Papal conclave, 1294

Papal conclave December 1294
Coat of arms during the vacancy of the Holy See
Dates and location
23–24 December 1294 Castel Nuovo, Naples
Key officials
Dean	Gerardo Bianchi
Camerlengo	Tommaso d'Ocra
Protopriest	Benedetto Caetani
Protodeacon	Matteo Rosso Orsini
Election
Ballots	1
Elected Pope
Benedetto Caetani (Name taken: Boniface VIII)

The papal conclave of December 23–24, 1294 was convoked in Naples after the resignation of Pope Celestine V on 13 December 1294. Celestine V had only months earlier restored the Constitution Ubi periculum of Pope Gregory X, which had been suspended by Pope Adrian V in July 1276. From that time every papal election has been a papal conclave. It is the first papal conclave held during the lifetime of the preceding pontiff, the second such occurrence taking place in 2013 following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.

Abdication of Celestine V

Castel Nuovo, where the conclave was held

Celestine V, founder of the Order of Celestines, widely esteemed and venerated for his holiness, was elected to the papacy on July 7, 1294, as a compromise choice after an over two-years long sede vacante. It quickly became clear that this saintly eremite was wholly incompetent and unsuited for a job as pope. Admitting his own incompetence soon after his election, Celestine expressed the wish to abdicate and return to his solitary cave in the Abruzzi Mountains. However, before doing so he issued two bulls. The first bull established the regulations concerning the abdication of a pope. The second bull (Quia in futurum, September 28, 1294) restored the constitution Ubi periculum, which established the papal conclave; the constitution had been suspended by Pope Adrian V in July 1276. During his short papacy, he also created 13 new cardinals.^[1] Eventually, on December 13, 1294, Celestine V abdicated the papacy at Naples,^[2] three days after confirming the restoration of the institution of the papal conclave.^[3]

It has been widely stated that the alleged great influence of the ambitious Cardinal Benedetto Caetani and the pressure he applied on Celestine V were important factors in Celestine's decision to abdicate, but it seems nearly as certain that it was an entirely voluntarily step of the Pope, with the role of Caetani limited to participation in the solution of the legal problems connected with the resignation of a pope. In particular, there were doubts whether a pope could resign at all, and who would be authorized to accept such a resignation.^[4]

List of participants

All 22 living cardinals participated in the conclave; 12 of them were created by Celestine V, five by Nicholas IV, two by Nicholas III, one by Urban IV and one by Honorius IV:^[5] Hugh Aycelin, also known as Hughes of Billom, of the French province of the Dominican Order, former lector at the studium of Santa Sabina in Rome, was made Cardinal-Bishop of the suburbicarian see of Ostia in 1294; as Bishop of Ostia he had the right to ordain and consecrate the new bishop of Rome, Pope Boniface VIII. The consecration and coronation took place on 23 January 1295.^[6]

Elector	Place of birth	Cardinalatial title	Elevated	Elevator	Other ecclesiastical titles	Notes
Gerardo Bianchi	Parma	Bishop of Sabina	March 12, 1278	Nicholas III	Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals
Giovanni Boccamazza	Rome	Bishop of Frascati	December 22, 1285	Honorius IV		Nephew of Honorius IV; former archbishop of Monreale (1278—1286)
Hugh Aycelin, O.P.	Billom, France	Bishop of Ostia e Velletri	May 16, 1288	Nicholas IV
Matteo d'Acquasparta, O.F.M.	Acquasparta	Bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina	May 16, 1288	Nicholas IV	Grand penitentiary	Former minister general of the Order of Franciscans (1287—1289)
Simon de Beaulieu	Château de Beaulieu, France	Bishop of Palestrina	September 18, 1294	Celestine V		Former archbishop of Bourges (1281—1294)
Bérard de Got	Villandraut, France	Bishop of Albano	September 18, 1294	Celestine V		Former archbishop of Lyon (1289–1294); older brother of Bertrand de Got – future Pope Clement V (1305–1314)
Benedetto Caetani	Anagni	Priest of SS. Silvestro e Martino	April 12, 1281	Nicholas III	Protopriest of the Sacred College of Cardinals; Cardinal-protector of the Order of S. Guglielmo	Elected Pope Boniface VIII
Pietro Peregrosso	Milan	Priest of S. Marco	May 16, 1288	Nicholas IV	Cardinal-protector of the Order of Humiliati; Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals
Tommaso d'Ocra, O.Cel.	Ocre, Abruzzi	Priest of S. Cecilia	September 18, 1294	Celestine V	Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church (1294-1300)
Jean Lemoine	Crécy, France	Priest of SS. Marcellino e Pietro	September 18, 1294	Celestine V
Pietro d'Aquila, O.S.B.Cas.	L'Aquila	Priest of S. Croce in Gerusalemme	September 18, 1294	Celestine V
Guillaume de Ferrières	Provence	Priest of S. Clemente	September 18, 1294	Celestine V		Crown-cardinal of King Charles II of Naples
Nicolas de Nonancourt	Nonancourt, France	Priest of S. Marcello^[7]	September 18, 1294	Celestine V
Robert de Pontigny, O.Cist.	France	Priest of S. Pudenziana	September 18, 1294	Celestine V		Crown-cardinal of kings Philip IV of France and Charles II of Naples; former Abbot General of his order
Simon de Armentières, O.S.B.Clun.	France	Priest of S. Balbina	September 18, 1294	Celestine V
Giovanni Castrocoeli, O.S.B.Cas.	Castrocielo	Priest of S. Vitale	September 18, 1294 (or October 1294)	Celestine V	Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church; archbishop of Benevento; administrator of the see of Sant'Agata de' Goti
Matteo Rosso Orsini	Rome	Deacon of S. Maria in Portico	May 22, 1262	Urban IV	Protodeacon of the Sacred College of Cardinals; archpriest of the patriarchal Vatican Basilica; Cardinal-protector of the Order of Franciscans	Relative of Cardinal Napoleone Orsini Frangipani and nephew of Pope Nicholas III (1277–1280); not to be confused with his grandfather, Senator Matteo Rosso Orsini (1178–1246)
Giacomo Colonna	Rome	Deacon of S. Maria in Via Lata	March 12, 1278	Nicholas III	Archpriest of the patriarchal Liberian Basilica	Uncle of Cardinal Pietro Colonna
Napoleone Orsini Frangipani	Rome	Deacon of S. Adriano	May 16, 1288	Nicholas IV		Relative of Cardinal Matteo Orsini Rosso and nephew of Pope Nicholas III (1277–1280)
Pietro Colonna	Rome	Deacon of S. Eustachio	May 16, 1288	Nicholas IV		Nephew of Cardinal Giacomo Colonna
Landolfo Brancaccio	Naples	Deacon of S. Angelo in Pescheria	September 18, 1294	Celestine V
Guglielmo de Longhi	Bergamo	Deacon of S. Nicola in Carcere	September 18, 1294	Celestine V

Election of Pope Boniface VIII

On December 23, 1294, the cardinals assembled in the Castel Nuovo at Naples for the election of the successor of Celestine V. On the next day, Christmas Eve, Cardinal Benedetto Caetani received the required two-thirds majority and took the name of Boniface VIII. Caetani's nephew, who was an eyewitness, says that Caetani was elected after one scrutiny and an accessio: scrutinio accessioneque eligitur.^[8] Soon after his election he returned to Rome, where on January 23, 1295, he was consecrated to the episcopate by Cardinal Hugh Aycelin of Ostia, and crowned by Matteo Rosso Orsini, who was prior Diaconorum of the Sacred College.^[9]

Notes

↑ Salvador Miranda: Cardinals created by St. Celestine V
↑ Celestine V
↑ Salvador Miranda: The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Guide to the events and documents, 13th Century
↑ (The Catholic Encyclopedia: Pope Boniface VIII)
↑ F. Burkle-Young: notes to the papal election of 1294 on The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church (by S. Miranda); and K. Eubel, p. 11–12. F. Bourkle-Young lists one additional cardinal Francesco Ronci, priest of the title of S. Lorenzo in Damaso, as the only absentee but he actually died on October 13, 1294, two months before the conclave was held (K. Eubel, p. 12)
↑ "Frater Hugo de Bidiliomo provincie Francie, magister fuit egregius in theologia et mul<tum> famosus in romana curia; qui actu lector existens apud Sanctam Sabinam, per papam Nicolaum quartum eiusdem ecclesie factus cardinalis" [16.V.1288]; postmodum per Celestinum papain [1294] est ordinatus in episcopum ostiensem (Cr Pg 3r). http://www.e-theca.net/emiliopanella/lector12.htm Accessed May 9, 2011; See also Rome Across Time and Space: Cultural Transmission and the Exchange of Ideas, 2011, p. 275. https://books.google.com/books?id=xGiHbiqknLgC&pg=PA275&lpg=PA275&dq=%22#v=onepage&q&f=false Accessed 7-10-2011
↑ F. Burkle-Young lists Cardinal Nicolas l'Aide as priest of S. Lorenzo in Damaso, but he opted for that title only in 1295. At the time of this conclave he occupied his original title of S. Marcello (K. Eubel, p. 43)
↑ A. Theiner (ed.), Caesaris Baronii Annales Ecclesiastici Tomus 23 (Bar-le-Duc 1871), under year 1294, § 23, p. 147; Ludovico Antonio Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores III pp. 616-617. There was another candidate (Matteo Rosso Orsini ?), according to Jacopo Caetani Stefaneschi, but Benedetto Caetani had a majority (but not the required two-thirds majority) on the first ballot. That would mean that at the scrutiny Caetani had at least twelve votes, but not the required fifteen. Several cardinals agreed to support him after the results of the ballot were announced.
↑ S. Miranda: Cardinal Benedetto Caetani (Pope Boniface VIII)

Sources

Konrad Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, volumen I, 1913

F. Burkle-Young: notes to the papal election of 1294 (The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church by S. Miranda)

The Catholic Encyclopedia: Celestine V

The Catholic Encyclopedia:Boniface VIII

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