether the purchase was valid or simoniacal, and whether Cibo ought not to be Camerlengo now for the Sede Vacante (Luzio 389-390).

On Saturday, December 21, a Congregation took place at the Dean's residence as usual. The Imperial agent Lutrech made a protest against the activities of the French agent de Granges, who was trying to recover property in Lombardia using the Church and some papal troops as his tool, and during a Sede Vacante.

On Sunday the 22nd, after lunch, several cardinals (li rmi carli vechi) who were opposed to Cardinal de' Medici had met at the residence of Cardinal Colonna: Giacobazzi, Monte, Grassis, Piccolomini, Minerva, Trani, Ancona, Cornaro, Pisano, Trivulzio, Como, Vic, Ponzetta and Colonna. Grimani, who was not present, sent his nephew, as did Fieschi, Cavaglione and Santa Croce. They decided that they wanted a pope who was over fifty years of age and not Medici. Another meeting was scheduled for Christmas Eve. It was noticed in the evening of Christmas Eve that Cardinal de' Medici looked pale and much afflicted (Luzio, 392-394).

Cardinal Wolsey's Candidacy

In a letter of December 19, 1521, Bishop Bernard de Mezza, the Ambassador of Charles V in England, reported on a conversation he had had with King Henry VIII and Cardinal Wolsey on the 16th at Richmond. Henry was anxious to promote the candidacy of Wolsey, but hesitant to do so without the cooperation of Charles and with care to be taken not to offend Cardinal de' Medici, who was the leading candidate (Bradford, 14-20):

...si non esset apparens possibilitas quod electio dicti Cardinalis Eboracensis sortiretur effectam, visum est providere pro tali casu taliter quod ad minus si supradictus non deberet eligi, eligatur Cardinalis de Medicis ne perdatur ille amicus, nec sentiat dictus Cardinalis de Medicis quod aliquid faciunt Majestates vestrae in prejudicium electionis suae ymo quod omnia fiunt in favorem suam nisi in casu quod dictus de Medicis nullam haberet spem neque copiam votorum pro se, tunc aperte esset agendum pro dicto Reverendissimo Cardinali Eboracensi....

The Emperor Charles V had twice promised his assistance to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, as he indicated himself in a letter to Ambassador de Mezza, written from Ghent on the 14th of December, which crossed de Mezza's in the mail (Bradford, 21-25)

D'aultre part vous direz de par nous à Monseigneur le Legat, comme nous avons toujours en notre bonne souvenance son avancement et exaltation, et le tenons racors de propos, que luy avons tenuz à Bruges touchant la Papalité, ensuivant lesquels et pour l'effect de ce, sommes deliberez l'ayder de notre pouvoir, tant en cestuy affaire que aultres, que luy pourroient toucher, parquoy le requerez qu'il vueille dire son advis, s'il y a quelque affection, et nous y employerons trés voluntier sans y riens espaargner...

Henry was particulary worried lest a partisan of the French should be elected. Wolsey did not attend the conclave, a mistake for a would-be candidate. Charles had in fact instructed his representative in Rome, Don Juan Manuel, to support the cause of Cardinal de' Medici, not that of Wolsey. A letter of January 17, 1522 from de Mezza to Emperor Charles indicates that Wolsey was very angry, having heard of the Spanish Ambassador's dealings at the Conclave (Bradford, 33). Henry VIII had sent a special ambassador to Rome, his secretary Richard Pace, who arrived after the election had already taken place (Gachard, xiv-xvi). Wolsey received six votes on the fifth scrutiny, and that was all (Sanuto, 385). John Clerk, the English ambassador, wrote to Wolsey (Ellis, 307) that Wolsey had received 9 votes in the first scrutiny, 12 in the second, and 19 in the third. To placate his master, Clerk remarks that some cardinals believed Wolsey too young [ignoring the candidacy of Cibò, who was only thirty]; that he was determined to the execution of truth and justice; and "thirdly, that ye favored not all the best th' Emperor". Clerk was being diplomatic, inventing numbers to assuage Wolsey's ego, or perhaps borrowing numbers from Cardinal Campeggio, who also wrote to Wolsey about the votes given him (Brewer, ccv. Taunton, 144-145).

Other Hopefuls

Other cardinals under consideration were Franciotto Orsini, the French candidate (whose votes fluctuated between 3 and 7), and Cardinal Adrian of Utrecht, bishop of Tortosa in Spain, who was not even present at the conclave, since he was serving as principal minister of the Emperor Charles V in Spain. Combatting the Lutheran heresy and schism was a primary consideration for the cardinals, for which the active cooperation of the Emperor was essential, and the Emperor had confidence in Cardinal Adrian, his boyhood tutor who had been co-regent in Spain (1517-1519) until Charles assumed his powers. Reformers on both sides were demanding a church council, but the Emperor Charles was determined that it should meet in a place convienient to his supporters and that it should exclude the protestants from participating. Despite his promises to Wolsey, the Emperor's real candidate was Cardinal Adrian, though this was supposed to be a deep dark "secret". That, at any rate, it what Cardinal de' Medici and his faction were believed to have planned with the Emperor, but Medici and the deeply laid plan were disbelieved by John Clerk in his report to Cardinal Wolsey (Ellis, 308-309)

In a letter of December 15, the Venetian ambassador reported that Cardinal Grimani had good hopes of becoming pope, but, he adds, so did Cardinal de' Medici, though the Cardinal of Volterra (Francesco Soderini) was campaigning against him (Sanuto, 260); in a letter of the 14th, he lists as adherents of Medici the Cardinals Santi Quattro (Lorenzo Pucci), Armellino, Cortona, Cibo, Salviati, Ridolfi, Rangone. Sedunense (Scheiner), Cexis (Cesi), Santa Croce (Carvajal), Vico (Raimundo de Vich), Colonna, Orsini, Aracoeli (Cristoforo Numai), Mantua (Sigismondo Gonzaga), Cornaro, Pisani, Ponzeto, Trani (de Cupis), Petruzzo and Cesarini. (Sanuto, 263). On the 18th he wrote again that Medici was not in as great a favor as before (Sanuto, 273). On the 20th the ambassador reported that Colonna had deserted Medici, and that the Imperial agent, Msgr. von Lutrech, was remarking that Leo X had been an annoyance to the Emperor in the conflict with France over the Duchy of Milan (Sanuto, 284). This was a diplomatic way of saying that Charles V did not want another Medici pope. Count Baldassare Castiglione, who was the Ambassador of the Marquis of Mantua in Rome, reported to Marchese Federico on December 22 (Serassi 3),

Le pratiche sono strettissime, e benchè Mons. Rev. de' Medici abbia de' voti, pure se gli sono scoperti ancora molti nemici di modo che non so come anderanno le cose sue.

In his report of December 31 (Serassi, 4) , however, he remarks:

e in quest' ora universalmente Monsig. Rev. Farnese è in maggior opinione che alcuno alter che sia, e stimasi il Pontificato abbia a succeder in lui.

Balloting

There were forty-eight cardinals at the time of the pope's death. Cardinal Ferrero (Ivrea) was detained at Pavia by Duke Francesco Sforza of Milan, and did not reach Rome at all; three other French cardinals did not even attempt the perilous journey. On Friday, December 27, 1521, thirty-nine of the cardinals entered conclave, Cardinals Cibo and Grimani being carried in on litters in the evening (full list of living cardinals: Sanuto, 326-329). Cardinal Colonna sang the Mass of the Holy Spirit. The pope-makers at the conclave were Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, the Vice-Chancellor, who had been his cousin Leo's chief minister, and the Dominican Cardinal Tommaso de Vio Cajetan (Caetani).

In the first scrutiny, on Monday, December 30 (according to the Venetian ambassador Gradenigo; Sanuto, 325), Cardinal de'Medici received the most votes, Cardinal Flisco (Fieschi) came second, and Farnese third.   The Ambassador of Florence, Galeazzo de' Medici, reported that Fieschi had received 12 votes, Grimani 10, Carvajal (Ostia) 10, Jacobacci 7, Grassi 6, Accolti 5, Monti 5, Soderini (Volterra) 5, and Farnese "a few", with other scattered votes (Petruccelli, 519).  Grimani's nephew was putting it about that his uncle had received 22 votes; this is highly unlikely; a detailed list of the results of the scrutinies gives him no more than ten votes at any time.. On the 30th, during the night between Monday and Tuesday, Grimani was removed from the conclave, apparently having had an accident. He had still not returned by the 2nd (Sanuto, 356). Count Baldassare Castiglione was one of the guardians of the Conclave, and was present at the exit of Cardinal Grimani (Serassi, 4-5; translated by J. Cartwright, 138-139):

Today a thing has happened which has very seldom been known before. The doors of the conclave were opened with great ceremony and respect. The Cardinals all came to the doors and knocked, telling the Bishops that Mons. Grimani was in danger of death, and praying them to open the doors. Accordingly, the ambassadors were summoned, and the Portuguese and I being the only envoys present, the doors were opened, and we saw all the Cardinals with torches in their hands, for the place was very dark. Then Mons. Santa Croce [Carvajal], as Dean of the College, told us the Mons. Grimani was in peril of death, as the doctors swore, and begged the ambassadors to inform their princes that for this reason the doors had been opened, and for no other. Mons.di Como [Trivulzio] said the same, and so Mons. Grimani was carried out in a chair, and the doors were walled up again. I fear that His Reverence will die all the same, for he looks very ill. Perhaps tomorrow we shall hear who is Pope.

In the second scrutiny, on Tuesday, December 31, the Florentine Ambassador reported (Petruccelli, 519-520), Farnese had 17 votes, Medici 16, and Fieschi 8, with other votes scattered.   On Friday, January 3, Lorenzo Pucci had 14 votes, Fieschi 7, Jacobazzi 7, Vio (San Sisto) 7, Scheiner 6, Raimondo de Vich 6, Numai (Aracoeli) 6, Monti 5, Ursino 5, Accolti (San Eusebio) 5, Orsini 5, Soderini 4, Grassi 4, Medici 4, Campeggio 4, Egidio Canisio 4 (Petruccelli, 520). Another source, a conclave diarist, reported that on January 3 the Cardinal Priest of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Adrian of Utrecht, had eight votes (Laemmer, 11). .As of this point, it is apparent, the cardinals had not settled down to serious negotiation, and there was no factional discipline. On the 4th and 5th there was no substantial change.

Cibo's Moment

On Monday, the 6th of January, some terrible confusion ensued. Several cardinals were ill, including Farnese and Cibo. Farnese sent in his vote. The Scrutators Accolti and Orsini were sent to collect Cibo's vote. Meantime Farnese had a conversation with Cardinal Cesarini and decided to change his vote. Cardinal Pucci, thinking that some coup was afoot, cried out, habemus papam! and acceded to Cardinal Cibo. Medici and his adherents followed Pucci: Petruccio, Valenza, Campeggio, Cortona and d' Aragona also announced for Cibo, who was, after all, a member of their faction. He was also a favorite of the "younger cardinals" (He himself was only 31) and those with a taste for the humanism and luxury of the reign of Leo X. Cardinal Cesarini attempted to accede to Cibo as well, but without renouncing the vote he had given in the scrutiny to Farnese. This maneuvre produced sharp disagreement, and in the end Cibo did not receive sufficient votes with the accessio to elect (He had 20, and needed 26). In any event, there were serious reformers among the cardinals, who were looking for a pope who would deal with the problems posed by the Lutheran menace and the growing tensions between the Empire and France, and who would never vote for a pleasure-loving lightweight.

On the day after the conclusion of the Conclave, January 10, 1522, the caudatario of the Vicar-General of the Archdiocese of Florence, Giovanni Maria Galiani, wrote up his version of the event (Staffetti 35-36 n.1):

... Hadriano ... stato creato da Monsignor nostro Reverendissimo [Giulio de' Medici] contra l' opinione delli coniurati nostri adversarii, a la qual creatione ce sono iti gabati. Monsignor nostro lo ha voluto fare perchè questi arabiati non si sono mai possuti accordare etiam in favor d' uno de' lori, anchor che più d'uno glie n' habi preposti: non possendo obtenere Farnese li propose La Valle, qui etiam exclusus fuit et molti altri. Et il Reverendissimo Cybo a poco a poco si acostò, che maladetto fusse quel poco: li agenti soi Conclavisti andorno a diversi de' cardinali della conventicula et exponendoli come il prefato Reverendissimo Cibo era agravato de infermità, ad suplevarlo li pregavano darli el voto ad ciò se recreasse, et l' uno non sapendo de l' altro promisero, come poi quando furno per poner li voti si scoperse che l' Ursino, ragionando cum Sa(n)cti Quattro et dicendo–Dio Volesse–s' imbatete per mala sorte passar Colunna, qual intese le parole: Dio volesse, et entrato in suspetto, trovò de soi ciascuno et l' interrogava a chi haveano dato el voto; l' uno respondeva a Cibo et l' altro similmente non sapendo più oltra, in modo che veduto erano dodici voti dei soi per Cibo et quindici sapeva h' haveva il Reverendissimo nostro fermi, fece che molti cassorno Cibo et poseno de l' altri, et così la cosa fa scoperta; per il che è piaciunto poi a l' altissimo che sia electo questo sancto homo, qual credemo sarà frutifero per la sua santa Chiesa et per la fede christiana.

The next two scrutinies after the Cibo fiasco produced no progress. On January 8, Cardinal Carvajal (Santa Croce) received 20 votes, as did Fieschi; Jacobazzi had 12, and Farnese 4.

Though Medici may have controlled about fifteen votes, he was well aware that he himself could not be elected.   King François I is said to have remarked that if Medici were elected, neither he nor any man in his kingdom would obey the Church of Rome. The Emperor had other candidates. Medici therefore threw his influence behind Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, who was then able to command twenty-two votes, four short of election. This is more or less confirmed by John Clerk, the English ambassador (Ellis, 306-307): "After that there_____ scrutynie made day by day, two or thre days together, but the said Cardinal de Farnesio coude neuer passe xxijth voices..."

The Emperor's Candidate

The Venetian Ambassador wrote to his government on the 10th of January (Sanuto, 377-378) that there were eleven scrutinies during the conclave, and on January 9, in the last, Cardinal Adrian of Tortosa had 15 votes. According to an anonymous conclavist, "Ostiensis et Dertsensis habuerunt vota XV" (Carvajal and Adrian had fifteen votes each) (Laemmer, 11). At that point Cardinal Cajetan finally revealed the secret that he had been carrying, the name of the person who was the choice of the Emperor Charles (Petruccelli, 523-524). He made a dramatic speech to the cardinals in favor of Adrian Florensz Dedel, and at the accessio he obtained a total of 28 votes, which was sufficient to elect (Relazioni 74). Those who voted for Adrian at the accessio included: Caetano, Colonna, Cavaglione (Pallavicino, Bishop of Cavaillon), Monte (Antonio Ciocchi del Monte), Trivulzio, Piccolomini, Aracoeli (Numai), Ancona (Pietro de Accolti), Campeggio, Armellino, Trani, Jacobazzi and Como (Trivulzi). A putative list of the votes in all of the eleven scrutinies is given in a letter to Giustinian Contarini from Count Giorgio di Zafo (Sanuto, 384-385). In his list (of unknown provenance) the largest number of votes obtained by anyone at any time was 21 garnered by Cardinal Farnese on the 8th scrutiny.

On January 14, Cardinal Trivulzio wrote in French to King François of France, speaking of his own vote for the election of the new pontiff (Molini, Documenti di storia italiana I, xxiii).

The new Pope in Spain

A special commission of Cardinals (Colonna, Orsini and Cesarini) was appointed to go to Spain and carry out all the necessary business to proclaim Adrian pope (Sanuto, 387-389). Very detailed instructions were issued by the Sacred College (quoted in Gachard, pp. 10-19; Laemmer, Meletematum p.201 n.1) as to what should be done and how. In the meantime, Rome would be governed by the senior members of each cardinalatial rank, Carvajal, Scheiner and Cornaro.

The Emperor, who was in Bruxelles, heard the news on January 20, 1522. It was a chamberlain of Cardinal Carvajal, the Dean of the College of Cardinals who carried the letter of the Sacred College which informed Cardinal Dedel, who was at Vitoria in Spain, that he had been elected pope. The messenger arrived on February 9 (letter of Adrian to Charles, Gachard, p. 41). On the 11th the new pope wrote to the Emperor, seeking advice as to whether he should travel to Rome by land or by sea. Seeing that the commission of cardinals was being delayed in Rome, Adrian wrote out an acceptance in his own hand, had it notarized, and sent it to Rome with Giovanni Borel, his Protonotary Apostolic, he also advised the commission of cardinals not to come to Spain at all if they had not yet set out when his messenger arrived. When the cardinals received the declaration, they had it published to the people of Rome. Baldassare Castiglione reported to Isabella d'Este in a letter of March 26, 1522 (Serassi, 65) that the Cardinals had decided "che i Legati non vadino più fuor d'Italia, perchè questa andata potrebbe tardar molto Sua Santità". He provides the substance of the Pope's letter.

The pope departed Vitoria on March 12; on the 17th he departed Santo Domingo for Logrono. On the 25th he was in Alfaro. On the 28th he was in Pedrola. By March 29, the pope had reached Saragossa, where he spent several weeks (Pastor, Geschichte, 724-735, for letter of May 8), he wrote a letter to the College of Cardinals on May 19, explaining the reasons for his delay (Gachard, pp. 82-85), and again on June 3 about arrangements (Pastor, Geschichte, 725-726). Finally, in July, he arrived at Tarragona. On March 28, the Spanish ambassador in Rome, Don Juan Manuel, wrote to the Pope about the situation in the city (Gachard, 55-58); among other things he gives his observations on the attitudes of the various cardinals toward the pope. He says that there were some who wanted to void the election of Adrian and proceed to a new scrutiny, including Volterra, Colonna, Orsini, Ancona, Flisco, Como, Cavaillon, Monte, Aracoeli, Grassis, Grimani, and Cornaro; those most favorable to the pope included: Medici, la Valle, Sion, Campeggio, Cesarini, all the Florentines, Cesi, and Farnese.

Adrian's Arrival in Rome and Coronation

On August 7 Adrian VI finally set sail from Tarragona for Italy. His fleet touched land at San Esteban, Monaco, and Savona. On August 17 his party reached Genoa, where he celebrated mass and received various dignitaries, including Francesco Sforza, the duke of Milan and Prospero Colonna, the commander of the Imperial army in Lombardy. He embarked again on the 19th, travelling by way of Livorno and Civitavecchia, disembarking at Ostia on the 28th of August. He was received by a welcoming committee of eight cardinals and set out at once for Rome, reaching the Basilica of Saint Paul on the same day. He wanted to be crowned then and there, at St. Paul's, but he was prevented by the opinions of the majority, who wanted the traditional forms to be observed (Ruscelli, 79):

Gran controversia fu tra cardinali, e ministri pontificii, ove il pontefice si devesse coronare. I cardinali per la maggior parte erano d' opinione, che sua Santità si coronasse a San Paolo, accioche entrasse in Roma coronato, e in abito pontificale, ma vinse la opinione de' commessi del Papa, che sua Santità fosse coronata al luogo solito, cioe fu le scale di San Pietro, e così la mattina seguente tutti i Cardinali, e tutta la Corte cavalcò a San Popla. Il Pontefice secretamente disse messa secondo la sua antica usanza non mai internessa di celebrare ogni dì. Da poi discese giù nel chiostro, ove erano tutti i Cardinali, i quali tutti per ordine d' uno in uno li baciaron la mano senza far motto. Da poi andarono insieme in chiesa al l' altar maggiore, e dette certe orationi, si pose à sedere il Pontefice in una sedia pontificale à canto l' altare. Et tutti i Cardinali d' uno in uno gli andarono à dare obedienza in quella guisa, che si fa in cappella. Fatto questo, il Papa et i cardinali si ridussero in sacristia, et quivi per ispatio di meza hora fecero una congregatione...

On the 29th, he made a not-very-grand entrance into Rome, since he had forbidden the completion of welcoming arches and other decorations, and allocated a pittance for the ceremonies. The plague also reduced the size of the crowd (Serassi, 80-84; cf. Ruscelli,79-80):

montarono à cavallo, e il Papa in sedia fu portato da cubicularii, et scudere fino alla porta di San Poplo, et ivi smontato di sedia, montò in sù una chinea col sacramento inanzi, ut moris est, et venne in Roma al Palazzo del Vaticano. La pompa fu mediocre, anzi molto positiva, parte per essere il Pontifice di natura aliena di simil cose, parte per essere tutti questi Cortegiani essausti da Papa Leone, et falliti. Nondimento fu una incredibile allegrezza, e un plauso di questo popolo tale, che il Papa stesso non sapeva in qual mondo si stosse dalle grida delle genti, et da gli strepiti delle artiglierie per tutti i lati. Molte ancora Donne Romane io vidi piagnere per allegrezza. Il giorno seguente venne fuora il bando delle arme molto rigoro, ò, più che quello di Papa Leone. Domenica poi il penultimo di questo mese Sua Santità fu coronata loco solito, et solitis ceremoniis. L' apparato fu pochissimo dictis de causis, et la frequentia del popolo poca, per rispetto del la peste, percioche molta gente ancora sta in suburbiis per questa causa.

Cardinal Adrian Florenzoon Dedel was crowned as Adrian VI on August 31, 1522, on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica by Cardinal Marco Coronaro, the Protodeacon, with only a small crowd in attendance due to fear of the plague. On September 1, 1523, he held his first Consistory (Laemmer, Meletematum, 201-202). He never took possession of the Lateran Basilica, having shut himself up in his palace; no one was admitted without the most urgent business. Many cardinals immediately left Rome, and the courts were closed. The plague did not abate until the Spring of 1523. Adrian himself died on September 14, 1523 (Sanuto, Volume 34, p. 410).

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Bibliography

 

M. v Domarus, "Die Quellen zur Geschichte des Papstes Hadrian VI.," Historisches Jahrbuch 16 (München 1895), 70-91. Paris de Grassis, Il diario di Leone X (ed. Pio Delicati and Mariano Armellini) (Roma 1884). C. G. Hoffman (editor), Nova scriptorum ac monumentorum partim rarissimorum partim ineditorum collectio. Tomus I: Praeter alia saeculi XVI. monumenta Sam. Guichenoni Bibliothecam Sebusianam et Paridis de Crassis diarium cur. rom. complexus (Lipsiae: Haered. Lanceisianorum, MDCCXXXI). Blasius Ortizius, Itinerarium Adriani VI, ab Hispania, unde summus acersitus fuit Pontifex, Romam usque, ac ipsius pontificatus eventus (1546). Pierantonio Serassi (editor), Lettere del Conte Baldessar Castiglione Volume Primo (Padova 1769). Julia Cartwright, Baldassare Castiglione, The Perfect Courtier. His Life and Letters 1478-1529 Volume II (London 1908). Hugo Laemmer, Meletmetum Romanorum mantissa (Ratisbon 1875).

Eugenio Alberti (editor), Relazioni degli ambasciatori veneti al Senato Series II Volume III (edited by Tommaso Gar), Roma (Firenze 1846). Marino Sanuto, I diarii di Marino Sanuto Volume XXXII (Venezia 1892), col. 203-418. M. Gachard, Correspondence de Charles-Quint et d' Adrien VI (Bruxelles 1859) xiii-xl. Giuseppe de Leva, Storia documentata di Carlo V in correlazione all' Italia II (Venezia 1863), 121-133. William Bradford (editor), Correspondence of the Emperor Charles V. and his ambassadors at the Courts of England and France (London 1850). Hugo Laemmer, Zur Kirchengeschichte des sechszehnten und siebenzehnten Jahrhunderts (Freiburg im Bresigau 1863).

The reports of the English orator, John Clerk, Dean of the Chapel Royal: Henry Ellis, Original Letters illustrative of English History, 1074-1525 (3rd series, Volume 1) (London 1846), Letter CIII (dated Decmeber 2, 1521), 279-282; Letter CXII (dated January 13, 1522), 304-316. J. S. Brewer, Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII Volume III—Part I (London 1867) cxc-ccvii.   Ethelred L. Taunton, Thomas Wolsey: Legate and Reformer (London 1902).

Girolamo Ruscelli, Lettere di Principi, le quali ò si scrivono da principi, ò a principi, ò ragionan di principi Libro Primo (in Venetia: Appresso Giordano Ziletti 1562) [letter of Girolamo Negro to Marcantonio Michele, on the arrival of Pope Adrian in Rome and his coronation]. Alessandro Luzio, "Due documenti mantovani sul conclave di Adriano VI," Archivio della Società Romana di Storia Patria 29 (1906) 379-396 [written by Bernardo Rutha, Protonotary Apostolic, 19 and 27 December, 1521].

Constantin von Hoster, Papst Adrian VI 1522-1523 (Wien 1880) 66-95. Gaspar Burmann, Analecta historica de Hadriano Sexto (Utrecht 1727) 141ff. Gaetano Novaes, Elementi della storia de' Sommi Pontefici Volume VI (Roma 1822) 204-208.  F. Petruccelli della Gattina, Histoire diplomatique des conclaves Volume I (Paris: 1864), 512-526.   Ferdinand Gregorovius, The History of Rome in the Middle Ages (translated from the fourth German edition by A. Hamilton) Volume 8 part 2 [Book XIV, Chapter 4-5] (London 1902) 415-430 F. A. Artaud de Montor Histoire des souverains Pontifes Romains Volume IV (Paris 1851) 74-76.   William Roscoe The Life and Times of Leo the Tenth Volume IV (Philadelphia 1806), pp. 391-399. Ludwig Pastor, History of the Popes (tr. R.F. Kerr) Volume VIII (St. Louis 1908) pp. 31-41. Ludwig Pastor, Geschichte der Päpste Vierter Band, Zweiter Abteilung (Freibourg im Breisgau 1907), 722-7 .M. Creighton, A History of The Papacy during the Period of the Reformation Volume V (London 1894), 186-191.

On Cardinal Innocenzo Cybo: Luigi Staffetti, Il cardinale Innocenzo Cybo (Firenze: Le Monnier 1894). The Cybo family chronicle, Memorie della famiglia Cybo, commissioned by Prince Alberico, has an account of Cardinal Cybo's electoral experience in 1520 (Staffetti, 35), and makes it seem that Cybo had the intention all along of trying to become pope. Given that Giulio de' Medici was a much more accomplished and forceful figure, and that he was the leader of the Florentine factio (as Lelio testifies), and that he himself had obvious designs on the papacy, it seems unlikely that Cybo would have stood in opposition to his cousin. If he actually did, it may well show his lack of political astuteness and unsuitability for the papacy.

On Cardinal Armellino: Charles Berton, Dictionnaiare des cardinaux (Paris 1857) 264 (using Panvinio, Paolo Giovio). G. Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica Volume 3 (Venezia 1840) 36-37. On Cardinal Carvajal: Moroni, Volume 10 (Venezia 1841) 134-135. Pastor, Volume 7, p. 202 with notes.