1774–1775 papal conclave

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Papal conclave
1774–75
Dates and location
5 October 1774 – 15 February 1775
Apostolic Palace, Papal States
Key officials
DeanGian Francesco Albani
Sub-deanHenry Benedict Stuart
CamerlengoCarlo Rezzonico
ProtopriestGiuseppe Pozzobonelli
ProtodeaconAlessandro Albani
Election
VetoedGiovanni Carlo Boschi
Elected pope
Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi
Name taken: Pius VI
← 1769

The 1774–75 papal conclave (October 5 – February 15), was convoked after the death of

Pius VI
.

Death of Clement XIV

Society of Jesus

Sacred College of Cardinals. The attitude toward Jesuits remained the main criterion of the appreciation of the candidates to the papal succession in the subsequent conclave.[1]

The death of a pope frequently presented an opportunity for the citizens of Rome to vent their anti-clerical feelings, often in the context of satires, sometimes salacious, directed at either the late pope or the cardinals. In 1774, the Governor of Rome had occasion to ban a drama entitled the Conclave for offending the "dignity, decorum, and venerable representation of the Sacred College, as well as, other persons as subjects."[2]

List of participants

At the death of Clement XIV there were fifty-five cardinals in the Sacred College, but two of them died during sede vacante, while another nine remained entirely absent. Forty-four cardinals participated in the conclave:[3]

  • Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals
    ; prefect of the S.C. of Ceremonies; Cardinal-protector of the Kingdom of Poland
  • Vatican Basilica
  • Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia e Velletri
  • Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina; commendatario of S. Marco; Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church
  • Cardinal-Bishop of Albano; Cardinal-protector and ambassador of the Kingdom of France before the Holy See; administrator of the see of Albi
  • Carlo Vittorio Amedeo delle Lanze (April 10, 1747) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Prassede
  • Vincenzo Malvezzi (November 26, 1753) – Cardinal-Priest of SS. Marcellino e Pietro;
    archbishop of Bologna
    ; Pro-Datary of His Holiness
  • Antonio Sersale (April 22, 1754) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Pudenziana;
    archbishop of Naples
  • Francisco de Solís Folch de Cardona (April 5, 1756) – Cardinal-Priest of SS. XII Apostoli;
    Kingdom of Spain
  • archbishop of Sens
  • Girolamo Spinola (September 24, 1759) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Balbina
  • Giuseppe Maria Castelli (September 24, 1759) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Alessio; prefect of the S.C. for the Propagation of Faith
  • Gaetano Fantuzzi (September 24, 1759) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Pietro in Vincoli; prefect of the S.C. of the Ecclesiestical Immunities
  • Liberian Basilica
  • Andrea Corsini (September 24, 1759) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Mateo in Via Merulana; prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature of Justice
  • Christoph Anton von Migazzi von Waal und Sonnenthurn (November 23, 1761) – Cardinal-Priest [no title assigned]; archbishop of Vienna; administrator of the see of Vác
  • Simon Buonaccorsi (July 18, 1763) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Giovanni a Porta Latina
  • bishop of Ancona
  • Grand penitentiary
    ; prefect of the Congregation for the correction of the books of the Oriental Church
  • Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals
  • Antonio Colonna Branciforte (September 26, 1766) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Maria in Via; legate in Bologna
  • Lazzaro Opizio Pallavicino (September 26, 1766) – Cardinal-Priest of SS. Nereo ed Achilleo; Cardinal Secretary of State
  • Vitaliano Borromeo (September 26, 1766) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Maria in Aracoeli; legate in Romagna
  • Pietro Pamphli (September 26, 1766) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Maria in Trastevere
  • archbishop of Fermo
  • Lateran Basilica
  • Scipione Borghese (September 10, 1770) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Maria sopra Minerva; legate in Ferrara; Cardinal-protector of Germany
  • Antonio Eugenio Visconti (June 17, 1771) – Cardinal-Priest of [no title assigned]
  • archbishop of Ferrara
  • Innocenzo Conti (September 23, 1771) – Cardinal-Priest [no title assigned]
  • Gennaro Antonio de Simone (March 15, 1773) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Bernardo alle Terme
  • Francesco Carafa di Traetto
    (April 19, 1773) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Clemente
  • Francesco Saverio de Zelada (April 19, 1773) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Martino ai Monti
  • Subiaco
  • Alessandro Albani (July 16, 1721) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Maria in Via Lata; commendatario of S. Maria in Cosmedin; protodeacon of the Sacred College of Cardinals; Librarian of the Holy Roman Church; Cardinal-protector of Austria and Kingdom of Sardinia
  • Domenico Orsini d'Aragona (September 9, 1743) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Maria ad Martyres; Cardinal-protector of the Kingdom of Naples
  • Luigi Maria Torregiani (November 26, 1753) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Agata in Suburra
  • Giovanni Costanzio Caracciolo (September 24, 1759) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Eustachio; prefect of the Apostolic Tribunal of the Signature of Grace
  • Andrea Negroni (July 18, 1763) – Cardinal-Deacon of SS. Vito e Modesto; secretary of the Apostolic Briefs
  • Benedetto Veterani (September 26, 1766) – Cardinal-Deacon of SS. Cosma e Damiano; prefect of the S.C. of Index
  • Giovanni Battista Rezzonico (September 10, 1770) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Nicola in Carcere Tulliano
  • Antonio Casali (December 12, 1770) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro; prefect of the S.C. of Good Government
  • Pasquale Acquaviva d'Aragona (December 12, 1770) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Maria in Aquiro; pro-president of Urbino
  • Francesco D'Elci (April 26, 1773) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Angelo in Pescheria

Thirteen cardinals were created by Clement XIV, twenty by

Innocent XIII
.

Absentees

Nine cardinals were absent:[3]

Benedict XIV, Clement XIII and Clement XIV created three of them each.

Died during sede vacante

Two cardinals, including one created by Benedict XIV and one created by Clement XIII:[3]

Divisions in the Sacred College

The College of Cardinals was generally divided into two blocs: curial, pro-Jesuit (zelanti) and political, anti-Jesuit. The first one was formed by the Italian curial cardinals who opposed the secular influences on the Church. The second one included crown-cardinals of the Catholic courts. These two blocs were in no way homogenous. Zelanti were divided into moderate and radical factions. The anti-Jesuit bloc was divided into several national groups with different interests.

The leader of Zelanti was Cardinal Marcantonio Colonna. The other representatives of this faction were

Maria Theresa of Austria and her son Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor were under the care of Migazzi and Corsini. Also very influential was Cardinal Giraud, former nuncio in France. Several cardinals were not counted among the members of these factions.[5]

There was no main favourite of the conclave. About thirty cardinals were considered papabile.[1]

Conclave

The conclave began on October 5, 1774. Initially there were only 28 participants. By the middle of December their number reached only 39, but by the end of the conclave five more cardinals arrived.[6]

Cardinal Marcantonio Colonna, taking advantage of the small number of electors, mostly curial cardinals belonging to his zelanti faction, tried to release Father Ricci from prison. This initiative obtained support of camerlengo Carlo Rezzonico and of Henry Benedict Stuart, but the anti-Jesuit faction was strong enough to frustrate it.[1]

Every day at least one ballot took place, but no candidates with serious chances for the election were proposed at the beginning, because the number of electors was relatively small and they were obliged to await the arrival of the rest, particularly of those representatives of the courts who did not reside in Rome. Zelanti voted mainly for their leader Colonna, who received the greatest number of votes in these initial ballots, but certainly had no chances to secure the required majority of two thirds.[7] Some other candidates were also put forward by the Zelanti, but they were all rejected by crown-cardinals as too pro-Jesuit.[1] Against the candidature of Giovanni Carlo Boschi the Bourbon courts even pronounced the official papal veto.[2]

Although the court factions cooperated by blocking of Zelanti candidates, they were unable to agree upon one of their own. Spain supported Pallavicino, while Austria favoured Visconti, a former nuncio at Vienna. Towards the end of 1774, the name of young Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Braschi was raised for the first time. Braschi belonged to the moderate wing of the Zelanti faction. He was advanced by Cardinal Giraud, and obtained a significant number of votes. The crown-cardinals rejected Braschi as pro-Jesuit,

Cardinal de Bernis in his report for the French court found him moderate man and did not exclude the support for him in the future, if no better candidate would be found. No consensus had been achieved before the end of 1774.[9]

In January 1775 cardinals Migazzi, Borromeo, Caracciolo, Pallavicino and Visconti were proposed by the political factions, but without any significant success, because Zelanti rejected all candidates recommended by the monarchs.[10] Cardinal Zelada tried to mediate between factions, proposing to reduce the number of candidates to six, of whom each of the two blocs had to advance three, and to elect the one who would be the most acceptable for all. But this initiative had also failed.[11]

Coat of arms of Pius VI.

Gradually French Cardinals de Bernis and Luynes came to the conclusion that it was impossible to find any better candidate with chances for election than the initially rejected Cardinal Braschi. This was the turning point of the conclave. Braschi's candidacy gained important and influential allies. But Spain and Portugal still opposed him as too favorable toward the Jesuits. Braschi also had some opponents in the radical wing of his own party. To secure the required majority,

Cardinal de Bernis aligned himself with Cardinal Zelada, who acted as mediator: de Bernis had to convince the political factions, while Zelada had to overcome the opposition among the radical Zelanti.[12] Also Cardinal Albani was engaged in the promotion of Braschi.[1]

Cardinal Zelada secured the support of Zelanti without serious problems. Spain's candidate, Pallavicino, openly declared that he would not accept the tiara and supported Braschi.

suppression of the Jesuits, his friendship to the House of Bourbon and to the House of Habsburg, and agreed to be guided by the allies in the distribution of State offices.[1]

Election of Pius VI

On February 15, 1775, after 134 days of deliberation, on the 265th ballot,

Pius V.[6]

On February 22, 1775, the Pope-elect was consecrated bishop of Rome by Cardinal Dean Gian Francesco Albani,

bishop of Sabina. On the same day he was also solemnly crowned by Cardinal Alessandro Albani, protodeacon of S. Maria in Via Lata.[15]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f The Triple Crown
  2. ^
    ISBN 9780192517999
  3. ^ a b c S. Miranda Conclave of 1774–75
  4. bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina. (Gaetano Moroni
    , Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica da S. Pietro sino ai nostri giorni, Tipografia Emiliana, Venice 1840–1861, vol. LXIV, p. 173)
  5. ^ Bourgoing, p. 5–7
  6. ^ a b Damian Hungs: Pius VI Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Bourgoing, p. 14–15
  8. ^ Ott, Michael. "Pope Pius VI." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 30 May 2018
  9. ^ Bourgoing, p. 17–18
  10. ^ Bourgoing, p. 19
  11. ^ Bourgoing, p. 20; Damian Hungs: Pius VI Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ a b Bourgoing, p. 23
  13. ^ Bourgoing, p. 22
  14. ^ K. Dopierała, p. 370
  15. ^ S. Miranda: Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Braschi (Pope Pius VI)

Sources

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1774–1775_papal_conclave&oldid=1217883578"