SEDE VACANTE


October 16, 1591—October 29, 1591

December 30, 1591—January 30, 1592








ENRICO CARDINAL CAETANI (1550-1599), of a distinguished Roman family, was born on August 6, 1550, nephew of Cardinal Niccolò Caetani. He obtained a doctorate in canon and civil law from the University of Perugia. He was Patriarch of Alexandria (1585), and had served as Legate in Bologna (1585-87), and Nuncio to France and to Poland. He was created Cardinal by Sixtus V on December 18, 1585, and was sent to France as Legatus a latere (1589-1590) to deal with the crisis over the struggle for the French throne Henri (IV) de Bourbon had been excommunicated in 1585 (and again in 1591). Despite instructions from the Pope to maintain a balance among the competing interests, which included Philip II of Spain (who was proposing his son as a candidate), Caetani joined the Duc de Mayenne and the Holy League in proclaiming the Cardinal de Lorraine as King Charles X. Unfortunately, the Duc was defeated at the Battle of Ivry, and the Cardinal died shortly thereafter (1589). With Henri de Bourbon besieging Paris, Caetani was recalled to Rome, his mission a failure. He was named Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church on October 26, 1587, and presided over the Interregna of 1590, that of 1591, and that of 1591-1592. He died on December 13, 1599.   His body, bust, and funeral inscription are in S. Pudenziana, his titular church [V. Forcella, Inscrizioni delle chiese di Roma  XI, p. 138, nos. 263-265;  Oreste Raggi, Monumenti sepolcrali eretti in Roma agli uomini celebri  I (Roma 1841) pp. 235-239].

The Dean of the Sacred College was Alfonso Cardinal Gesualdi, .Cardinal Serbelloni having died on March 18, 1591.

The Governor of the conclaves was Msgr.Alfonso Visconti. The nephew of Cardinal Antonio Maria Sauli, he was born in 1552 in Milan. He took degrees in Civil and Canon Law at Pavia. In Rome he became an Oratorian, but left to pursue a career in ecclesiastical government. He was Nuncio to Austria from 1589 to 1591. He was governor of Borgo and of the two conclaves of 1591 and 1592. He became Bishop of Cervia in 1591, was Nuncio to Hungary (1595-1598), and was sent on missions to Poland and Naples. He was made a cardinal priest on March 3, 1599 (S. Giovanni a Porta Latina). In 1601 he became Archbishop of Spoleto. He died in 1608.

The Papal Master of Ceremonies was Paolo Alaleone, who left a Diarium (Vat. Lat. 12294).


 

The October Conclave, 1591


Pope Gregory XIV (Sfondrati) died in the night between October 15 and 16, 1591. His life had been despaired of three times before (and he had received Extreme Unction four times). Some cardinals were already on their way to Rome at the time of his death, believing that one of his crises had already been fatal.

A di 15 d' ottobre 1591 Martedi, circa dodici ore sino all' hore ventidue, il Papa cominciò a peggiorare in modo, che bisognò raccomandar l' anima. La domenica antecedente parimente gli fu raccomandata l' anima, e la notte seguente. Il Mercordi veniente cioò ad hore sette della notte seguente a detto giorno passò da questa a miglior vita il nostro Santissimo Padre Gregorio XIV.. Gia in questa lunga sua infermità S. Santità nello spazio di 23 giorni, che stette ammalato, più volte si era communicate ed ultimamente alli cinque del predetto mese d' Ottobre ebbe l' oglio santo, ed è morto santamente, sicche piamente si puole credere, che sia andato dritto dritto in Paradiso, e cosi sia. (Laemmer, Meletemetum, 234-235).

On October 25, the ninth and last of the novendiales Masses by Cardinal the d' Ascoli, Girolamo Bernerio, OP. Fifty-six cardinals attended the Mass (Laemmer, Meletematum, 235).

Fifty-six or fifty-seven cardinals entered conclave on October 27 (Novaes, 248).

On October 28 the Cardinal Dean, Alfonso Gesualdo, said the Mass of the Holy Spirit in the Capella Paolina, and distributed communion to all the Cardinals. After the Mass, the Cardinals proceeded to the first scrutiny, in which the Cardinal Santi Quattro, Giovanni Facchinetti, received the most votes, twenty-four, but there was no successful election. After lunch, there was a vetting of the Conclavists. On the second day of voting, October 29, in the morning scrutiny, Cardinal Facchinetti received twenty-eight votes. The rest of the day was spent in discussion until late afternoon (l' ore ventitre'), when the Cardinals reassembled in the Capella Paolina. The Cardinal Dean began to speak, "Ego Card. Gesualdus Episcopus Hostiensis eligo in Summum Pontificem Reverendissimum Dominum meum Joannem Antonium Facchinettum Tituli Sanctorum Quattuor Coronatorum Sanctae Ecclesiae Romanae Presbyterum Cardinalem. Following him, each of the other cardinals, in order, did the same .(Laemmer, Meletmetum 236 ).

 

Cardinal Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti, though seventy-two years of age and in chronic ill health, was elected as Innocent IX. He was crowned in private on November 3 (Oldoino), or in public in the portico of St. Peter's (Ciacconio). On the 8th of November he took solemn possession of the Lateran Basilica.

Immediately after his election, it seems, he began work on the reform of the Conclave system.  He appointed a congregation of Cardinals and prelates to provide a plan, but he died before the work even began to take shape.  The fact is noticed by a Sienese gentleman, Lelio Maretti, in a narrative of the Conclave that led to the Election of Clement VIII [quoted by Ludwig Wahrmund, Archiv für katholisches Kirchenrecht 72 (1894), 203, n.3, from Cod. Ottobon. 2798 fol. 57]:

Però haverebbe desiderato quelli, che havevano qualche mira del publico bene, che tanto si fusse allungata almeno la vita d' Innocentio, che egli havesse condotto a fine il santo proposito, che hebbe di riformare l' elettione del Pontefice, volendo ridurre quest' attione per se stessa di tanto momento e così nell' occhio del Christianesimo a modo più ragionevole e di minor confusione, et a questo fine haveva di gia ordinata una Congregazione di Cardinali e di Prelati intendenti per corregere li pericolosi disordini, che si scoprivano nel modo tenuto fin' hora, se bene provavano somma difficultà a trovar forma migliore e modo più a proposito di quello, che al presente era in uso. Passò dunque Innocentio a miglior vita due mesi dopo, che fù assunto a tanta dignità....

(Work evidently continued into the next reign.  A draft bull survives, which began "Omnipotens ille ac sempiternus sacerdos", but it is not known how close to being promulgated the document was).

On the 18th of December, though ill, Pope Innocent made a pilgrimage of Rome's seven pilgrimage churches and caught a chill. He developed a heavy cough and fever, and died on December 30, 1591. There was no Papal Master of Ceremonies present, but it was reported that he received Holy Communion and Extreme Unction. He was buried on January 8, 1592 (Laemmer, Meletmetum, 236).

 

 

The Conclave of January, 1592

The second Interregnum lasted from December 30, 1591 to January 30, 1592. There were sixty-four cardinals, Cardinal Juan Hurtado de Mendoza (aged 43), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria in Trastevere, having died January 6, 1592 . Fifty-two cardinals entered conclave on January 10, 1592, according to a list provided by Giovanni Stringa, "Vita di Clemente VIII" , p. 241-242. The Cardinal de Joyeuse arrived on January 12, making fifty-four electors. Thirty-six votes were needed to elect.

 

Cardinals attending:

  1. Alfonso Gesualdo (aged 51), Suburbicarian Bishop of Ostia and Velletri, Dean of the Sacred College (died 1603)
  2. Iñigo de Aragona, Suburbicarian Bishop of Porto and Santa Rufina
  3. Marc' Antonio Colonna, Suburbicarian Bishop of Palestrina
  4. Tolomeo Galli (aged 64), "Como", Suburbicarian Bishop of Frascati, (d. 1607)
  5. Gabriele Paleotti (aged 69), Suburbicarian Bishop of Sabina, formerly Suburbicarian Bishop of Albano, formerly Cardinal Priest of San Martino ai Monti.   Doctor in utroque iure (Bologna, 1546).  Professor of Law at the University of Bologna. Canon of the Cathedral of Bologna. Refused the Bishoprics of Majorca, Ragusa, and Avignon, as well as the Vice-Legateship of Avignon.  Auditor of the Rota.  Sent by Paul IV to the Council of Trent.  Appointed Bishop of Bologna by Pius V in 1566, and given the pallium of an Archbishop by Gregory XIII in 1582.  Prefect of the Congregation of the Index  (d. in Rome on July 20, 1597).
  6. Michele Bonnelli, OP (aged 50), grand nephew and Nipote of Pius V, Suburbicarian Bishop of Albano (d. 1598) "Alessandrino"

  7. Girolamo Simoncelli (aged 69), Cardinal Priest of S. Prisca (died 1605) Administrator of Orvieto.
  8. Marco d' Altemps [Markus Sittich von Hohenems] (aged 58), nephew of Pius IV, Cardinal Priest of S. Giorgio in Velabro (d. 1595)
  9. Nicolas de Pellevé (aged 76),   son of Charles de Pellevé, Sieur de Jouy and Hélène du Fay. His brother Robert was Bishop of Pamiers (1553-1579).  Cardinal Priest of S. Prassede (1584-1594).  Doctor of Laws (Bourges). Councillor of Parliament. Master of Requests. Abbot of S. Cornelius Compendiensis (in the diocese of Soissons) (1550-June,1552) [Gallia christiana IX, 441].   Named  Bishop of Amiens by Henri II (1553-1564) [Gallia christiana X (Paris 1751), 1207]. He participated in the Estates General in Paris in January, 1557.  He was sent to Scotland in 1559, as Nuncio of Paul IV, to deal with the Calvinist heretics. He accompanied the Cardinal of Lorraine to the Council of Trent (1562). Archbishop of Sens (1562-1591) [Gallia christiana XII , 95].  He was named cardinal by Pius V on May 17, 1570, but did not receive the titulus of SS. John and Paul until July 4, 1572.  Prefect of the SC of Bishops.   Later Archbishop of Reims (1591-1594)   An active member of the French "League" against Henri III and Henri IV.   In January-August, 1593, he was President of the Estates General (États de la Ligue) summoned to elect a King of France   [Mémoires de la Ligue  nouvelle édition  V (Amsterdam 1758), 327].   (died March 24, 1594).
  10. Luigi Madruzzi (aged 59), nephew of Cardinal Cristoforo Madruzzi, Cardinal Priest of S. Onofrio (d. 1600) Bishop of Trent.
  11. Giulio Antonio Santorio (aged 58), Cardinal Priest of S. Bartolommeo all' Isola (died 1602)
  12. Girolamo Rusticucci (aged 54), Cardinal Priest of S. Susanna, former Bishop of Sinigaglia. Vicar General of Rome. He died on  June 14, 1603, and was interred at S. Susanna [V. Forcella, Inscrizioni delle chiese di Roma  IX, p. 534, no. 1042].
  13. Girolamo Simoncelli (aged 69), grand-nephew of Julius III, Cardinal Deacon of (d. 1605)
  14. Pedro de Deza (aged 71), Cardinal Priest of S. Girolamo dei Schiavoni/Croati (died 1600); Professor of Law at Salamanca. Grand Inquisitor
  15. Alessandro de' Medici (aged 56), Cardinal Priest of S. Giovanni e Paolo (died 1605) "Cardinal of Florence" Fiorenza
  16. François de Joyeuse (aged 29), son of Guillaume de Joyeuse, Marechal de la France, and Maria de Batarnay; brother of Anne, duc de Joyeuse, Peer and Admiral of France, Governor of the Duchy of Normandy.     Former Archbishop of Narbonne (1582-1589) [Gallia christiana 6, 117-118].  Archbishop of Toulouse (1589-1604) [Eubel III, 315; Gauchat IV, 340].  Cardinal Priest of Sma Trinità al Monte Pincio (1587–1594). Archbishop of Toulouse (1589-1604) [Eubel III, 315; Gauchat IV, 340]     (arrived at the Conclave on January 12, 1592)
  17. Giulio Canani (aged 67), Cardinal Priest of S. Anastasia (d. 1592) Bishop of Modena; Doctor in utroque iure, Ferrara
  18. Agostino Valier (aged 60), Cardinal Priest of S. Marco (died 1606); Bishop of Verona
  19. Antonmaria Salviati (aged 54), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria della Pace (died 1602)
  20. Vincenzo Lauro (aged 68) Cardinal Priest of S. Clemente (died 1592) Bishop of Mondovi
  21. Jerzy Radzvil (Radziwill) (aged 35),  of the Dukes of Olika (Lithuania).   Named a Cardinal Priest on December 12, 1583, by Gregory XIII, but was not named Cardinal Priest of S. Sisto until July 14, 1586 (1586-1600).  Born a Calvinist, and orphan at twelve, educated at Leipzig. Converted to Catholicism in 1572.  Studied at Jesuit institutions in Poznan, Vilnius (Wilna), and Rome.  Travelled to Rome in 1575, and with the consent of King Stefan Bathory, was named Coadjutor of Wilna (by 1576, when he was in Rome), but with the proviso insisted upon by Pope Gregory XIII that he complete his studies in Rome.  During this time he made a pilgrimage to S. James at Compostela.   Bishop of Wilna (1579-1591).  He was made Viceroy of Livonia by King Sefan (1582). He was not ordained a priest, however, until April 10, 1583, and was not consecrated a bishop until December 26, 1583.  Bishop of Krakow (August 15, 1591-January 21, 1600). He was also named Legatus a latere to King Sigismund of Poland (1587-1632)  and to the Emperor Rudolf II (1576-1612).  Having arrived in Rome early in January, 1600, with the intention of taking part in the Jubilee, he died in Rome on January 21, 1600, and was buried in the Gesu [V. Forcella, Inscrizione delle chiese di Roma X, p. 463, no. 746].
  22. Simeone Tagliavia d' Aragona (aged 41), [born in the Castle of Veziano, in the diocese of Mazzara in Sicily], son of Carlos, Duke of Terranova, Prince of Vetrana, and Margarita Ventimiglia; nephew of Cardinal Pietro Tagliavia.  Taken to Spain as a child, studied at the Complutense; laureate in philosophy and theology. His father was Spanish ambassador to the Diet of Cologne, and spent nine years ruling Sicily in the name of the Emperor Charles V; he also ruled various province in Spain and the Netherlands for Philip II. Simeone was named a cardinal by Gregory XIII at the age of 33. Cardinal Priest without titulus. He was given S. Maria Angelorum in Thermis on May 20, 1585 [Eubel III, p. 65].  (died 1604)  "Terranova"  [Cardella, V, 218-219].  He was a principal supporter of Spanish interests in Rome. Cardinal Priest of S. Maria degli Angeli (died 1604) "Terranova"
  23. Filippo Spinola (aged 56), Cardinal Priest of S. Sabina (died 1593)
  24. Scipione Lancelotti (aged 64), Cardinal Priest of S. Salvatore in Lauro (died 1598) Doctor in utroque iure
  25. Enrico Caetani (aged 41), Cardinal Priest of S. Pudenziana (died 1599) Doctor in utroque iure, Perugia; Patriarch of Alexandria, Cardinal Camerlengo
  26. Giovanni Battista Castrucci (aged 50), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria in Aracoeli (died 1595) Archbishop of Chieti
  27. Domenico Pinello (aged 50), Cardinal Priest of S. Crisogono (died 1611) Professor of Law at Padua; Archpriest of S. Maria Maggiore
  28. Ippolito Aldobrandini (aged 55), Cardinal Priest of S. Pancrazio (died 1605); Major Penitentiary; elected Pope Clement VIII
  29. Girolamo della Rovere (aged 63), Cardinal Priest of S. Pietro in vincoli (1586-1592). Archbishop of Turin (1564-January 26, 1592). Cardinal della Rovere died during the Conclave, January 25, 1592, not (as Salvador Miranda has it) on February 7 [Miranda follows Eubel in wrongly interpreting the date in the Cardinal's epitaph. The fact is given in the Conclave Diary of Paolo Alaleone, Master of Ceremonies: Gattico, 343;   V. Forcella, Inscrizioni delle chiese di Rome IV, p. 84 no. 189 (which gives the date VII k. Feb., or January 26)].
  30. Girolamo Bernerio, OP (aged 51), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria sopra Minerva (died 1611) Bishop of Ascoli
  31. Antonio Maria Galli (38), Cardinal Priest of S. Agnese in Agone (died 1620) Bishop of Perugia to 1591, then Osimo; "Cardinal Perusinensis"
  32. Costanzo da Sarnano, OFM Conv. (aged 60), Cardinal Priest of S. Pietro in Montorio (died 1595)
  33. Cardinal William AllenWilliam Allen (aged 59) [Poulton in the Fylde, diocese of Lancaster], Cardinal Priest of SS. Silvestro e Martino (died 1594). Student at Oriel College, Oxford.  M.A. July 16, 1554. Principal of St. Mary's Hall, Oxford (1556-1560).  University Proctor, 1557.   Named Canon of York in 1558, but he refused to take the Oath of Loyalty to Elizabeth I.  In 1560 he fled to Louvain, where he undertook a controversy by pamphlet against Bishop Jewell on the subject of Purgatory and the efficacy of prayers for the dead.  He returned to England for three years, but was forced to flee a second time.  He was ordained in Mechlin in 1566. He settled in Douay, where, in 1568, supported by a subsidy from Sixtus V, he opened a college. When the government of the Spanish Netherlands proved unfriendly (under pressure from England), Allen moved to Rheims in 1578, under the protection of the Guise family (relatives of Mary Queen of Scots) and was made a Canon in the cathedral there.  He made his third journey to Rome in 1579. His college in Rheims  was subsidized by Philip II of Spain and Pope Sixtus V.   He obtained the Licenciate in Theology in 1570, and the Doctorate in 1571.  He visited Rome again from December, 1575-July, 1576.  He governed his college-in-exile until the Summer of 1585, when illness forced him to visit Spa; feeling better, he travelled to Rome, where he remained permanently. until On August 7, 1587, Sixtus V created him a cardinal, at the request of King Philip II of Spain.  Their plan—to overthrow Queen Elizabeth, and make Allen Archbishop of Canterbury, Papal Legate, and Chancellor of England—went down in the same storm that destroyed the Spanish Armada in August, 1588.  Allen was nominated Archbishop of Mechlin (Malines) by Philip II in November, 1589, but the See was a poor one and heavily in debt.  Allen hesitated, and then Pope Sixtus died on August 27.   In February 1590, however, he subscribes himself as Electus Machliniensis [Letters and Memorials p, 317-318]. The matter became moot in 1592, when King Philip appointed another candidate to the Archbishopric.
            Gregory XIV gave Cardinal Allen a pension, and bestowed upon the English College in Rome an annual pension of 100 scudi a month.  He was a member of the committee of Cardinals to revise the Bible published by Sixtus V.   Allen died, impoverished and in debt, in Rome on October 16, 1594, and was buried in the Church of the Holy Trinity attached to the English College. [Thompson Cooper, Dictionary of National Biography  I (1885), pp. 314-322.  N. Fitzherbert,  De antiquitate et continuatione catholicae religionis in Anglia, et de Alani cardinalis vita (Romae 1608), 55-100].
  34. Scipione Gonzaga (aged 49), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria del Popolo (died 1593) Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
  35. Antonmaria Sauli (aged 50), Cardinal Priest of S. Stefano al Monte Celio (died 1623) former Bishop of Genoa
  36. Giovanni Palotta (aged 43), Cardinal Priest of S. Matteo in Merulana (died 1620) former Archbishop of Cosenza, Archpriest of the Vatican Basilica
  37. Giovanni Francesco Morosini (aged 54), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria in Via (died 1596) Bishop of Brescia
  38. Francesco Sforza di Santa Fiora (aged 29), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Via Lata (died 1624)
  39. Mariano Pierbenedetti (aged 53) Cardinal Priest of SS. Marcellino e Pietro (died 1611) "Camerino"
  40. Gregorio Petrocchini (aged 56), Cardinal Priest of S. Agostino (died 1612) "Montelbero"
  41. Paolo Emilio Sfondrati (aged 31), Cardinal Priest of S. Cecilia (died 1618) Cardinal nipote of Gregory XIV
  42. Ottavio Paravicini (aged 39), Cardinal Priest of S. Giovanni a Porta Latina (died 1611); Bishop of Alessandria (Piedmont/Savoy)
  43. Alessandro Damasceni Peretti (died 1623); grand-nephew of Sixtus V "Mont' Alto"
  44. Girolamo Mattei (aged 44), Cardinal Deacon of S. Eustachio.  Doctor in utroque iure, Bologna. Abbot Commendatory on Nonantola (1587-1603) (died 1603)
  45. Benedetto Giustiniano (aged 37), Cardinal Priest of S. Marcello (died 1621) Doctor of law, Genoa
  46. Ascanio Colonna (aged 31), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Cosmedin (died 1608). Knight of Malta, Doctor in utroque iure, Alcalá. Archpriest of the Lateran Basilica [Cancellieri, p. 155].
  47. Federico Borromeo (aged 27), Cardinal Deacon of S. Nicola in Carcere Tulliano (died 1631) Doctor of Law, Pavia
  48. Agostino Cusani (aged 49), Cardinal Priest of S. Lorenzo in Panisperna (died 1598); Doctor in utroque iure
  49. Francesco Bourbon del Monte Santa Maria (aged 42), Cardinal Priest of SS. Quirico e Giulitta (died 1627) Doctor of law
  50. Guido Pepoli (aged 31), Cardinal Deacon of SS. Cosma e Damiano (died 1599) Doctor in utroque iure, Siena
  51. Odoardo Farnese (aged 18), Cardinal Deacon of S. Adriano (died 1626); nephew of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese
  52. Ottavio Acquaviva d' Aragona (aged 31), Cardinal Deacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro (died 1612) Doctor in utroque iure
  53. Flaminio Piatti (aged 39), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Domnica (died 1613)
  54. Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti (aged 16), Cardinal Deacon (died 1606) "Santi Quattro"

Cardinals not attending:

  1. Andreas von Austria (aged 32) Cardinal Deacon of S. Croce in Gerusalemme (died 1621)
  2. Gaspar de Quiroga y Vila (aged 79) Cardinal Priest of S. Balbina (died 1594) Archbishop of Toledo
  3. Hughes de Loubenx de Verdalle (aged 60), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Portico (died 1595) Grand Master of the Sovereign order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem (1582-1595).
  4. Andreas Bathóry (aged 25), Cardinal Deacon of S. Adriano (died 1599) nephew of king Stephen Bathory of Poland
  5. Rodrigo de Castro Osorio (aged 68) Cardinal Priest of SS. XII Apostoli (died 1600) Archbishop of Seville
  6. Charles de Bourbon de Vendome (aged 29), Cardinal Deacon without a deaconry (died 1594) Archbishop-elect of Rouen (never ordained, never consecrated)
  7. Charles de Lorraine-Vaudemont (aged 24), Cardinal Deacon of S. Agata in Suburra (died 1607)
  8. Philippe de Lenoncourt (aged 64), Cardinal Priest of S. Onofrio (died 1592)
  9. Pierre de Gondi (aged 59), Cardinal Priest of S. Silvestro in Capite (died 1616) Bishop of Paris
  10. Filippo Sega (aged 54), Cardinal Priest without title (died 1596) Doctor in utroque iure, Bologna; Bishop of Piacenza; Legate in France

 

Factions

The Conclave began on January 10, 1592. Two parties were in evidence, one led by Cardinal Andrea Peretti di Montalto (the nephew of Sixtus V), and the Spanish party, which was supporting Giulio Antonio Cardinal Santorio (of Caserta, a Spanish subject). On the 11th, there was a disgraceful spectacle in the Sistine Chapel, as the Spanish party attempted to install Cardinal Santorio by acclamation, despite a demonstration against their effort that went on for seven hours, vigorously led by Cardinals Altemps, Gesualdi and Colonna. Forced to undertake a scrutiny, the Spaniards could muster only 30 votes by secret ballot, five short of the number needed to elect at the moment.

The two Colonna cardinals, Marcantonio and Ascanio, were in opposite camps, the one in the Pauline Chapel, the other in the Sistine.. The elder, Marcantonio, sent a message to Ascanio, who thereupon announced that he would not support Santorio because he was not given by God (in other words, that the Holy Spirit had not successfully inspired all the electors to agree upon Santorio). The enthusiasm for Santorio collapsed. Of the seven Cardinals who were on the list of acceptable candidates supplied by King Philip II, only the seventh, Cardinal Aldobrandini could muster support outside the Spanish faction.

On January 25, during the Mass, after the Communion but before the Postcommunion Prayer, the Sacristan, who was the celebrant, turned to the Cardinals and asked permission to say a few words which (he said) came to him by inspiration. He was denied permission and instructed to finish the Mass. This incident is recorded in the Conclave Diary of Paolo Alaleone, the Master of Ceremonies (Gattico, 343):

Existentibus in Conclavi Cardinalibus cum missam celebraret die 25. Januarii 1592, Sacrista post suptum SS. Sacramentum, antequam diceret postcommunionem et orationem, vertit se ad Illistriss. DD. Cardinales genuflexos in suis locis petens licentiam posse dicere aliqua verba, quae ex inspiratione dixit venisse; sed ipsi non fuit concessum hoc, sed bene ut Missam perficeret.

That same day, January 25, Cardinal della Rovere was given the last rites and, during his last agony, he was attended by Cardinal Bonelli, the Sacristan, the Confessor of the Conclave, and other conclavists, who read the prayers for the dying. He died at the eighth hour of the night:

Eadem die SS. Viaticum in Conclavi datum fuit Cardinali a Ruvere, tum oleo sacro inunctus. Dum erat in agonia, nunquam fuit derelictus, quia semper adfuerunt Cardinales in commendando illi animam, et praesertim Illust. D. Cardinalis Alexandrinus Bonellus, Dom. Sacrista, Confessor Conclavis, et aliqui Conclavistae legentes commendationem animae et alias orationes; et D. Cardin. Alexandrinus per horas quinque continuas adfuit semper aliquid legens. Postquam expiravit hora 8. noctis animam, cadaver fuit lotum a barbitonsoribus, deinde indutum usque ad rocchettum et mozzettam inclusive cum bireto rubeo Cardinalari, et positum intus Capellam Sixti IV infra cancellos supra mensam. Die 26. Januarii fuit aperta porta Conclavis, et intromissum feretrum cum suo panno mortorio, quod scupatores conclavis portarunt ad Capellam Sixti prope cadaver, et fuit coopertum panno fericeo violaceo lato et consignato a nobis Presbyteris S. Petri; et accepto cadavere a Comclavistis Presbyteris fuit accommodatum in feretro, et ab eisdem dictum cadaver portatum usque ad portam Conclavis, et consignatum Presbyteris Basilicae S. Petri, quod cum funalibus portarunt ad Basilicam S. Petri inferius. Adfuerunt aliqui Cardinales induti rocchettis et mozzettis. Et dum cadaver ferebatur a Capella Sixti IV. ad portam Conclavis, fuit associatum ab aliquibus Cardinalibus et a multis Conclavistis Psalmum De profundis dicentibus, duobus funalibus cerae albae hinc inde, sed in deferendo inferius ad Basilicam S. Petri portata fuerunt funalia.

On the afternoon of January 30, Pietro Cardinal Aldobrandini (Clement VIII) was finally elected.  The Master of Ceremonies, Paolo Alaleone, records the event in his Diarium (Gauchet, 3 n.1):

Feria V die 30 Ian. 1605, de mane fuit dicta missa de eligendo Summo Pontifice. Deinde fuit factum scrutinium [XX], in quo intervenerunt XXXIII card(ina)les, et IX abfuerunt, scilicet Aragona, Columna, Madrutius, Altemps, Spinula, Cananus, Radzivil, Gonzaga, et Cusentanus et fuit sequunta practica, quam heri vespere incoharunt aliqui card(ina)les, capita factionum, pro eligendo Summum Pontificem D. Hippolytum Aldobrandinum. Eadem die circa horam XX card(ina)les iverunt ad cameram dicti Hippolyti card. Aldobrandni aet(atis) suae an(no) LV et illum post aliqua verba a decano dicta conduxerunt ad capellam Paulinam et in Sum(mum) Pontificem elegerunt, et ipse acceptavit electionem de se factam, postquam dixit versus altare, si esset hoc factum inspiratione a Spiritu Sancto et pro salutate animae suae.

 

On February 2, 1591, in the Sistine Chapel, Clement VIII was consecrated bishop by Cardinal Alfonso Gesualdi, Dean of the College of Cardinals (Gauchat, 3 n. 2). On the 9th he was crowned by Francesco Cardinal Sforza, the Cardinal Protodeacon (Gauchat, 3 n. 3).

 

On Sunday, April 12, 1592, he took possession of the Lateran Basilica. Forty-two cardinals participated in the ceremonies. Gold and silver commemorative medals were presented to each cardinal [Diary of Giovanni Paolo Mucanzio, in: Cancellieri, 154-158]

 

 

Bibliography

 

Tria conclavia, id est Tres historicae narrationes, de tribus trium pontificum Romanorum, Urbani, videlicet VII. Gregorii XIV. et Clementis VIII. electionibus ... ex Italico, in quo primum conscriptae fuerunt, sermone, in Latinum fideliter translatae (Francofurti: Typis Hartm. Palthenii, anno M.DC.XVII).

Conclavi de' pontefici romani Nuova edizione, riveduta, corretta, ed ampliata Volume I (Colonia: Lorenzo Martini, 1691), 514-527 [election of Innocent IX]; Volume II (Colonia: Lorenzo Martini, 1691), 1-26 [election of Clement VIII]. Antonio Cicarelli, "Vita di Innocenzio IX", in Bartolommeo Platina, Storia delle vite de' Pontefice di Bartolommeo Platina e d' altri autori edizione novissima Tomo Quarto (Venezia: Domenico Ferrarin 1765) 228-233. Giovanni Stringa "Vita di Clemente VIII" , in Bartolommeo Platina, Storia delle vite de' Pontefice di Bartolommeo Platina e d' altri autori edizione novissima Tomo Quarto (Venezia: Domenico Ferrarin 1765) 234-285.

Joannes Baptista Gattico, Acta Selecta Caeremonialia Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae ex variis mss. codicibus et diariis saeculi xv. xvi. xvii. Tomus I (Romae 1753).

Maria Teresa Fattori, Clemente VIII e il Sacro Collegio, 1592-1605: meccanismi istituzionali ed accentramento di governo (Stuttgart: Anton Hiersemann 2004) [Päpste und Papsttum, 33].

For details of the Interregna of 1591, see Giuseppe de Novaes, Elementi della storia de' sommi pontefici da San Pietro sino al ... Pio Papa VII   third edition, Volume 8 (Roma 1822) 248-252; and Volume 9. 5-6. F. Petruccelli della Gattina, Histoire diplomatique des conclaves   Volume II (Paris: 1864), 340-361. Ludwig Wahrmund, Das Ausschliessungs-recht (jus exclusivae) der katholischen Staaten Österreich, Frankreich und Spanien bei den Papstwahlen (Wien: Holder 1888), 107-108. Paul Herre, Papsttum und Papstwahl im Zeitalter Philipps II (Leipzig: Teubner 1907) 544-590. L. Ranke, History of the Popes. Their Church and State II (tr. E. Fowler) (New York 1901),Book VI, section 4, pp.158-161; Alexis François Artaud de Montor, Histoire de pontifes V (Paris 1851), pp. 33-35. G. Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica Vol. 36 (Venezia 1846) p. 11-12; Vol. 14 (Venezia 1842), p. 44.. For Cardinal Santorio: Charles Berton, Dictionnaire des cardinaux (1857) 1503.

Conclave of January, 1592: F. Petruccelli della Gattina, Histoire diplomatique des conclaves   Volume II (Paris: 1864), 362-400. Ludwig Wahrmund, Das Ausschliessungs-recht (jus exclusivae) der katholischen Staaten Österreich, Frankreich und Spanien bei den Papstwahlen (Wien: Holder 1888), 109-111. Paul Herre, Papsttum und Papstwahl im Zeitalter Philipps II (Leipzig: Teubner 1907) 591-626.

Hugo Laemmer, Meletmetum Romanorum mantissa (Ratisbon 1875) [Diario of Paolo Alaleone, Maestro di ceremonie]. Leone Caetani, "Vita e Diario di Paolo Alaleone de Branca, Maestro di cerimonie pontificie, 1582-1638," Archivio della R. Società Romana di Storia Patria 16 (1893) 5-39.   Patritium Gauchat, OM Conv. (ed.), Hierarchia catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi Volumen Quartum (Monasterii 1935).

Francesco Cancellieri, Storia de' solenni Possessioni de' Sommi Pontefici, detti anticamente Processi o Processioni dopo la loro Coronazione dalla Basilica Vaticana alla Lateranense (Roma: Luigi Lazzarini 1802).

Augustinus Brunus, "Vita Gabrielis Palaeoti S. R. E. Cardinalis, Episcopi Sabinensis, archiepiscopi Bononiensis," E. Martène-U. Durand, Veterorum scriptorum et monumentorum...amplissima collectio Tomus VI (Paris 1729), 1385-1438. Paolo Prodi, Il cardinale Gabriele Paleotti (1522-1597) 2 volumes (Roma: edizioni di storia e letteratura, 1959, 1967).  G. Cugnoni, "Autobiografia di monsignore G. Antonio Santori, cardinale di S. Severina,"  Archivio della R. Società Romana di Storia Patria 12 (1889) 327-372; 13 (1890), 151-205.  Ruggiero Tritonio,  Vita Vincentii Laurei S. R. E. Cardinalis Montis Regalis (Bononiae: Johannes Rossius 1599).

Ludwig Wahrmund, "Die Bulle «Aeterni Patris Filius» und der staatliche Einfluss auf der Papstwahlen," Archiv für katholisches Kirchenrecht 72 (Mainz 1894), 201-334.

 


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