Sede Vacante 1521-1522

Francesco Armellino de' Medici (July 13, 1470- 1527) was born at Perugia (or in Fossato in the Diocese of Nocera) in 1469 or 1470, the son parents who were "peu honorables" His paternal name may have been Pantalassi, and Armellino his mother's. His father enriched himself by.borrowing large sums from his creditors and then fleeing them. The son moved to Rome and became a solicitor. Julius II made him his secretary, as well as secretary of the College of Cardinals. Because of the son's cleverness along the same lines as his father, Francesco became useful to Leo X, who was perpetually in need of new ways to raise funds. Leo adopted him into his family, and made him a cardinal on July 1, 1517. He was authorized by the Pope to buy the office of Camerlengo from Cardinal Innocenzo Cibò, Pope Innocent VIII's nephew, which he succeded in doing on September 13, 1521 (Pastor History of the Popes Volume 8, p. 98). He was appointed Legate to Umbria and to the Marches, and was made superintendant of finances. But under Adrian VI he was attacked in consistory by Cardinal Pompeo Colonna for his avarice and his huge fortune. Nonetheless he was protected by Cardinal Giuliano de' Medici. When Medici became Pope Clement VII in 1523, his career again prospered; he was preferred to the see of Taranto in 1525 and in 1526 was named pro-Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church. He lost everything in the Sack of Rome in May of 1527, sought refuge with Clement VII in the Castel Sant' Angelo, and died there. Since he left no will, the pope inherited what was left of his property investments.

The Dean of the College of Cardinals in 1521 was Cardinal Bernardino López de Carvajal (1455-December 16, 1523), the nemesis of Martin Luther.

Pope Leo X (Medici) had been ill since October of 1521, probably with malaria. According to the Venetian ambassador, Alvise Gradenigo, he had a fever on the 25th of November. Nonetheless he returned to Rome from his suburban Villa Manliana that day, and participated in some festivities in the city, culminating in a grand banquet. He 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 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 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). 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).

On Monday, December 9, the first of the novendiales masses was held in the Sistine Chapel, 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. Cardinal Alessandro Cesarini, former papal protonotary, was appointed to make the necessary preparations for holding the conclave. 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.

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 them 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 (according to the Venetian ambassador Gradenigo; Sanuto, 325) Cardinal Medici received the most votes, Cardinal Flisco (Fieschi) came second, and Farnese third. 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 Tuesday, the 30th, during the night, Grimani was removed from the conclave, apparently having had an accident. He had still not returned by the 2nd (Sanuto, 356).

Though Medici had about fifteen votes, he was well aware that he 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. The Emperor Charles V had twice promised his assistance to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the English Chancellor, who was eager to become pope, but Charles' promises, made as recently as December 17, proved worthless. Wolsey did not attend the conclave, a mistake for a would-be candidate. Henry VIII sent a special ambassador to Rome, Richard Pace, who arrived after the election had already taken place (Gachard, xiv-xvi). Wolsey received six votes on the fifth screutiny, and that was all (Sanuto, 385).

Other cardinals under consideration were Franciotto Orsini, the French candidate (whose votes fluctuated between 3 and 7), and the Imperial candidate, 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.

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, At that point Cardinal Cajetan made a dramatic speech to the cardinals in favor of Adrian, and at the accessio he obtained a total of 28 votes, which was sufficient to elect. 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.

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) as to what should be done and how.

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, 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.

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, he wrote a letter to the College of Cardinals on May 19, explaining the reasons for his delay (Gachard, pp. 82-85). 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.

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. 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 crowd.

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. 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).

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. 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. 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. M. Creighton, A History of The Papacy during the Period of the Reformation Volume V (London 1894), 186-191.

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.