| Papal conclave February 1621 | |
|---|---|
| Dates and location | |
| 8–9 February 1621 Apostolic Palace, Papal States | |
| Elected pope | |
| Alessandro Ludovisi Name taken: Gregory XV | |
 | |
In the papal conclave held from 8 to 9 February 1621, Cardinal Alessandro Ludovisi was elected to succeed Paul V as pope. Ludovisi took the name Gregory XV. It was the shortest conclave in the seventeenth century. [1]
Pope Paul V died on January 28, 1621, in the 16th year of his pontificate. At the time of his death, there were seventy cardinals in the Sacred College, but only sixty nine were valid electors. Fifty one of them participated in the election of the new Pope.
There were three main parties in the Sacred College, with cardinal-nephews of the deceased Popes as leaders: [2]
Three cardinals of the Italian ruling families (d'Este, Medici and Sforza) were not counted among the members of these factions.
It was generally thought that the next Pope would be the candidate chosen by Cardinal Borghese, because he was the most influential person in the Sacred College. He wanted to elect his friend Cardinal Campori, and already before opening the conclave he had obtained twenty four declarations in his favor. Although Campori had two significant opponents (Republic of Venice and Cardinal Orsini), Borghese was sure that he would be able to achieve his election on the first day of voting, by acclamation. [2]
The conclave began in the evening of February 8. On the next day, Cardinal Borghese tried to elect Campori by acclamation, but failed because many of his friends defected and aligned themselves with Orsini, who had secured French support for his action against Campori. Facing such strong opposition, Campori withdrew his candidature. [2]
In the subsequent scrutiny (the only one during this conclave), the greatest number of votes received (fifteen) were for Jesuit Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, [2] but he had already declared in the previous conclave that he would not accept papal dignity in the case of his election. Now, at the age of 78, Bellarmine did not change his mind. [3]
The rest of the day the most influential cardinals: Borghese, Orsini, Zapata, Capponi, d'Este and Medici, spent on looking for a compromise candidature. [2] Finally, the leaders of factions agreed to elect aged and ill Cardinal Alessandro Ludovisi of Bologna, who seemed to have been the ideal candidate for a temporary pontificate.
On that same day, at about 11 o’clock in the evening, all the cardinals assembled in the Capella Paolina and by acclamation elected Alessandro Ludovisi to the papacy. [4] He accepted his election and took the name of Gregory XV.
Pope Gregory XV in his Bull Aeterni Patris Filius (November 15, 1621) prescribed that in the future only three modes of papal election were to be allowed: scrutiny, compromise, and quasi-inspiration. His Bull "Decet Romanum Pontificem" (March 12, 1622) contains a ceremonial that regulates these three modes of election in every detail. The ordinary mode of election was to be election by scrutiny, which required that the vote be secret, that each cardinal give his vote to only one candidate and that no one vote for himself. Most of the papal elections during the sixteenth century were influenced by political conditions and by party considerations in the College of Cardinals. By introducing secrecy of vote, Pope Gregory XV intended to abolish these abuses. The rules and ceremonies prescribed by Gregory XV were kept substantially the same until Pope John Paul II issued the constitution "Universi Dominici Gregis" in 1996. [5]
Pope Gregory XV, born Alessandro Ludovisi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 February 1621 to his death in July 1623.
Pope Paul V, born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death, in January 1621. In 1611, he honored Galileo Galilei as a member of the Papal Accademia dei Lincei and supported his discoveries. In 1616, Pope Paul V instructed Cardinal Bellarmine to inform Galileo that the Copernican theory could not be taught as fact, but Bellarmine's certificate allowed Galileo to continue his studies in search for evidence and use the geocentric model as a theoretical device. That same year Paul V assured Galileo that he was safe from persecution so long as he, the Pope, should live. Bellarmine's certificate was used by Galileo for his defense at the trial of 1633.
A papal conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a bishop of Rome, also known as the pope. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church.
Ludovico Ludovisi was an Italian cardinal and statesman of the Roman Catholic Church. He was an art connoisseur who formed a famous collection of antiquities, housed at the Villa Ludovisi in Rome.
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The 1769 papal conclave, was convoked after the death of Pope Clement XIII. It elected as his successor Cardinal Lorenzo Ganganelli, who took the name Clement XIV.
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The 1655 papal conclave was convened following the death of Pope Innocent X and ended with the election of Cardinal Fabio Chigi as Alexander VII. The conclave quickly reached a deadlock, with Giulio Cesare Sacchetti receiving 33 votes throughout the conclave, but never securing enough for his own election. After several months of deliberation and negotiation, Chigi was elected Pope when Cardinal Mazarin, the leader of the French government, consented to Chigi's election at the request of Sacchetti.
The 1689 papal conclave was convened after the death of Pope Innocent XI. It led to the election of Cardinal Pietro Vito Ottoboni as Pope Alexander VIII. The conclave saw previous factions join together because they lacked numerical strength, and saw the rise of the zelanti as a political force in the election of the next pope. Ottoboni was eventually unanimously elected with the consent of the secular monarchs, becoming the first Venetian in over 200 years to be elected pope.
The March–April 1605 papal conclave was convened on the death of Pope Clement VIII and ended with the election of Cardinal Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici as Pope Leo XI. It was the first of two papal conclaves in 1605; Leo died on 27 April 1605, twenty-six days after he was elected. The conclave was dominated by conflict over whether Cesare Baronius should be elected pope, and Philip III of Spain excluded both Baronius and the eventually successful candidate, Medici.
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Aeterni Patris Filius, also called Aeterni Patris, was a bull issued by Pope Gregory XV on 15 November 1621 that regulated papal conclaves. Together with the bull Decet Romanum pontificem of 1622, it formed the canonical basis for papal elections until the 20th century. The bull brought about many reforms to the papal election system, created structured rules, and sought to decrease the influence of organized factions within the College of Cardinals during the conclave as well as decrease the influence of secular monarchs on papal elections. It established general rules for the conclave process, while the later bull Decet Romanum pontificem addressed the ceremonial aspects of papal elections.
Pietro Campori was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church and Bishop of Cremona. He was friends with Scipione Borghese, the nephew of Pope Paul V, and was twice a candidate for election to the papacy, in the conclaves of 1621 and 1623.
