SEDE VACANTE 1721


(March 19, 1721—May 8, 1721)




Annibale Card. Albani, engraved portrait
Cardinal. Albani







Coat of Arms of  Msgr. Bartolomeo Ruspoli Æ
27mm


SEDE • VACANTE

Shield with coat of arms, upon the Cross of the Knights of St. John, surmounted by clerical hat, with six tassels on each side (signifying episcopal status)

Shield with inscription



Ornamental shield, with inscription:

BARTHOLOMAEVS | RVSPVLVS | CONCLAVIS | GVBERNATOR | 1721


"L' origine de tant de médailles remonte à l'époque où le conclave se tenait toujours au palais du Vatican, et où l'on interdisait à tout le monde, pendant tout le temps de sa durée, l'entrée de la cité Léonine, c'est-à-dire du quartier appelé le Borgo. Alors tous ceux qui, soit pour leurs affaires, soit pour tout autre motif, devaient se rendre dans ce quartier du Borgo, étaient arretés en tête du pont Saint-Ange ou de tout autre pont communiquant avec le Vatican; on ne laissait passer que ceux qui étaient porteurs d'une médaille expressément frappée pendant la vacance du siége au nom de l'un des personnages nommés ci-dessus."

X. Barbier de Montault, Le Conclave (Roma 1878) 19


ANNIBALE CARDINAL ALBANI (1682-1751), was born at Urbino on August 15, 1682. His uncle became Pope Clement XI in 1700 (dying on March 19, 1721). He was created Cardinal Deacon on December 23, 1711, being appointed to the Deaconry of S. Eustachio on March 2, 1712. He became Archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica in 1712, where he had long been a Canon, and was promoted to be Cardinal Priest of S. Clemente in March, 1722, for which he was finally ordained a priest in October. He was appointed Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church on March 29, 1719, a post he held until 1747. He became bishop of Sabina on July 24, 1730, and was translated to Porto and Sta. Rufina in 1743. From 1719 he was director of the English hospital of St. John in Jerusalem.

The Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals was Sebastiano Antonio Tanara. He had been Nuncio in Cologne (1687) , Portugal (1690) and Vienna (1692-1695). He became Cardinal Bishop of Frascati in 1715 and Cardinal Bishop of Porto and Velletri and Dean of the Sacred College on March 3, 1721, less than three weeks before the death of the pope.


The Governor of the Conclave was Msgr. Bartolomeo Ruspoli. He was born in Rome on August 29, 1697, the eldest son of Francesco Maria Ruspoli, Prince of Cerveteri. He was named secretary of Memorials by Innocent XIII (dei Conti, his maternal grand-uncle), and subsequently Protonotary Apostolic participant. Under Benedict XIII he became Secretary of the S.C. de Propaganda Fide. In 1725 he took minor orders, and on October 2, 1730 was named a Cardinal Deacon of SS. Cosmas and Damian by Clement XII (1730-1740) in his second consistory. In 1731 he became Grand Prior in Rome of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. He died in Rome on May 21, 1741.

This was the first conclave in which a Chigi served as Marshal of the Holy Roman Church. The family of the Savelli, who had been hereditary Marshals for centuries, beginning with the Conclave of 1288 (Cancelliere, 4-5), had died out in 1712. Pope Clement XI, in a brief of March 23, 1712, transferred the honor to Prince Augusto Chigi, Prince Farnese. In a brief of September 1, 1740, Pope Benedict XIV granted Prince Augusto's son Prince Augustino (d. 1769) the rights of coadjutor to his father.  Augustino's son Prince Sigismondo obtained the succession from Clement XIV.  Pius VI suspended the right in 1791, but two years later transferred the right to Prince Augustino, son of Prince Sigismondo. The hereditary succession in the office was not tampered with thereafter until 1968, when the office was abolished by Paul VI. (Barbier de Montault, 9-10).



 

Death of Pope Clement

Pope Clement XI (Albani) died on March 19, 1721, at the age of 72.

The Cardinals

There were sixty-eight cardinals at the time of the death of Pope Clement. Only fourteen survived from earlier reigns. The creature of Innocent X were Orsini and Marescotti. The only surviving creatura of Innocent XI was Cardinal Pamphili.   Alexander VIII's creature were Ottoboni, Del Giudice, Imperiali, Barberini, and Altieri.   Clement IX's creature were: Tanara, Boncompagni, Sacripante, Cornaro, Paolucci, and Noailles.

Cardinals attending:

  1. Sebastiano Antonio Tanara (aged 70), Suburbicarian Bishop of Ostia e Velletri (since March 3) , dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals (died May 5, 1724) former Nuncio in Portugal and in Austria
  2. Vincenzo Maria Orsini de Gravina, OP (aged 72), Suburbicarian Bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina (died February 21, 1730)
  3. Francesco del Giudice (aged 73), Suburbicarian Bishop of Frascati (died October 10, 1725)
  4. Fabrizio Paolucci de Calboli (aged 70), Suburbicarian Bishop of Albano (died June 12, 1726)
  5. Francesco Pignatelli, Theat. (aged 69), Suburbicarian Bishop of Sabina (died December 5, 1734). Archbishop of Naples.
  6. Francesco Barberini (aged 58), Suburbicarian Bishop of Palestrina (died August 17, 1738)

  7. Giacomo Boncompagni (aged 68), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria in Via (died March 24, 1731). Archbishop of Bologna.
  8. Giuseppe Sacripante (aged 79), Cardinal Priest of S. Prassede (died January 4, 1727) .
  9. Giorgio Cornaro (aged 62), Cardinal Priest of SS. XII Apostoli (died August 10, 1722). Bishop of Padua.
  10. Lorenzo Corsini (aged 68), Cardinal Priest of S. Pietro in Vincoli.(died February 6, 1740) Doctor in utroque iure, Pisa.
  11. Francesco Acquaviva d'Aragona (aged 55), Cardinal Priest of S. Cecilia (died January 9, 1725) Doctor in utroque iure, Fermo. Protector of Spain.
  12. Tommaso Ruffo (aged 57). Cardinal Priest of S. Maria in Trastevere (died February 16, 1753) Doctor in utroque iure, Rome La Sapienza. Bishop of Ferrara .
  13. Orazio Filippo Spada (aged 61), Cardinal Priest of S. Onofrio (died June 28, 1724). Doctor in utroque iure, Rome La Sapienza.. Bishop of Osimo.
  14. Filippo Antonio Gualterio (aged 61), Cardinal Priest of S. Crisogono (died April 21, 1728). Doctor in utroque iure, Fermo. Protector of England.
  15. Giuseppe Vallemani (aged 72), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria degli Angeli (died December 15, 1725). Doctor in utroque iure, Macerata.
  16. Giandomenico Paracciani (aged 74), Cardinal Priest of S. Anastasia (Died May 9, 1721). Vicar-General of Rome [left the Conclave due to illness, and died the day after the election of Cardinal Conti].]
  17. Carlo Fabroni (aged 69), Cardinal Priest of S. Agostino (died September 19, 1727).
  18. Pietro Priuli (aged 52), Cardinal Priest of S. Marco (died January 22, 1728). Bishop of Bergamo.
  19. Michelangelo Conti (aged 65), Cardinal Priest of SS. Quirico e Giulitta (died March 7, 1724).
  20. Ulisse Giuseppe Gozzadini (aged 70), Cardinal Priest of S. Croce in Gerusalemme (died March 20, 1728). Doctorates in utroque iure, Bologna. Professor of Law at Bologna. Archbishop-Bishop of Imola.
  21. Luigi Pico della Mirandola (aged 52), Cardinal Priest of S. Silvestro in Capite (died August 10, 1743). Doctor in utroque iure. Archbishop-Bishop of Senigaglia
  22. Gianantonio Davia (aged 60), Cardinal Priest of S. Callisto (died January 11, 1740). Doctor in utroque iure, Bologna. Archbishop-Bishop of Rimini.
  23. Agostino Cusani (aged 65), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria del Popolo (died December 27, 1730). Doctor in utroque iure, Pavia. Archbishop-Bishop of Pavia..
  24. Giulio Piazza (aged 58)), Cardinal Priest of S. Lorenzo in Panisperna (died April 23, 1726). Doctor in utroque iure. Archbishop-Bishop of Faenza.
  25. Antonio Zondadari (aged 55), Cardinal Priest of S. Balbina (died November 23, 1737). Doctor in utroque iure, Siena
  26. Giovanni Battista Bussi (aged 64), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria in Ara Coeli (died December 23, 1726). Doctor in utroque iure, Rome La Sapienza. Archbishop-Bishop of Ancona.
  27. Pier Marcelino Corradini (aged 62), Cardinal Priest of S. Giovanni a Porta Latina (died February 8, 1743).
  28. Armand-Gaston de Rohan-Soubise (aged 46), Cardinal Priest without titulus (died July 16, 1749). Doctor of Theology, Paris Sorbonne. Bishop of Strasbourg
  29. Wolfgang Hannibal von Schrattenbach (aged 60), Cardinal Priest of S. Marcello (died July 22, 1738). Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Theology. Rome La Sapienza. Bishop of Olomouc. Councillor of Emperor Charles VI. Regent of Naples.
  30. Giovanni Battista Tolomei, SJ (aged 67), Cardinal Priest of S. Stefano al Monte Celio (died January 19, 1726)
  31. Benedetto Odescacalchi Erba (aged 41), Cardinal Priest of SS. Nereo ed Achilleo (died December 13, 1740). Doctor in utroque iure, Pavia. Archbishop of Milan. Grand-nephew of Innocent XI.
  32. Henri Thiard de Bissy (aged 63), Cardinal Priest without titulus (died July 26, 1737). Doctor of Theology, Paris. Bishop of Meaux, France.
  33. Innico Caracciolo (aged 78), Cardinal Priest of S. Tommaso in Parione (died September 6, 1730). Doctor in utroque iure, Rome La Sapienza. Bishop of Aversa.
  34. Bernardino Scotti (aged 65), Cardinal Priest of S. Pietro in Montorio (died November 16, 1726).
  35. Niccolò Caracciolo (aged 62), Cardinal Priest of S. Martino ai Monti (died February 7, 1728). Doctor in utroque iure, Naples. Archbishop of Capua.
  36. Giovanni Battista Patrizi (aged 62), Cardinal Priest of Ss. Quattro Coronati (died July 31, 1727). Doctorates in Philosophy, Law, and Theology, Siena. Legate in Ferrara.
  37. Nicolò Spinola (aged 62), Cardinal Priest of S. Sisto (died April 12, 1735). Doctor in utroque iure, Rome La Sapienza.
  38. Giberto Bartolomeo Borromeo (aged 49), Cardinal Priest of Ss. Bonifacio ed Alessio (died January 22, 1740).
  39. Imre Csácky (aged 48), Cardinal Priest without titulus (died August 28, 1732). Archbishop of Kalocsa and Bács
  40. Giorgio Spinola (aged 53), Cardinal Priest of S. Agnese fuori le mura (died January 17, 1739). Doctor in utroque iure, Rome La Sapienza.[Secretary of State May 10, 1721— March 7, 1724]
  41. Cornelio Bentivoglio (aged 53), Cardinal Priest of S. Girolamo dei Croati (died December 30, 1732). Doctor in utroque iure, Ferrara. Legate in the Romagna.
  42. Thomas Philip Wallrad d'Hénin-Liétard d'Alsace-Boussu de Chimay (aged 41), Cardinal Priest without titulus (died January 5, 1759). Doctor in Theology, Doctor in Philosophy, Rome Gregorian. Archbishop of Mechlin [arrived on May 7]
  43. Gianfrancesco Barbarigo (aged 62), Cardinal Priest of Ss. Marcellino e Pietro (died January 26, 1730). Doctor in utroque iure, Pavia. Bishop of Brescia.
  44. Michael Althan (aged 38), Cardinal Priest of S. Sabina (died June 20, 1734). Doctor in Canon Law, Doctor in Theology, Prague. Bishop of Vác. Privy Councillor of the Emperor.
  45. Giovanni Battista Salerni, SJ (aged 49), Cardinal-Priest of S. Prisca (died January 30, 1729) Professor of Theology, Professor of Canon Law at the Collegio Germanico [left the Conclave, due to illness, but apparently returned on May 7]
  46. Ávaro Cienfuegos Villazón, SJ (aged 64), Cardinal Priest without titulus (died August 19, 1739). Professor of Theology, Salamanca. Bishop of Catania.

  47. Benedetto Pamphili, O.S.Io.Hieros.(aged 67), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Via Lata (died March 22, 1730). Librarian of the Holy Roman Church
  48. Pietro Ottoboni (aged 53), Cardinal Deacon of S. Lorenzo in Damaso (died February 29, 1740). Vice-Chancellor.
  49. Giuseppe Renato Imperiali (aged 69), Cardinal Deacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro (died January 15, 1737)
  50. Lorenzo Altieri (aged 49), Cardinal Deacon of S. Agata alla Suburra (died August 3, 1741).
  51. Carlo Colonna (aged 55), Cardinal Deacon of S. Angelo in Pescheria (died July 8, 1739).
  52. Annibale Albani (aged 38), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Cosmedin (died October 21, 1751). Nephew of Clement XI. Cardinal Camerlengo..
  53. Curzio d'Origo (aged 60), Cardinal Deacon of S. Eustachio (died March 18, 1737). .
  54. Damian Hugo Philipp von Schönborn Bushein (aged 44), Cardinal Deacon without deaconry (died August 19, 1743). Bishop of Speyer. [arrived on May 7]
  55. Fabio Olivieri (aged 62), Cardinal Deacon of Ss. Vito, Modesto e Crescenzia (died February 9, 1738).
  56. Giulio Alberoni (aged 56), Cardinal Deacon without deaconry (died June 26, 1752). Bishop of Malaga..

Cardinals not attending:

  1. Galeazzo Marescotti (aged 93),. Cardinal Priest of S. Lorenzo in Lucina (died July 3, 1726) . Doctor in utroque iure.
  2. Louis-Antoine de Noailles (aged 69), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria sopra Minerva (died May 4, 1729). Archbishop of Paris
  3. Lorenzo Fieschi (aged 78), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria della Pace (died May 1, 1726). Archbishop of Genoa. Doctor in utroque iure, Rome La Sapienza.
  4. Christian August von Sachsen-Zeitz [Ágost Keresztély] (aged 54), Cardinal Priest without titulus (died August 23, 1725). Bishop of Györ. Supreme Chancellor of Hungary. Imperial Councillor.
  5. Nuno da Cunha e Attaíde (aged 56), Cardinal Priest without titulus (died December 3, 1750). Privy Councillor of King John V of Portugal [arrived in Rome just after the election]
  6. Melchior de Polignac (aged 59), Cardinal Deacon without deaconry (died November 20, 1741)..
  7. Carlo Maria Marini (aged 54)), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Aquiro (died January 16, 1747).
  8. Léon Potier de Gesvres (aged 64), Cardinal Priest without titulus (died November 12, 1744). Doctor of Law, Paris Sorbonne. Archbishop of Bourges
  9. François de Mailly (63), Cardinal Priest without titulus (died September 13, 1721). Doctor of Law, Paris Sorbonne. Archbishop of Reims
  10. Luis Antonio Belluga y Moncada (aged 58), Cardinal Priest without titulus (died February 22, 1743). Doctor in Theology, Sevilla. Bishop of Cartagena
  11. José Pereira de la Cerda (aged 58), Cardinal Priest without titulus (died September 28, 1738). Doctor in utroque iure, Coimbra. Professor of Theology at Coimbra. Bishop of Faro
  12. Carlos de Borja-Centelles y Ponce de León (aged 57), Cardinal Priest without titulus (died August 8, 1733). Doctor in utroque iure, Alcala. Patriarch of the West Indies.

Opening of the Conclave

etching of Cardinal  Alvaro Cienfuegos

The Conclave of 1721 began on March 31. There were sixty eight living cardinals, fifty-four of whom had been named by Clement XI. On April 1, twenty-eight cardinals were in conclave. By April 9, forty cardinals were in attendance, and the number eventually rose to fifty-five, though four of them (the Portuguese da Cunha and Pereira, and the Spanish Belluga and Borgia) who arrived in the neighborhood of Rome, and were there for some days, did not enter conclave until the day after the successful election of Cardinal dei Conti. Two cardinals (de Noailles and Alberoni) were invited to the Conclave, even though they were excommunicated; Noailles had been leading the opposition in France to the papal Bull Unigenitus, which condemned Jansenist propositions. Alberoni, the deposed First Minister of Spain, appeared on April 8. His entry into the Conclave was opposed by Cardinal Acquaviva and by the King of Spain, but without effect (Processione, 294). On April 28 Cardinal Paracciani left the conclave due to illness, which claimed him on the next day.

Factions and Candidates

The cardinals were divided into four factions: the Zelanti, the French, the Austrian, and the followers of Cardinal Albani, the Cardinal-Nephew. Albani's group amounted to only eight to ten, a surprise considering the number of creature there were of the late pope.(Petruccelli, 4-5). The Imperial party counted some twenty members, enough to prevent the election of any unacceptable candidate, or so it seemed in advance of the conclave (Petruccelli, 5). The Emperor Charles VI dispatched Count Franz Ferdinand Kinski to be his Ambassador Extraordinary to the Conclave, with instructions in favor of Gozzadini, Tanari, Pignatelli and (with reservations) Conti (Petruccelli, 8). Cardinal Albani was offered a pension of 25,000 florins. To be avoided were Corsini, Zondanari and (above all) Paolucci and Cornaro. The French government, in particular Abbe Dubois, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, was represented by Armand Gaston Cardinal de Rohan, Bishop of Strasbourg and Grand Almoner of France (who had left Paris for Rome on February 26); the French Chargé d' affaires in Rome was Pierre-François Laffitau, SJ, Bishop of Sisteron, who was Dubois intermediary with Cardinal Gualtiero (Boutry 19-20, Jobez, 288). Both were well aware that Dubois' greatest desire was to be named a cardinal. Pope Clement and his nephew, Cardinal Albani, had often been importuned on the subject, and had failed to make a commitment. On the 14th of March, however, five days before the pope died, he wrote to Bishop Laffitau that he had been looking for the right moment, amidst the pope's sufferings, to get a committment, but that the pope was in a delirious condition (Jobe, 292). The Portuguese ambassador in Rome was working in favor of Cardinal Michelangelo dei Conti (Petruccelli, 12, n.1). The Jesuits, however, were working against him, having been offended by some of Conti's actions when he was Nuncio in Lisbon (Petruccelli, 12, from a dispatch of Giacobazzi, April 12).

The Marquis Giacobazzi, the agent of the Duke of Modena in Rome, noted (in dispatches of March 26 and March 29) that there were ten papabili: Cardinals Paolucci, Fieschi, Corsini, Parracciani, Conti, Tanari, Gozzadini, Buoncompagni, Cornaro and Barbadigo. In his view, Conti and Gozzadini were the most probable (Petruccelli, 5-7). Cardinal Giorgio Cornaro, Bishop of Padua, was favored by the French, the Genoese, the Venetians, and some of the Zelanti, and for that reason he was also opposed by the Imperialists, who did not desire a Venetian on the papal throne as a potential obstruction to their designs in the Po Valley (Petruccelli, 8). The Duke of Parma was promoting Cardinal Giacomo Buoncompagni, the Archbishop of Bologna (Petruccelli, 10).

Scrutinies

The earliest real candidate was Cardinal Fabrizio Paolucci, the late Pope Clement's Secretary of State. In the first scrutiny, on April 1, 1721, with twenty-eight cardinals present, after the accessio Cardinal Paolucci had fourteen votes; five more and he would be pope. At that point Cardinal Althan remarked in a loud voice that, if the cardinals would listen to what Cardinal [Alvaro] Cienfuegos [, SJ,] had to say, he probably had instructions from the Emperor to communicate. That was an attempt to invoke a veto without having to actually declare one. Uproar ensured. (Petruccelli, 11, from dispatches of Giacobazzi, Bartolomei and De Gubernatis) All of the agents of the crowns immediately wrote home for additional instructions, and began delaying tactics until responses should arrive.

Imperial Veto

Paolucci appeared to be winning the second scrutiny; but during the reading of the votes, after he had obtained the two-thirds needed, but before a result of the vote was announced by the scruators, the Veto (exclusiva) was pronounced against him by Michael Cardinal Althan, the Imperial representative inside the Conclave. (Montor, 330; Wahrmund, 216-218)


Cardinal Tencin  engraving of Michael Cardinal Althan
Abbé Tencin                                              Cardinal Althan

 

On March 19, Archbishop Dubois had written to the Bishop of Sisteron, Laffitau, in Rome (Sevelinges 38-39):

Dans la malheureuse conjoncture où nous sommes, le principal soin doit consister à mettre en oeuvre et a fixer M. le cardinal Albani dans le dessein qu'il a formé avec vous, de s'unir à la France dans le conclave. S'il persiste dans cette résolution, Son Altesse Royale [Philippe d' Orléans] consent à toutes les conditions que vous avez proposeés en sa faveur et pour sa famille. Don Carlo, son frère, a déjà reçu le titre de cousin; mais pour ôter tout doute, on continue à le lui donner dans les lettres que je vous envoie. M. le cardinal de Rohan à été chargé des lettres de protection pour M. le cardinal Albani et pour Don Carlo, son frère. J'envoie a M. le cardinal de Rohan une lettre de crédit de 30,000 écus romains, payable à son ordre, pour tirer M. le cardinal Albani de l'embarras où il se trouve....

 

MM. les cardinaux de Bissi, de Polignac et de Mailly vont partir, et feront toute la diligence possible. M. le cardinal Acquaviva a ordre, du roi d'Espagne, de s'unir avec les cardinaux français, et de se concerter avec eux. M. le cardinal Bentivoglio suivra les ordres et les influences de l'Espagne....

On March 27, in a separate but not unrelated matter, the French and Spanish entered into a defensive alliance, thanks in part to the good offices of the Duke of Parma. (Sevelinges 44-45)

When Cardinal Wolfgang Schrottembach (Bishop of Olomouc) and (on April 8) Cardinal Giulio Alberoni arrived, additional complications were introduced. Schrottembach let it be known that the Imperial Court did not favor a Florentine pope. Vienna was looking to the future, when the Grand Duchy of Tuscany would become vacant by the death of the last Medici. They expected to have an Austrian Grand Duke, and they did not want a revived republican Florence, or even a Florence reasserting her independence. This affected the hopes of Cardinal Corsini. (Petruccelli, 12-13, from dispatches of April 5 and 12 from De Gubernatis). Alberoni (former Ambassador of the Duke of Parma in Spain, where he arranged the marriage of Elisabeth Farnese of Parma to King Philip V and became Prime Minister, from which he was expelled in December, 1719) had enemies to work against as well: Paolucci, Acquaviva, Imperiali and Albani. He was still under the cloud of excommunication, and had grudges against both Venice and the Emperor, to say nothing of France and Dubois.

By the 9th of April, forty cardinals were in attendance.(Montor, 329).

Imperial Support for Conti

The Queen of Portugal, Maria Anna of Austria, who had employed the services of Cardinal Conti as confessor and advisor when he was Nuncio in Portugal (1698-1706), had been using her influence with the Emperor Charles in Conti's favor. Convinced by her assurances, the Emperor and Count Kinski decided to revise their attitude to Conti, and sent word to Cardinal Althan to support his candidacy (Petruccelli, 14-15, from dispatches of de Gubernatis to the King of Sardinia on April 26 and 29).

French Negotiations

On April 22, Rohan wrote to Dubois on the subject of a memorial containing half a dozen major points which had been agreed upon with the previous pope to the advantage of France, but were now in an uncertain state; eager that the same positions should be adopted by the new pope, Rohan had been discussing them with Cardinals Albani, Gualtierio and Imperiali. The memorial "a été communiqué aussi au cardinal Conti et pareilement approuvé par lui; c'est ce qui m' a été confié sous le plus grand secret." (Sevelinges 59-61). In a dispatch of May 3, Giacobazzi wrote to the Duke of Modena that it was believed that Conti was committed in writing to giving Dubois the red hat (Petruccelli, 9 n.1).

On May 4, the French Cardinal Henri de Thiard de Bissy and his conclavist, the Abbé Pierre de Tencin, entered the Conclave. The Cardinal had instructions of his own from Abbé Dubois (Boutry, 26-28). Tencin, who also had instructions, immediately got in touch with the secretary and conclavist of Cardinal Conti, Father Matteo Scaglione (who became Secretary of Briefs to Princes when his master became pope).  Archbishop Dubois himself wrote of Tencin: "M. l'abbé de Tencin, qui accompagne M. le cardinal de Bissi, a été au conclave où le pape qui vient de mourir fut elu. C'est l' homme du monde qui m'a témoigné toujours le plus d'amitié, et qui est le plus ardent pour tout ce qui me regarde; vous pouvez lui parler en toute confiance (Sevelinges 51).

On May 5, the Bishop of Sisteron wrote (Sevelinges 75-80):

...J'e trouvai que M. le cardinal de Rohan avait déjà obtenu deux assurances de celiu qui agit au-dedans du conclave, au nom du cardinal Conti: l'une que M. l'archêveque de Cambrai aurait le chapeau; l'autre qu'il aurait un des trois qui vaqueront au moment que le pape sera élu, et qu'il aurait sans attendre la vacance d'aucun autre. Il n'y avait plus qu'à signer l'écrit qui parte ces conditions, et M. le cardinal de Rohan en cepère toujours la signature. Une seule difficulté en arrêtait la conclusion: le cardinal Conti ne voulait signer cet écrit, que lorsque nous aurions delivré au roi d'Angleterre [James III, the Old Pretender, the 'Chevalier de Saint Georges'] la promesse en bonne forme de lui faire payer les anciennes pensions qu'il percevait de la France....

Cardinal Althan insisted that the Conclave await the entry of Cardinals Damian Hugo Schönbrunn (Bishop of Speyer) and Thomas Philip Wallrad d'Hénin-Liétard d'Alsace-Boussu de Chimay (Bishop of Malines), who were already in Rome. On May 7, they presented themselves, along with Cardinal Giovanni Battista Solern, S.J., who had left the Conclave earlier (Petruccelli, 17; others suggest that Soleri did not return.).

On May 7, Cardinal Rohan wrote to King Louis XV, "Je crois pouvoir annoncer à Votre Majesté l' exécution de ses ordres; M. Le Cardinal Conti sera élu pape demain et c'est à vous qu'il devra une grande partie de son exaltation." (Boutry, 32-33) That very day, according to Cardinal Polignac, Cardinal Conti undertook in writing to provide Abbe Dubois with his red hat (Boutry, 34-35) Whether this was simony or not is a matter for learned canonists. In a letter of May 8, the Bishop of Sisteron adds some detail, "Je me rendis au conclave avant-hier au soir dans la nuit. M. le cardinal de Rohan m'y apprit d'abord qu'il avait fini; qu'il n'avait plus rien à désirer du cardinal Conti, et qu'il allait le surlendemain proceder à son election. Je vis le cardinal Albani, qui me dit absolument la même chose."

Finally, on May 8, Michelangelo Cardinal dei Conti, Bishop of Viterbo, son of Carlo, Duke of Poli, was elected with all the votes except his own (he voted for the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Tanara), In truth, once he passed the required two-thirds majority, the rest of the cardinals 'acceded' to him. He took the name Innocent XIII. The coronation, performed by Benedetto Cardinal Pamfili, the Cardinal Protodeacon, took place on May 18 in the Vatican Basilica. On Sunday, November 16, 1721, the new pope took possession of the Lateran Basilica.

 

Guillaume Dubois was created Cardinal on July 16, 1721.   Pierre Guérin de Tencin had to wait until February 23, 1739 for his hat.

Cardinal Guillaume Dubois
Cardinal Dubois

 


Bibliography

See: Ferdinando Petruccelli della Gattina Histoire diplomatique des conclaves Volume IV (Bruxelles 1864), 1-20. Cf. Giuseppe de Novaes, Elementi della storia de' Sommi Pontefici third edition Volume 13 (Roma 1822), 7-9. G. Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica Vol. XIV (Venezia 1842) 60-61. Alexis François Artaud de Montor, Histoire des souverains Pontifes Romains, Volume VI (Paris 1851), pp. 329-332. For Ruspoli, Dictionnaire des Cardinaux col. 1485-1486.

M. de Sevelinges. Memoirs secrets et correspondence inédite du Cardinal Dubois Tome II (Paris: Pillet 1815). Alphonse Jobez, La France sous Louis XV Tome II (Paris: Didier 1865) 288-298. Maurice Boutry, Une créature du Cardinal Dubois: Intrigues et missions du Cardinal de Tencin deuxième édition (Paris 1903). P. Bliard, Dubois, cardinal et premier ministre (Paris: Lethielleux 1901). On Cardinal Alberoni, see Charles Bertin, Dictionnaire des Cardinaux (1858) 205-208; and S. Harcourt-Smith, Cardinal of Spain: The Life and Strange Career of Alberoni (1944). Alfonso Professione, Il ministero in Spagna e il processo del Cardinale Giulio Alberoni (Torino 1897) 293-295. For the career of Cardinal Lorenzo Corsini, see Luigi Passerini, Genealogia e storia della Famiglia Corsini (Firenze: M. Cellini 1858) 157-172.

DeGubernatis: Conte M. de Gubernatis, the Count of Bauzone (son of Count Giovanni Marcello De Gubernatis), Ambassador of the Duke of Savoy (soon to be King of Sardinia), Victor Amadeus II, in Rome. See Domenico Carutti, Storia della diplomazia della Corte di Savoia III (Torino: Bocca 1875-1880)

Graf Kinski: J. E. Folkmann, Die gefürstete Linie des uralten und edlen Geschlechtes Kinsky (Prag 1861) 52-53.

X. Barbier de Montault, Le conclave et le pape (Paris 1878). Francesco Cancellieri, Notizie storiche delle stagioni e di siti diversi in cui sono stati tenuti i conclavi . . . (Roma 1823).

Characas, L. A., Roma trionfante nel glorioso Possessio preso il giorno di Dominica 16 Novembre 1721, dalla Santità di N.S. Papa Innocenzo XIII, romano della nobilissima fameglia Conti . . . (Roma 1721)

Ludwig Wahrmund , Das Ausschliessungs-recht (jus exclusivae) der katholischen Staaten Österreich, Frankreich und Spanien bei den Papstwahlen (Wien: Holder 1888).


November 4, 2009 2:06 PM

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