Conclave et Audience de Magius detail / Artist unknown / Wikimedia Commons
CV NEWS FEED // As the world holds its breath and we speculate on which cardinals are papabile (potential new popes), it’s important for Catholics to take a deep breath and look back.
Conclaves have never been without drama, and yet the Church persists. We have Christ’s promise that “the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:17).
No matter how uncertain things may seem right now, remember: We’ve been here before. Here are eight stories from past papal conclaves that will definitely inspire prayers of gratitude.
Bird Elects Pope: – 236 A.D.
Fabian, the story goes, was just a regular country bumpkin who happened to be in Rome during papal election season. As the bishops were arguing, Fabian walked by and a dove landed on his head. Taking this as a divine sign, the bishops grabbed him and — together with the people of Rome — elected him by “acclamation.” The pontificate wasn’t all that bad. A lull in the persecutions and Fabian’s talent for working with the Roman government meant that he could heal several looming schisms and even send out the first missionaries from Rome to Gaul (modern France).
The Longest Conclave Ever: 1268 – 1271 A.D.
When Pope Clement IV died in 1268, infighting and division was the name of the cardinal game. The debate became so vicious and protracted, that the magistrates of Viterbo (where the conclave was being held) locked the cardinals in the Palazzo dei Papi, restricted them to bread and water, and eventually even removed the roof from their accommodations. These techniques became the basis for the canon law of papal conclaves to accelerate future elections and reduce outside political interference. They worked – no subsequent conclave has even approached three years in duration.
The Accidental Pope: – 1334 A.D.
In 1334, the papal court was sunning itself in Avignon, France. The cardinals were hoping for a swift and decisive conclave so they could get back to enjoying the papal vacation in southern France. When the crowd favorite, Cardinal Jean-Raymond de Comminges, however, suddenly refused to promise to stay in France were he to be elected, the electors were thrown into confusion. On the first ballot, each cardinal – hoping to canvas the crowd favorites – secretly voted for the “unelectable” and least favorite candidate: an austere Cistercian named Jacques Fournier who probably wouldn’t approve of their luxurious lifestyle in southern France.
Enough of them voted for him that he actually won the election – and was enthroned on January 8, 1335, as Benedict XII. the cardinals retained their luxurious living in their Mediterranean villas: as pope, the monk began construction of the lavish papal palace at Avignon. All’s well that ends well?
Try Before You Buy: – 1378 A.D.
After 60 years in France – and due in large part to the heroic efforts of St. Catherine of Siena – the papal court was back in Rome for the conclave of 1378. And the Romans wanted an Italian at all costs. As the cardinals argued and raged inside the Vatican, no compromise seemed possible – until someone mentioned an unknown archbishop who they said they thought might be pious (but whom none of them had ever actually met): Bartolomeo Prignano, who was duly elected and became Pope Urban VI.
When he arrived in Rome for his coronation, it was immediately apparent that something was wrong. The man was unhinged – a violent lunatic who began locking up and torturing cardinals for imagined conspiracies against him. His papacy catalyzed the Great Schism and he was – understandably – the last non-cardinal ever elected pope.
Prelate Punch-Up: – 1458 A.D.
While the rules of conclave had been refined, tested, and settled by 1458, the tempers of the cardinal electors had not. Ambition, personal judgment, and pride were all-too-well evident as they gathered to elect a successor for Callixtus III. One prelate, Cardinal Guillaume D’Estouteville, was so determined to seize the papal crown that he held secret meetings in the latrine to bribe his fellow cardinals to vote for him. It didn’t work. On the final ballot, when it was clear he would lose, he and one of his supporters physically attacked the cardinal who cast the decisive vote. A brawl erupted as the princes of the Church worked out their differences.
Not Even Pretending Anymore: – 1492 A.D.
1492 was the age of discovery… and of one of the most worldly of all papal conclaves. Of the 27 cardinal-electors present for the 1492 conclave, only four were career churchmen. The rest had been appointed because they were close relatives of a pope, nominated by their monarch, or members of the Roman nobility.
This motley crew elected Rodrigo de Borgia, a careerist prelate who had fathered multiple children by various concubines. Historians agree that he probably purchased the votes necessary for his election – either directly or through promises of benefices. He was successful in his efforts and became Alexander VI with little protest from the local Romans, who knew the Borgias as generous and competent administrators.
Only the fiery Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola seems to have registered much fuss – and Alexander is reported to have laughed for hours when he read his letter of remonstrance.
Not Even a Priest: – 1513 A.D.
The youngest elector present at the 1492 debacle of a conclave was then-17-year-old Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici. Born in 1475, he had received a tonsure at 7 years old as well as numerous benefices and riches. On the death of Julius II in 1513, he was among the 25 cardinals sealed into the Conclave. There, they first drew up a list of “demands,” detailing the disposal of the property of whoever among them would become pope. Each elector wanted his share secured, and Church titles and bishoprics assured for his friends. Medici – who became Pope Leo X – was elected unanimously on the second ballot. He was only a deacon at the time – and so was quickly ordained a priest four days later, and consecrated a bishop within the week.
The Pranking Prelates – 1655 A.D.
When the College of Cardinals met to elect a successor to Innocent X, they quickly realized they were in for a long haul. In fact, for more than a month, a large number of electors wrote “no one” on their ballots at each vote. As the stalemate dragged on, the younger members of the College began to play increasingly vicious pranks on older members. One young prelate dressed up as a ghost to frighten an old cardinal, who subsequently fell and was left for hours on a cold floor. He died of pneumonia a few days later.
The Counterfeit Cardinal – 2013 A.D.
Crazy conclaves aren’t just a relic of the past. In 2013, prior to the conclave that eventually elected Pope Francis, one German Catholic attempted to infiltrate a top-secret, pre-conclave meeting inside the Vatican. Wearing a black fedora and presenting himself as a bishop in the Italian Orthodox Church (a fiction), he made it into the halls outside of the auditorium, where he milled around and snapped photos with cardinals for nearly an hour. The Swiss guards, alerted by his weird hat and purple scarf, eventually nabbed him and removed him from the premises.
