---

---

---

---

---

The Death of Paul IV

On February 15,1559, Paul IV held a Consistory, in which he published the Bull Cum ex apostolatus officio, in which a vote, active or passive, in Consistory was denied to those Emperors, Kings, Princes, or Cardinals who had been accused of heresy. In another Consistory on March 10, he made a decree that no Cardinal under inquisition for heresy, whether arrested or confessed or convicted, could be elected Pope (Laemmer, Meletematum, p. 209-210) These decrees were intended to influence the election of his successor, and were directed principally against Cardinal Giovanni Girolamo Morone, who was at the time imprisoned in the Castel S. Angelo, even though he had been cleared of all charges by a Committee of Cardinals (Alessandrino [Ghislieri], Pisa, Reuman, and Spoleto [Farnese]) who had been appointed to deal with his case (Cantù, 421-442).

Pope Paul IV (Carafa) died on August 18, 1559 (Laemmer, Meletemata, p. 212—diary of Vincenzo Bello, Romano):

Alli undici da Agosto si ammalò il Papa di vomito di flusso e con un poco di febre, et in otto giorni se ne mori, che fu alli XVIII.

He was widely hated for his narrow-mindedness, harshness and intolerance. Riots ensued, lasting several days and destroying the Palace of the Inquisition and liberating its prisoners; Paul's statue on the Capitoline was overturned and its head used as a football for three days before being thrown into the Tiber. The Throne of Peter remained vacant for four months and seven days.

Interests of the Crowns

The Carafas' anti-Spanish policy made King Philip II determined to influence the cardinals to elect a pope friendly to Spanish interests. The Emperor, Ferdinand I, and King Philip wanted help in dealing with problems with the Protestants, but the Council of Trent, which would have greatly helped in that direction, was looked on with grave suspicion by the Emperor and kings, because the reforms which were being promoted (especially in the realm of episcopal appointments, episcopal residence, and the holding of benefices) threatened the control of monarchs over the Church, its leaders, and its finances. The reformers were also promoting the reform of the Roman Curia, which certainly did not want to be reformed. What everyone could agree on is that they did not want a pope like Paul IV. Everyone, that is, except the nephews of Paul IV, headed by Cardinal Carlo Carafa. They needed to negotiate some sort of immunity for the misdeeds of the Carafa clan and their hangers-on.

In a letter to the Duke of Florence, written on August 18, the Florentine Ambassador in Rome, Buongiani Gianfigliazzi, wrote that among the soggetti were Cardinals Carpi, Puteo, Medici, Montepulciano and Aracoeli. Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga was playing a prominent part. Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, the Cardinal of Ferrara, the favorite of the French Court (he judged) would not win, but he had influence with his faction [portrait of Cardinal d' Este at left]. Farnese would do everything he could for Carpi, because of his friendship with d'Este (Petruccelli, 121)

 

 

 

The Cardinals

(A list of the cardinals, present and absent, is provided by Eugenio Alberi, vii-viii, who lists only 52 cardinals, and marks Georges d'Armagnac and Giovanni Antonio Capizzuchi as absent; he fails to mentio Antoine Sanguin de Meudon, who was absent). At the beginning of the Conclave there were fifty-five living cardinals, of whom forty-seven took part (according to Müller, 66-68).

Cardinals attending:

1. Jean du Bellay (aged 59), Suburbicarian Bishop of Ostia e Velletri , Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals.(died 1560)
2. Rodolfo Pio di Carpi (aged 59), Suburbicarian Bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina, Sub-Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals. (died 1564). "Santo Giacomo"
3. Francesco Pisano (aged 65), Suburbicarian Bishop of Frascati (died June 28, 1570).
4. François de Tournon (aged 70), Suburbicarian Bishop of Sabina (died April 22, 1562).
5. Federico Cesi (aged 59), Suburbicarian Bishop of Palestrina. (died 1565).
6. Pedro Pacheco de Villena (aged 71), Suburbicarian Bishop of Albano (died 1560).
   
   
7. Ercole Gonzaga (aged 53), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria Nuova (died March 3, 1563). Bishop of Mantua. Son of Francesco II, Duke of Mantua.
8. Niccolò Caetani (aged 33), Cardinal Priest of S. Eustachio (died 1585). Archbishop of Capua
9. Robert de Lenoncourt (74 ?), Cardinal Priest of S. Cecilia (died 1561). Archbishop of Embrun
10. Giovanni Girolamo Morone (aged 50), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria in Trastevere (died 1580). Bishop of Novara.
11. Cristoforo Madruzzo (or Madruzzi) (aged 47), Cardinal Priest of S. Cesareo in Palatio (died 1578). Bishop of Trent, Bishop of Brixen
12. Bartolomé de la Cueva de Albuquerque (aged 60), Cardinal Priest of S. Croce in Gerusalemme (died 1562).
13. Georges d'Armagnac (aged 58), Cardinal Priest of S. Lorenzo in Lucina (died 1585). Bishop of Rodez
14. Otto Truchess von Waldburg (aged 45), Cardinal Priest of S. Sabina (died 1573). Bishop of Augsburg
15. Tiberio Crispi (aged 61), Cardinal Priest of S. Agata alla Suburra (died 1566). Aadministrator of Amalfi.
16. Giovanni Angelo Medici.(aged 60), Cardinal Priest of S. Prisca (died December 9, 1565)
17. Cristoforo Ciocchi del Monte (aged 75), Cardinal Priest of S. Prassede (died 1564). Bishop of Cagli.
18. Fulvio della Corgna, O.S.Hier. (aged 41), Cardinal Priest of S. Stefano al Monte Celio (died 1583).
19. Giovanni Michele Saraceni (aged 60), Cardinal Priest of S. Anastasia (died 1568). Archbishop of Acerenza e Matera. Vice-Chamberlain.
20. Giovanni Ricci (aged 60), Cardinal Priest of SS. Vitale, Valeria, Gervasio e Protasio (died 1574). ."Montepulciano"
21. Giovanni Andrea Mercurio (aged 41), Cardinal Priest of S. Ciriaco alle Terme Diocleziane (died 1561). Archbishop of Messina.
22. Giacomo Púteo (aged 64), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria in Via (died 1563). Archbishop of Bari.
23. Giovanni Battista Cicada (or Cicala) (aged 49), Cardinal Priest of S. Clemente (died 1570)..
24. Bernardino Scotti, Theatin.(aged 81), Cardinal Priest of S. Matteo in Merulana (died 1568). Archbishop of Trani.
25. Diomede Carafa (aged 67), Cardinal Priest of S. Martino ai Monti (died 1560). Bishop of Ariano.
26. Scipione Rebiba (aged 55), Cardinal Priest of S. Pudenziana (died 1577). Bishop of Troia.
27. Jean Suau de Rieumes [Reumann] (aged 56), Cardinal Priest of S. Prisca (died 1566). Bishop of Mirepoix.
28. Giovanni Antonio Capizzuchi (aged 43), Cardinal-Priest of S. Pancrazio (died 1569). Bishop of Lodi.
29. Taddeo Gaddi (aged 39), Cardinal Priest of S. Silvestro in Capite (died 1561). Archbishop of Cosenza
30. Lorenzo Strozzi (aged 35), Cardinal Priest of S. Balbina (died 1571). Bishop of Béziers.
31. Jean Bertrand.(aged 77), Cardinal Priest of SS. Nereo ed Achilleo (died 1560). Archbishop of Sens.
32. Antonio (Michele) Ghislieri, OP (aged 54), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria sopra Minerva (died May 1, 1572). Bishop of Sutri e Nepi.
33. Clemente d'Olera, OFM Obs (aged 58), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria in Ara Coeli (died 1568).
    
    
34. Alessandro Farnese (aged 38), Cardinal Deacon of S. Lorenzo in Damaso (died 1589). Administrator of Spoleto. Nephew of Pope Paul III. Cardinal Protodeacon.
35. Guido Ascanio Sforza di Santa Fiora (aged 40), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Via Lata (died 1564). Bishop of Parma. "Santa Fiore"
36. Ippolito II d'Este (aged 50), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Aquiro (died 1572). "Ferrara"
37. Giacomo Savelli (aged 36), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Cosmedin (died December 5, 1587). Administrator of Nicastro.
38. Girolamo (Recanati) Capodiferro (aged 57), Cardinal Deacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro Bishop of Saint-Jean de Maurienne [died on December 1, 1559, having just left the Conclave]. "San Giorgio"
39. Ranuccio Farnese (aged 29), Cardinal Deacon of S. Angelo in Pescheria (died 1565). Archbishop of Ravenna. "Sant' Angelo"
40. Giulio Feltre della Rovere (aged 26)), Cardinal Deacon of S. Pietro in Vincoli (died 1578). "Urbino"
41. Innocenzo Ciocchi del Monte.(aged 27), Cardinal Deacon of S. Onofrio (died 1577). "Nephew" of Julius III.
42. Luigi Cornaro (aged 42), Cardinal Deacon of S. Teodoro (1584) Knight of Malta, former Grand Prior of Cyprus. [Cardella, 330-331].
43. Louis de Lorraine de Guise (aged 31), Cardinal Deacon of S. Tommaso in Parione (died 1578). Bishop of Albi.
44. Girolamo Simoncelli (aged 37), Cardinal Deacon of Ss. Cosma e Damiano (died 1605). Bishop of Orvieto.
45. Carlo Carafa (aged 42), Cardinal Deacon of SS. Vito e Modesto in Macello Martyrum (died 1561) Nephew of Pope Paul IV (Carafa)
46. Alfonso Carafa (aged 19), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Domnica (died 1565). Administrator of Naples.
47. Vitellozzo Vitelli (aged 28), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Portico (died 1568). Bishop of Città di Castello.

Cardinals not attending:

1. Claude de Longuy de Givry (aged 78), Cardinal Priest of S. Agnese in Agone (died August 9, 1561). Bishop of Langres.
2. Odet de Coligny de Châtillon (aged 42), Cardinal Deacon of S. Adriano al Foro (died 1571). Administrator of Beauvais
3. Antoine Sanguin de Meudon (aged 66), Cardinal Priest of S. Crisogono (died November 25, 1559). Administrator of Toulouse (1)
4. Francisco Mendoza de Bobadilla (aged 51), Cardinal Priest of S. Eusebio (died 1566). Bishop of Burgos .
5. Henrique de Portugal (aged 47), Cardinal Priest of Ss. Quattro Coronati (died 1580). Archbishop of Evora.
6. Charles de Lorraine-Guise (aged 35), Cardinal Priest of S. Apollinare (died 1574). Archbishop of Reims.
7. Charles I de Bourbon-Vandôme (aged 36), Cardinal-Deacon of S. Sisto (died 1590). Archbishop of Rouen.
8. Girolamo Dandini (aged 50), Cardinal Priest of S. Marcello (died December 4, 1559). Secretary of State 1555-1559.

Opening of the Conclave

On September 9, 1559 (or September 4/5, according to some), the Conclave opened, with forty-four cardinals in attendance. The political requirements of King Philip of Spain and the French Court of the new king François II (in fact under the control of Catherine de Medicis and the Guise faction) were, as usual, the determining factors in the choice of a pope. Prominent among the deliberations and maneuvers were Cardinals Farnese (nephew of Paul III), who was in close touch with King Philip and who controlled perhaps four votes; Carafa (nephew of Paul IV), who controlled around eleven votes; Ippolito II d' Este, the Cardinal of Ferrara, was the leader of the French interest, which included Louis I de Guise and Lorenzo Strozzi (both of whom arrived on the 15th of September).

The Venetian Orator, Luigi Mocenigo, remarked in his relazione of 1560 to the Venetian Senate, some six months after the Conclave (Alberi, 55 and 51),

Non è dubbio alcuno ... che il Duca di Fiorenza l' ha fatto Papa, però che lui l' ha fatto poner nei nominati del Re Filippo, e poi con diversi mezzi fatto raccomandar anco dalla Regina di Francia, e finalmente guadagnatoli con grande industria e diligenza la parte Caraffesca; per effetuar la qual cosa si crede che quel Duca, oltre li boni mezzi che ha in ogni corte, abbia ancora speso in doni e subornazioni, come è suo costume di fare, molta quantita di danari; di modo che bisogna per necessità che questo Pontefice riconosce, come fa, il papato, dopo Dio, dal Duca di Fiorenza.

Election of Cardinal de' Medici

The source of the Conclavi for the Conclave of 1559 remarks that for months there was so serious effort in the scrutinies to elect a pope. Candidates were named and votes were given for the sake of honor, not because a candidate had the qualifications necessary for the office. The example of Cardinal de la Cueva is offered, who, in his sweet and insinuating way, importuned both the Imperial and French factions to give him their votes; he did well in the scrutiny, until Cardinal Capodiferro spoke up and invited the attention of the voters to the character of the man they were supporting, whose credentials were no more impressive than several others among them. Votes were quickly changed, and De La Cueva's candidacy ended as quickly as it had begun (Histoire, 130-131).

Giovanni Angelo de' Medici was elected by acclamation, in the Pauline Chapel, on the afternoon of Christmas Day, 1559 (cf. Histoire des conclaves, 136); on the next day, in the Sistine Chapel, the choice of the previous day was ratified. Forty-four votes were cast, and Medici naturally received all the votes except his own. He was crowned on January 6, 1560, as Pius IV, by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, the Cardinal Protodeacon, and took possession of the Lateran Basilica on January 28.

 

---