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Death of Pope Julius III

Pope Julius III (Ciocchi del Monte) died on March 23, 1555, of stomach troubles (according to Pallavicino, 132). Panvinio (Epitome, p. 412) states, "inter horam decimam nonam & vigesimam P. P. Iulius III qui diu & multum antea Podagra laboraverat, diutina vi morbi oppressus, in Vaticano, in Palatio Apostolico Pontificio, mortuus est." That evening, the Cardinals assembled in congregation and elected Ascanio della Corgna as Consul of Rome, to which the Barons of Rome objected, claiming that it was their duty to defend the city (Pallavicini, 135-136). That same evening the body of the pope was carried to St. Peter's by the Canons of the Basilica, without ceremony, and placed in the Chapel of Sixtus IV On the night of the 25th the body was buried in the Chapel of S. Andrew. On March 25, the novemdiales began in St. Peter's, with a Requiem Mass sung by Cardinal du Bellay, the Cardinal Bishop of Porto, with thirty-seven cardinals in attendance (Panvinio, 412). The anonymous Conclavist, however, says that Cardinal Saraceno said the Mass (Lettere di principi, 232). Cardinal Crispo arrived on the 29th, and on the 30th Cardinal Savelli. On April 1 the Cardinal of Trent (Madruzzo) and Cardinal Pisani appeared. The days of official mourning (novendiales) concluded on April 3. (Cancellieri, 37-39, quoting the Anonymous Conclavist)

The Cardinals

At the time of the Pope's death there was a total of fifty-seven living cardinals. How many and which of these participated in the Conclave of April 1555, is a matter of controversy. Onuphrio Panvinio (423-425), a contemporary, states that there were thirty-seven cardinals (whom he names) in attendance at the beginning of the novendiales, and twenty cardinals absent (The names with an asterisk in the list below are those listed by Panvinio as absent).

The Anonymous Conclavist (Lettere di principi 3, 232) also provides a list, also of thirty-seven cardinals: Napoli, Bellay, Carpi and Santo Giacomo (4 Cardinal Bishops); Santa Croce, Viseo, Trento, Armignath, Cueva, Cesis, Santo Angelo, Verallo, Medici, Crispo, Marsilla, Perugia, Saraceno, Montepulciano, Messina, Puteo, Fano, Mignanello, Poggio, San Clemente, Dandino (21 Cardinal Priests); Pisani, San Giorgio, Mantoa, Monte, Santa Fiore, Cornaro, Sermonetta, Simpucello, Ferrara, Savello, Nobili, Urbino (12 Cardinal Deacons).

There are other reports of thirty-six and thirty-nine cardinals (Oldoino, in Ciacconius [Chacon], Tome III, 304; Moroni, 243).

Cardinals attending:

1. Gian Pietro Carafa (aged 78), Dean of the Sacred College, Cardinal Bishop of Ostia and Velletri (died 1555) ex-Bishop of Chieti, "Napoli"
2. Jean du Bellay (aged 63), Cardinal Bishop of Porto and Santa Rufina (died 1560)
3. Juan Alvarez, OP (aged 66), Cardinal Bishop of Albano (died 1557)
4. Rodolfo Pio di Carpi (aged 55), Cardinal Bishop of Frascati (died 1564) "Santo Giacomo"
   
   
5. ?Girolamo Doria (aged ca. 60), Cardinal Priest of S. Tommaso in Parione (died 1558)
6. Marcello Cervini (aged 54), Cardinal Priest of Santa Croce [elected Pope Marcellus, and died on May 1, 1555] Former tutor of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, Bibliothecarius Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae
7. Miguel de Silva (aged 75), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria in Trastevere (died 1556) Bishop of Viseu, longtime Portuguese ambassador in Rome.
8. Giovanni Morone (aged 46), Cardinal Priest of S. Lorenzo in Lucina (died 1580) [Panvinio: absent]
9. Cristoforo Madruzzo (aged 52), Cardinal Priest of S. Cesareo in Palatio (died 1578) Bishop of Trent (Tridentinus)
10. Bartolommeo de Cueva (aged 55), Cardinal Priest of S. Bartolommeo all' Isola (died 1562)
11. Georges d' Armagnac (ca. 55), Cardinal Priest of SS. Giovanni e Paolo (died 1585)
12. Federico Cesi (aged 54), Cardinal Priest of Sta. Prisca (died 1565)
13. Girolamo Recanati Capodiferro (aged 52), Cardinal Priest of S. Giorgio in Velabro, 1545-1559 (died 1559)
14. Tiberio Crispi (aged 57), Cardinal Priest of S. Agata alla Suburra (died 1566)
15. Girolamo Verallo (aged 57), Cardinal Priest of S. Marcello (died 1555)
16. Giovanni Angelo de' Medici (aged 56), Cardinal Priest of S. Stefano in Monte Celio (died 1565)
17. Cristoforo Ciocchi del Monte (aged 71), Cardinal Priest of S. Prassede (died 1564) first-cousin of Julius III
18. Fulvio della Corgna, Perusinus (aged 37), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria in Via (died 1583)
19. Giovanni Saraceni (aged 56), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria in Aracoeli (died 1568) Archbishop of Matera (Materensis)
20. Giovanni Ricci (aged 56), Cardinal Priest of S. Vitale (died 1574) recently Bishop of Chiusi (Clusinus) "Montepulciano"
21. Giovanni Andrea Mercurio (aged 37), Cardinal Priest of S. Ciriaco alla Terme (died 1568) Archbishop of Messina (Messanensis)
22. Giacomo Puteo (aged 60), Cardinal Priest of S. Simeone (died 1563) Doctor in utroque iuri , former Auditor of the Sacred Roman Rota, Archbishop of Bari (which he never visited).
23. Pietro Bertani OP (aged 53), Cardinal Priest of SS. Marcellino e Pietro (died 1558) Bishop of Fano
24. Fabio Mignanelli, Senensis (aged 68/69), Cardinal Priest of S. Silvestro in Capite (died 1557) Prefect of the Papal State.
25. Giovanni Poggio, Tropiensis (aged 62), Cardinal Priest of S. Anastasia (died 1556)
26. Giovanni Battista Cicada (Cicala) (aged 44), Cardinal Priest of S. Clemente (died 1570)
27. Girolamo Dandini (aged 45) Cardinal Priest of S. Matteo (died 1559) recently Bishop of Imola, Secretary of State of Julius III
    
    
28. Francesco Pisano (aged 61), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Portico S. Marco ? (died 1570) Cardinal Protodeacon
29. Ercole Gonzaga (aged 49), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria Nuova, Bishop of Mantua (died 1563)
30. Guido Ascanio Sforza (aged 36), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Via Lata (died 1564) grandson of Pope Paul III, "Santa Fiore"
31. Ippolito II d'Este (aged 45), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Aquiro (died 1572) "Ferrara"
32. Giacomo Savelli (aged 33), Cardinal Deacon of S. Niccolò in Carcere Tulliano (died 1587)
33. Niccolò Caetani (aged 29), Cardinal Deacon of S. Eustachio (died 1585) Bishop of Capua
34. Ranuccio Farnese (aged 24), Cardinal Deacon of S. Angelo in Pescheria (died 1565) Major Penitentiary, Archpriest of the Lateran Basilica, Nephew of Paul III
35. Giulio della Rovere (aged 22), Cardinal Deacon of S. Pietro in vinculis (died 1578) Bishop of Urbino, son of Duke Francesco I of Urbino
36. Innocenzo Ciocchi del Monte (aged 23), Cardinal Deacon of S. Onofrio (died 1577)
37. Luigi Cornaro (aged 38), Cardinal Deacon of S. Teodoro (died 1584)
38. Girolamo Simoncelli (aged 33), Cardinal Deacon of SS. Cosma e Damiano (died 1605) great-nephew of Julius III
39. Roberto de' Nobili (aged 13), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Domnica (died 1559) great-nephew of Julius III

Cardinals not attending:

1. *Louis de Bourbon (aged 62), Cardinal Bishop of Palestrina (Cardinal of S. Sabina, 1533-1550) (died 1557)
2. *Francois de Tournon, Cardinal Bishop of Sabina
3. *Claudio de Longuy de Givry [Claudius de Giuri] (aged ) Cardinal Priest of S. Agnete in Agone (died 1561)
4. *Robert de Lenoncourt (between 65 and 70), Cardinal Priest of S. Apollinare (died 1561)
5. *Odet de Coligny (aged 37) Cardinal Deacon of S. Adriano (d. 1571)
6. *Durante de Duranti (aged 47), Cardinal Priest of SS XX Apostolorum (died 1557) Bishop of Brescia
7. *Jacques d ' Annebaut [Denebault] (aged ca. 55), Cardinal Priest of S. Susanna (died 1557)
8. Alessandro Farnese (aged 34), Cardinal Deacon of S. Lorenzo in Damaso (died 1589) Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church, Archpriest of S. Maria Maggiore, Grandson of Paul III [That he did not participate is explicitly stated by Pallavicini, 139-140. He arrived late from Avignon, where he was the Legate and had been living in exile. He was carrying letters from Henri II to the cardinals, recommending Cardinal Pole. Pallavicini derived his information from three letters written by Farnese to his agent in Paris, dated May 11 and 14, 1555.]
9. Antoine Sanguin de Meudon (aged 62?), Cardinal Priest of S. Crisogono (died 1559)
10. *Reginald Pole (aged 55), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Cosmedin (died 1558) Legate in England, he was at Richmond, ill with fever and catarrh [Martin Haile, Life of Reginald Pole, pp. 460-462, based on his letters and on Venetian dispacci, of Giovanni Michiel]
11. Francisco Mendoza (aged 46), Cardinal Priest of S. Eusebio (died 1566) Bishop of Burgos
12. *Otto Truchess von Waldburg (aged 40), Cardinal Priest of Santa Sabina (died 1573) [present at the second conclave: Pallavicini, 149]
13. Pedro Pacheco (aged 66), Cardinal Priest of S. Balbina (died 1560) Viceroy of Naples
14. *Henrique de Portugal (aged 43) Cardinal Priest of SS IV Coronati (died 1580) Archbishop of Evora, Legate in Portugal, brother of the King
15. *Charles de Guise de Lorraine (aged 31), Cardinal Priest of S. Cecilia (died 1574) Archbishop of Reims
16. *Charles de Bourbon de Vendôme (aged ), Cardinal Priest of S. Sisto (died 1590) Archbishop of Rouen
17. Pietro Tagliavia de Aragona (aged ca. 55) Cardinal Priest of S. Callisto (died 1558) Archbishop of Palermo
18. Louis de Guise de Lorraine (aged 27) Cardinal Deacon without Deaconry; received the Deaconry of S. Tommaso in Parione after he attended the second conclave (died 1578)

 

The First Conclave

On Friday April 5, the first conclave of 1555 opened, with thirty-seven Cardinals in attendance, according to Pavinio and the Anonymous Conclavist (Lettere di principi 3, 232). The Cardinal Dean, Cardinal Gian Pietro Carafa (the Cardinal of Naples), sang the Mass of the Holy Spirit (Cancellieri, 39). That afternoon the Cardinals assembled in the Capella Paolina and discussed matters having to do with sanitation. In charge of arrangements were Cardinals Carafa (the Dean), the Cardinal di Santa Croce (Cervini) as Senior Cardinal Priest, Cardinal Pisani as the Senior Cardinal Deacon, and the Camerlengo, Cardinal Sforza. Late in the evening, they closed the doors and the Conclave began.

This beginning was not without protest, considering that Pope Julius III had prepared new instructions for the conduct of a conclave, which, however, were not observed (See J. B. Sägmüller, Die Papstwahlbullen, 1-35). Sir John Masone, the English Ambassador in Bruxelles, wrote to the English Council (Turnbull, Calendar of State Papers #346, April 21):

Letters from Italy mention that notwithstanding the broil likely to have grown between certain of the Barons of Rome and the Cardinals for the governing of the city, all things go forward there peaceably. There is still, however, some contention between the Imperial Cardinals and those of the French faction for the hasting or tracting of the election. The Imperials, who are as yet stronger than the others, would according to a bull of the last Pope have the matter to be begun out of hand; the others protest that this bull was never published to the Cardinals in France, who rightly should have such time allowed them, as, the distance of the places considered, might enable them to reach Rome before any conclusion. Of those most like to have the place [Papacy], according to the common voice at Rome, Santa Croce is most spoken of: after him Cheatino, Pole, Fano, Puteo, &c. The Cardinal of Ferrara is also talked of: "Marry, we hear of no quality to set him forward but that he is rich."

The conclave began as a nasty struggle between the Emperor Charles V's cardinals and those of the French king, Henri II. The French faction was led by one of the soggetti papabili, Cardinal Ippolito II d' Este (Pallavicino, 136), who had lately (1552-1554) been the ruler of Parma on behalf of Henri II of France, his personal friend and patron from D'Este's many years at the French Court. Parma had been ceded to the French by Paul III as the price of an alliance with the Pope. This gave the French a stronger foothold in northern Italy, where the Emperor was suzerain. Though a cardinal, d' Este was not yet in Holy Orders. His lifestyle did not indicate that he was in any way interested in reform of the Church, and the connections of his family (the ducal family of Ferrara) with France made him unacceptable to the Emperor Charles. Nonetheless he had high hopes for his own candidacy. In addition to the French, he claimed Italian supporters, such as San Georgio (Capodiferro) and Sermonetta, on the grounds of personal friendship (Conclavi, 239).

The imperial faction was under the official direction of Cardinal Guido Ascanio Sforza di Santo Fiore, but as he was not at his best in important matters, the Emperor also relied on Cardinals Ercole Gonzaga (Mantova) and Cristoforo Madruzzo (Trent) (Conclavi, 240-241). Santo Fiore decided to work with his cousin, Ranuccio Farnese, Cardinal S. Angelo (Conclavi, 245) to achieve their ends. Cardinal Sforza , on his part, saw two difficulties with the candidacy of Cardinal Cervini (Santa Croce), according to the Conclavist (Conclavi, 246): the first was that Cardinal Madruzzo (Trent) had a personal odium against Cardinal Cervini; the second was that the Emperor had a particular dislike of him. One of the most important considerations, from the point of view of the Emperor Charles, was that the Ecumenical Council, which had been meeting at Trent in his territory and under his protection, should resume its sessions and conclude the business of reform. At the same time, he did not favor the removal of the sessions from territory under his supervision to a more neutral site, such as Bologna, where anti-Imperial interests, both French and Italian, might have greater sway, and where his Protestant subjects (with whom he was trying to work out a living arrangement) would be unable to appear. Cervini had stoutly defended the rights of the Holy See in every respect, especially in convening a council in whatever place it wanted. A pope who was in favor of reform and at the same time agreeable to the Emperor's requirements was needed. The Emperor himself and King Philip preferred Cardinal Reginald Pole (Pieper, 71 n. 3, citing a letter of Philip to the Imperial Ambassador in Rome, Juan Manrique de Lara). On March 29, Cardinal Carpi wrote to the Duke of Florence that he was trying to hold together the Imperial Party, and was working with Baldovino Ciocchi del Monte (the late Pope's brother) to hold together his people. (Petruccelli, 67)

The creature of the late Pope Julius III ought to have carried considerable influence in the Conclave, but they were without a leader. Cardinal Innocenzo Ciocchi del Monte (aged 23) was, for many reasons, no leader; and the Pope's brother Baldovino was not a cardinal and could not operate inside the Conclave. As Averardo Serristori, the Florentine ambassador in Rome, wrote to Duke Cosimo (Petruccelli, 66-67), the cardinals of Pope Julius didn't want a leader; they preferred to make themselves agreeable to one person or another by offering their votes. Some were looking to France because of connections they had there: especially Cristoforo Ciocchi del Monte (Marseille) and Simoncelli. The French also had expectations from Dandino, Mignanelli and perhaps Cornaro. Nossi Camaiani, the secretary of Cardinal del Monte wrote to Duke Cosimo on March 31 that the creature of Julius III were going to promote Cardinal Puteo, with Cardinal Bertani (Fano) as an alternative. If neither produced results in the early scrutinies, they might turn to Cervini (Santa Croce), Morone, Carafa (Chieti) or Pole (Petruccelli, 67-68).

On April 6, Mass was said in the Capella Paolina by the Sacristan. All the Cardinals were present but three, who were indisposed (San Giacomo, Vyseo, and Poggio). It had become obvious that there were too many conclavisti present, some of whose credentials were suspicious. After Mass, a thorough investigation by the cardinals resulted in the removal of fifteen unauthorized persons (Conclavist, 233).

On April 7, which was Palm Sunday, Cardinal Carafa, the Dean, said Mass in the Paoline Chapel and palms were distributed to the cardinals (except Viseo and Poggio).

On April 8, the Mass was sung by the Sacristan, at which all were present except San Giacomo and Poggio. After Mass a Congregation took place at which deliberations were held on Electoral Capitulations. The text was to be worked out by nine Cardinals: Bellai, Santa Croce, Mantua, Fano, Verallo, Medici, Puteo, Mignanello and San Clemente. Later that day the Cardinals met again and the Committee presented its work. Late in the afternoon the Cardinals met and listened to a reading of the Bull of Pope Julius against simony. They then took the Conclave Oaths.

Scrutiny

On April 9, Mass was said again as usual, though without the presence of Viseo and Poggio. On the first ballot, on April 9, the votes were divided among Cardinals Carafa (12 votes), Cervini (Santa Croce) (8 votes), and D'Este (Ferrara) (6 votes). D'Este's showing in the voting was unacceptable to the Imperial party. It became their duty, therefore, to prevent the election of the Cardinal of Ferrara. Toward that end, Cardinal Carafa and Cardinal Madruzzi (Bishop of Trent) began to conspire in favor of the one candidate who could be elected, Cardinal Cervini, even though Cervini was far from being a pleasing candidate to the Emperor. They did not want to give the French faction time to campaign for their candidate, and Cardinal Cervini already had many friends and admirers. He was also one of the more than twenty creature of Paul III at the Conclave (Conclavi, 244).

Election of Cardinal Cervini

But the reformers, led by Cardinals Ranuccio Farnese, the Grand Penitentiary and Archbishop of Bologna, and the Camerlengo, Guido Ascanio Sforza, were working as well, in the interest of Church reform, and in particular the resumption of the Council of Trent (Panvinio, "Life of Marcellus II", p. 426). They managed to put together sufficient votes to elect Cardinal Marcello Cervini (Marcellus II), a papal diplomat who had been one of the three Presidents of the Council of Trent. He had been nuncio successively to the French King, Francis I, and to the Emperor Charles V. In the evening of April 9, he was proclaimed pope by "adoration". The Imperial faction had won, though the successful candidate was not pleasing to the Emperor, and the French had failed.

The next morning a formal vote was taken, and Cervini received all the votes except his own, which went to Cardinal Carafa, the Dean of the College of Cardinals. His election was immediately proclaimed to the people of Rome. The anonymous letter writer (Lettere di principi 3, 234) says:

A 10. di detto, il Mercordi un' hora inanzi giorno il Papa con li Cardinali entrarono con le Croci nella capella secondo gli ordini del conclave, & detta la messa dal Sacrista, tutti portorono i voti suoi aperti, nelli quali eleggevano il detto Cardinale Santa Croce, il voto del quale, per non elegger se medesimo, nominava il Cardinal di Napoli, il che fatto fu da tutti adorato, & il Cardinal Pisani come primo Diacono ando ad una fenestra come è l' ordinario, & disse al Populo, Papam habemus. Il nome suo Marcello secondo, il quale nome egli haveva prima, ne se l' ha voluto mutare. Dopò il Cardinal di Napoli disse la messa, & lo consacro Vescovo, & dapoi usciti della Capella, sen' andorno in Santo Pietro, dove il Papa cantò la Messa, & fu dal Cardinal Pisani come primo Diacono senza troppo ceremonie, coronato. Dopò desinare tutti si riposarono, & Sua Santità continuamente dette audienza a persone, che li venivano à baciar li piedi.

He was crowned in St. Peter's on April 10 by the Cardinal Protodeacon, Cardinal Francesco Pisani, after having been consecrated a bishop earlier in the day by Cardinal Carafa, the Dean of the Sacred College and Bishop of Ostia. It was a simple ceremony considering that it was the Wednesday in Holy Week, (Novaes, 96; Moroni, 243). Panvinio, who was present, records the event (Epitome, p. 423-424; cf. Historia B. Platini, "Vita Marcelli II", p. 426):

Anno Dominicae Nativitatis MDLV, postridie quam PP Marcellus creatus est, videlicet die Mercurii IIII Idus Aprilis [April 10, 1555], maioris hebdomadae, instantibus magnis solennibus, Coenae Domini, Veneris Sancti, & Paschatis, ne tot solennitates sine Pontifice (qui sacra omnia faceret) transigerentur, quum prius in aurora eius creatio, more Maiorum, per Archidiaconum S.R.E. Franciscum Pisanum Venetum, Diac. Cardinalem S. Marci, in Palatio facta esset, haud multo post ante aram maximam principis Apostolorum suae coronationis & Romani Pontificatus insignia per eundem Archidiaconum suscepit, data benedictione a Ioanne Bellaio Episcopo Cardinale Portuensi & S. Rufinae.

Reign and Death of Pope Marcellus II

At an early meeting with the Cardinals, he was asked to subscribe as pope to the Electoral Capitulations, in which the pope was obligated to create no more than a specific number of cardinals, Marcellus refused. During a Consistory, Cardinal Gonzaga (Mantuanus) undertook to lecture the Pontiff on papal duties, in a somewhat Macchiavellian vein, to which Marcellus replied that the Cardinal must think him a hypocrite when he recommended that he say one thing and do another. In his first audience with the Ambassadors of France and Spain, he warned the Ambassadors that their monarchs should keep the peace that had been agreed upon, and that if they did not, not only would they be sent Nuncios and Legates, but that the Pope himself would come and admonish them. He sent letters to the Emperor Charles, to King Philip and Queen Mary, and to Cardinal Reginald Pole (in which he renewed the Legateship which Pole held in England) (Friedmann, p. 38. Pole's Legantine Seal at left). When the Spanish Ambassador asked for pardon for having killed a man, the Pope replied that he did not want to start his reign with such auspices as absolution from homicide, and ordered the appropriate tribunals to observe the law. He did not want his relatives descending on Rome, nor did he want them to be enriched beyond the station of a member of the nobility, and he did not allow his two nephews, Riccardo and Herennius (sons of his half-brother Alexander), who lived in Rome under his care, to have formal visits. He instituted immediate economies in Vatican expenditures.

During the Holy Week services, the new Pope had caught a fever, which appeared to disappear, but ten days later returned. After twenty-two days in office, he died of a stroke, on May 1, 1555. Panvinio describes his decline (Historia Platinae "Vita Marcelli", p. 430):

Quum satis (ut dixi) firmus non esset viribus, & propterea anno superiori diu etiam febre laborasset, corpore quoque tam comitiorum incommodis, quam obeundis publicis muneribus, quae vetere Christiani populi instituto, annuis Dominici Cruciatus [Good Friday] & Resurrectionis [Easter] diebus per Maximum Pontificem fieri consuerunt, fatigato, duodecimo pontificatus die gravius e pituita, & non levi febre decubuit. Postridie sanguine emisso, febris quidem remisior fuit, verum corporis veres imminutae: visus tamen est per aliquot dies convalescere, quibus diebus semper aliquid per familiares egit. IIII Kal. Maii [April 28] cum melius se habere videretur, Urbinatum III. Kal. [April 29] Ferrariensium Duces, item Camerarium, Guisium, Farnesium, et Estensium Cardinales audivit. De Farnesio dixit se operam daturum ut intelligeret familiae suae beneficio Paulum III in se revixisse. Nocte sequenti haud multum quievit. Prid. Kal. [April 30] hora XII apoplexi correptus, omnes paulatim sensus amisit & hora VII noctis sequentis, quae Kal. Maii praecedit [May 1] secundo et vigesimo pontificatus die, vitae anno quinto et quinquagesimo minus sex diebus, maximo sui apud omnes bonos desiderio relicto, rebus humanis exemptus est.

Cardinal Marcello Cervini
(after Bronzino)

 

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The Second Conclave

The second Interregnum lasted from May 1 to May 23. The cardinals participating were essentially the same as from the April Conclave, with Cervini (Marcellus II) now dead, but the cardinals being joined by Francisco de Mendoza, Otto von Truchess, Pietro Pacheco, Pietro Tagliavia, Alessandro Farnese, and Louis de Guise. On May 15, the Conclave began with forty-four (Pallavicino) or forty-five (Bramato; Panvinio; Novaes, 107) cardinals present, and eleven cardinals absent. The Imperial Ambassador informed Cardinal Carafa that he should not seek election to the papacy, as the Emperor Charles V was opposed to him and would invoke the Veto (exclusiva). Carafa replied that if God wanted him to be pope, the Emperor had no power to stop it.

Election of Cardinal Carafa

Those favorable to the Emperor were considering Cardinals Carpi, Pole and Morone, all of whom were unacceptable to the French interest (Conclavi, 258). But Cardinal Carpi was particulary disliked by Cardinal D'Este, and there were serious questions about the orthodoxy of Cardinal Morone (Trollope, 227). Cardinal Farnese had brought with him from France letters for the cardinals from King Henri II, recommending Cardinal Pole (Pallavicini, 139-140), and he ought to have been zealously promoting his candidacy. But Pole, who had come close to the Papacy in 1550, was in England, fully occupied with restoring the English Church and building the marriage alliance between Queen Mary and King Philip, which had taken place the previous Fall. Sir John Masone, the English Ambassador in Bruxelles, wrote to the English Council (Turnbull, Calendar of State Papers #365, May 29):

In the banks at Rome are laid on the head of the Cardinal of Naples twenty for the hundred, upon Ferrara sixteen, on Pole, Fano, and Morone twelve. "If our Cardinal were present at Rome he were by the common opinion like to be made Pope."

KIng Philip. too, favored Pole. The Venetian Ambassador in London, Giovanni Michiel, wrote (Friedmann, p. 44; May 21, 1555):

Forono date dal Serenissimo Re le medesme commissioni et ordeni all' ambassador cesareo in Roma et alli Cardinali confidenti in questa nova creatione del Papa dell'altra volta, proponendosi, come intendo, l'Illustrissimo Legato a tutti, et se bene all' hora non servissero, essendo prima che arrivassero dette commissioni successa la creatione, hora si crede arrivarano et servirano.

Alessandro Cardinal Farnese (who had played no role in the politics of the first conclave, having arrived in Rome too late) and Cardinal d'Este (Ferrara) proposed Carafa. In his turn Carafa suggested Cardinal de' Nobili, a person of exemplary piety. The cardinals elected one of the leaders of the reform party, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, the Archbishop of Naples, Giampetro Carafa (Paul IV). The method of election was "adoration". The French faction certainly had succeeded in defying the attempted Imperial veto.

Pope Paul IV was crowned on Sunday, May 26, on the steps of St. Peter's, ubi Benedictio a Pontificibus dari solet, by the Cardinal Protodeacon, Francesco Pisano, and took possession of the Lateran Basilica on October 28, 1555 (Novaes, 107). At his first consistory, on June 7, 1555, Paul IV authorized the promotion of the Cardinal Protodeacon to be Cardinal Bishop of Albano and created one new cardinal, the son of his brother, Carlo Carafa (aged 38), Baliff of the Sovereign Order of Malta in Naples, who, in August, became the Cardinal Deacon of SS. Vito e Modesto.