SEDE VACANTE 1216

July 16, 1216—July 18, 1216

Background

fresco of Innocent III at Subiaco

Innocent III (Lotharius dei Conti di Segni) had been one of the greatest of the medieval popes. He was capable of forming great plans, and he was clever, resourceful, and lucky enough to see many of them realized or at least well advanced.

He was a vigorous opponent of heresy, both in Italy and elsewhere. He favored the launching of measures against the Albigensians in southern France, sending several legates throughout France to organize a military expedition against the heretics and their protectors, especially the Count of Toulouse. The excesses perpetrated by various "crusaders", such as Count Simon de Montfort, were his responsibility, though not entirely or mostly his fault.

He was not a strong supporter of new religious orders, for the sake of novelty. In the Lateran Council, legislation was passed against the creation of new religious Orders: Ne nimia religionum diversitas gravem in Ecclesia Dei confusionem inducat, firmiter prohibemus ne quis de cetero novam religionem inveniat. Sed quicumque voluerit ad religionem converti, unam de approbatis assumat. Nonetheless, some in the Papal Court were friendly toward Dominic and Francis, and even the Pope began to see the value of using them as his tools to preach against heresy.  Innocent and Dominic met in Rome at the IV Lateran Council, and the Pope verbally indicated his approval. The Order of Preachers was officially approved by Honorius III in December of 1216, and the Rule of the Franciscans in 1223. Their value, not just as preachers, but as inquisitors, was quickly recognized. Neither, it seems, did Innocent fill his College of Cardinals with members of the religious orders. At his death, only three out of the twenty-seven cardinals were religious.

Lotharius dei Conti had studied Canon Law at Bologna as a young man, and when he became pope he launched a major codification and revision of Canon Law, and was a highly competent legislator himself, as hundreds of his legal decisions demonstrate.

He approved and sponsored the Fourth Crusade (1204), but his ideal intention was darkened by the intrigues of the Venetians, who managed to divert the Crusade from its intended destination to an attack on Constantinople. Years of diplomacy on Innocent's part with the Eastern Emperor Alexius, which seemed to be heading in the direction of the reunion of the eastern and western churches, was ruined.  It was his decision to appoint the first Latin Patriarch of Constantinople, which erected an additional obstacle to ending the schism and reuniting the churches. To facilitate the support of crusaders in the Holy Land, and to launch a new crusade, Innocent sponsored the rationalization of the Papal financial system. The drawing up of a Liber Censuum (1192) under Cencius Camerarius (who would be elected Honorius III) made it possible at least to know who owed what to the Papacy, and Innocent certainly used the Liber Censuum to conduct his business (Fabre, pp.4-5). His pursuit of other expedients, such as the Peter's Pence in England and Ireland, through the vigorous activities of one Legate after another, provided him with more much needed cash. It also roused a great deal of protest and indignation at the methods of the collectors [cf. Jane E. Sayers, Papal Government and England during the Pontificate of Honorius III (1216-1227) (Cambridge 1984)].

In order to facilitate the raising of crusading troops, Innocent worked to guarantee security of property that would be left behind. Kings, princes and other magnates were urged and even forced into making peace with each other in the name of the Crusade. Overlords were required to agree that they would not molest the fiefs of their vassals when the vassal was on crusade. Legal proceedings could be suspended for the duration. This ideal, however, raised once again the problems of the Investiture crisis and secular control over church property, as well as the question of the correct relationship between Church and State, or rather between Pope and local ruler. Innocent adopted the lofty ideals of Gregory VII, Adrian IV, and Alexander II, which brought him into conflict with King Joun of England, Philip Augustus of France, Philip of Swabia and Otto of Brunswick, to name but the most important. The tools of Excommunication and Interdict were used freely to enforce compliance, making it clear to all that the Pope was superior to any earthly ruler. In a clever, far too clever, maneuver, Innocent supported Otto over Philip, and then deposed Otto from the Imperial seat, and transferred his support to Frederick II Hohenstaufen of Sicily (son of the Empress Constance) This apparently ended an ambitious invasion of Sicily by the Emperor Otto, but in fact opened the way to a half-century of struggle for domination of Italy between the Papacy and the Hohenstaufen. His harassing of Frederick, who had no interest in crusading and was uncooperative in Innocent's ambitions to unite Italy and Sicily under actual papal domination, led to hatred on the part of Frederick of everything clerical.   Frederick's own ambition was to consolidate his own ancestral holdings in Sicily and south Italy and rule them in conjunction with his acquisitions in Germany that came with the Imperial crown.

Innocent used the instrument of an ecumenical council (IV Lateran, November 1215) to promote a considerable number of reforms in church practice and discipline. He even got the fathers of the Council to agree to officially sponsor and help finance another crusade in the Holy Land [Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio 22 (Venice 1778), columns 1058-1068].

 

Death of Pope Innocent III

Pope Innocent had left the city of Rome (in June, according to Ryccardus de S. Germano, quite wrongly [MGH SS 19, p. 338]), and travelled to Perugia. He was actually there by May 20. He intended, moreover, to go to Pisa and Genoa, to bring the two enemies together in peace, so that they could participate in his planned Crusade. Their naval resources and expertise would be essential. But there in Perugia he died, languore correptus, at the very height of his power and prestige (Gregorovius V. 1, 101-105). Alberic (Albricus) of Trois-Fontaines (diocese of Châlons), apparently describing a stroke, wrote [Potthast, p. 461; MGH SS 23, ]:

Primo tertianam passus et in brevi curatus .... decidit in acutam, quam cum multis diebus fovisset nec a citris, quibus in magna quantitate et ex consuetudine vescebatur utpote illius aegritudinis ignarus, minime abstineret, demum paralysi percussus ad ultimum in lethargiam prolapsus vitam finivit.

Innocent III died on July 16 (XVII kal. Augusti), 1216, at about the age of 54. He was buried on the next day in the Cathedral, beneath the arch of a window near the altar of S. Herculanus, which very altar Innocent II himself had consecrated six weeks earlier [Potthast p. 450]. His remains were later disturbed, on a whim of Leo XIII (1892), brought back to Rome, and reinterred in the Lateran Basilica in a brand-new tomb worthy of the greatest of the medieval popes. It made satisfying propaganda after the loss of Italy (1860) and Rome (1870) by the Papacy.

The Papal Throne was vacant for only one day [July 17, 1216], according to Bernardus, Perusinis causa electionis papae strictissime arctantibus cardinales ('the Perusines having enclosed the cardinals very securely for the sake of the election of a pope').

 

 

The Cardinals

Konrad Eubel, OMConv., Hierarchia catholica  I editio altera (Münster 1913), p. 5 n. 2, provides a list of twenty-five cardinals who were living at the death of Innocent III. He does not include Aldobrandino Caetani.   J. Clausen (p. 8), says that the Cardinals who met at Perugia on July 18, 1216, after the death of Innocent III, were nineteen in number (or rather this is what Cicaconius-Olduin says, at Volume II, column 43). There were nineteen cardinals at the IV Lateran Council in November of 1215 [Luchaire, Journal des Savants 1905, 563-564]. Clausen also gives a list, however, of twenty-nine cardinals (pp. 395-397) (excluding Cencius Savelli), but this list includes Aldebrandino Caetani, Siegfried von Eppenstein, and Maurus Amerinus Umber (and he has the wrong Nicholas, Bishop of Tusculum). That makes an actual total of twenty-seven. Ciaconius-Olduin (Volume II, columns 43-44) also put the number at twenty-seven. Onuphrio Panvinio (Epitome, 151-152) puts the number at twenty-two.
      In a bull signed at Viterbo on April 19, 1216 [The Register, or Rolls, of Walter Grey, Lord Archbishop of York (London: Surtees Society 1872) p. 127], the names of eighteen cardinals appear; these were the cardinals (or most of the cardinals) who were accompanying Innocent III in his mission to Pisa and Genoa, and who were present at Perugia when Innocent died:

  • Nicholaus Tusculanensis.
  • Guido Praenestinus .
  • Hugo Ostiensis et Veletrensis.
  • Pelagius Albanensis .
  • Cinthius tit. S. Laur' in Lucina.
  • Cencius SS. Johannis et Pauli
  • Leo tit. S. Crucis in Jerusalem
  • Robertus tit. Sancti Stephani in Caelio Monte
  • Stephanus Basilicae XII. Apostolorum.
  • Gregorius tit. S. Anastasiae
  • Petrus tit. S. Laur' in Damaso.
  • Guido S. Nicholai in Carcere Tulliano
  • Octavianus SS. Sergii et Bacchi
  • Johannes SS. Cosmae et Damiani
  • Gregorius Sancti Theodori
  • Rinerius S. M. in Cosmedin
  • Romanus S. Angeli
  • Stephanus S. Adriani

List of Cardinals alive at the Death of Innocent III:

  1. Nicolaus (Niccolò) de Romanis, Bishop of Tusculum [Frascati] (created at the Ember Days of December, 1204, and first subscribed on January 9, 1205) (died 1219). Legate to England (1213-1214), removed the Interdict against King John (e.g. Potthast 4837-4838, 4842, 4947) and received England and Ireland into feudal submission to the Papacy (Potthast 4843, 4912).  He was appointed by July July 5, 1213 [Bliss, Calendar of Papal Registers I, 38-40].  Magna Carta was annulled (Potthast 4990). His latest subscription under Innocent III was on June 23, 1216 at Perugia.   His successor in England as Legate was Cardinal (Jacobus) Guala of SS. Silvestro e Martini. The new pope Honorius III wrote a letter to Cardinal Guala, who was still in England, on July 25, 1216 [Pressutti, no. 5, p. 3] announcing his election; and in August, 1216 [Pressutti, no. 23 p. 8], inquiring about the election of a bishop of Hereford.
  2. Guido Papareschi [Romanus], Bishop of Palestrina (1206-1217) [Cf. Eubel, Hierarchia catholica I editio altera, p. 37 n.2; cf. p. 3 n.4; and an electoral letter of Honorius III]
  3. Hugo (Hugolinus) dei Conti di Segni (1145 [or 1170]-1241); his mother belonged to one of the leading families of Anagni. Bishop of Ostia e Velletri (1206-1227).Cardinal Deacon of S. Eustachio from 1198-1206, the first of Innocent III's creature. He was created Cardinal Deacon in the Consistory in the Ember Days of December, 1198 [Maleczek, pp. 126-133], and first subscribed on January 4, 1199. His great-grandfather and Innocent's great-grandfather were brothers. Chaplain of Innocent III [Baronius-Theiner 20, sub anno 1216, no. 14, p. 354; Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores III, p. 575].   Archpriest of the Vatican Basilica.   "liberalium atque utriusque juris peritia eminenter instructus, fluvius eloquentiae Tullianae, sacrae paginae diligens observator et doctor" (Liber Censuum, in Baronius-Theiner, sub anno 1227, no. 13, p. 530; Muratori, III. 1, p. 575) Legate in Germany along with Cardinal Leone Brancaleone in the matter of the election of a German Emperor [Migne, Patrologiae 218, columns 995-1174] He helped St. Francis of Assisi write the Rule for the Third Order of Franciscans (Cuthbert, Life of St. Francis of Assisi, p. 337). Made Protector of the Franciscans by Honorius III at the request of St. Francis ["First Life of St. Francis", ch. V (99)]. His latest subscription under Innocent III was on June 23, 1216 at Perugia.
  4. ? Benedictus, Bishop of Porto (from 1213), formerly Cardinal Priest in the titulus of S. Susanna (1201-1212/1213), and Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Domnica (1200-1201). The date of his death is unknown, though Salvador Miranda and his authorities give a date of "Shortly after July 18, 1216—which is nothing but the date of the election of Honorius III. His successor in 1217 was Cardinal Cynthius of S. Lorenzo in Lucina.
  5. Pelagius Galvanus, OSB.[Portuguese] (aged ca. 51), Bishop of Albano (1212-1230), formerly Cardinal Deacon of S. Lucia in Septisolio (1205-1210) and Cardinal Priest of S. Caecilia (1210-1212). Master in theology (Paris).   Sent as Legatus a latere to the Emperor Henry of Constantinople on August 30, 1213 [Baluzius, Epistolarum Innocentii III Tomus II, p. 798 = Potthast 4802; Potthast 4879 (January 12, 1214)]; his mission was concluded before January 12, 1216 (Potthast 5052). He was with Pope Innocent during his trip to Perugia, which began in mid-April 1216. He subscribed the bull of April 19, 1216 at Viterbo; he subscribed a bull for Pope Innocent at Orvieto on May 7, 1216 [Potthast, 5106]. His latest subscription under Innocent III was on June 23, 1216 at Perugia. He subscribed for the new Pope, Honorius III, on August 12 at Perugia [Potthast, 5327]. Honorius sent him to England as Legate a latere [Bliss, Calendar of Papal Registers I, 74 (July 24,1220).

  6. Cynthius (Cencius) de Cinciis [Romanus], Cardinal Priest in the title of S. Lorenzo in Lucina (1191-1217) [Eubel I, p. 3 n. 1 and p. 43], promoted to Bishop of Porto (1217-1218) [Eubel I, p. 36]. He subscribed for Innocent III on April 13, 1216 [Potthast, 5100], and He subscribed the bull of April 19, 1216 at Viterbo. His latest subscription under Innocent III was on June 23, 1216 at Perugia. He subscribed for the new Pope, Honorius III, on August 12, 1216 at Perugia [Potthast, 5327]. The latest subscription recorded by Potthast [no. 5583] is on July 24, 1217.
  7. Cencius Savelli [Romanus], son of Aimeric Savelli [St. Antoninus of Florence, Chronica, in Baronius-Theiner, sub anno 1216, no. 17, p. 355; Gregorovius V, p. 119 n.]. Cardinal Priest in the titulus of SS. Joannis et Pauli (1201-1216). Formerly he had been Chamberlain of Clement III, Chamberlain of Celestine III, Canon of the Liberian Basilica (S. Maria Maggiore). Cardinal Deacon of S. Lucia in Orthea on the Esquiline (1192-1201). Vice-Chancellor. Camerarius Cardinalium [Urspurgensis Chronicon  MGH 23, p. 378], or rather S. R. E. Camerarius (from 1194). He was author of the Liber censuum Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae (See Fabre, 1-5). The bronze doors on the Oratory of S. Giovanni Battista at the Lateran Baptistery carry the inscription of 1195, in a highly abbreviated fashion [Forcella, Inscrizioni delle Chiese di Roma 8, p. 514 no. 1193]: Anno Vo pontificatus domini Celestini III pape, Cencio cardinali Sancte Lucie ejusdem domini pape camerario jubente, opus istud factum est. He subscribed for Innocent III on April 13, 1216 at Perugia [Potthast, 5100], and he subscribed the bull of April 19, 1216 at Viterbo. His latest subscription under Innocent III was on June 23, 1216 at Perugia. He was elected Pope Honorius III at Perugia.
  8. Leo (Leone) Brancaleone, Cardinal Priest in the title of S. Croce in Gerusalemme (1202-ca. 1230), formerly Cardinal Deacon of S. Lucia in Septasolio (1200-1202). He subscribes as Cardinal Priest for the first time on March 12, 1202. He was Legate in Bulgaria in 1204 [Potthast, 2283, 2284]. Legate in Germany 1207, 1209, in the matter of the election of a German Emperor [Migne, Patrologiae 218, columns 995-1174]. Legate in Hungary. He subscribed for Innocent III on April 13, 1216 [Potthast, 5100], and he subscribed the bull of April 19, 1216 at Viterbo. He subscribed for the new Pope, Honorius III, on August 12, 1216 at Perugia [Potthast, 5327]. He was sent by Honorius III along with Raynerius Capocci immediately after the Election to Lombardy to deal with the war between Milan and Piacenza [MGH Epistolae Saeculi XIII Tomus I, no. 2; Potthast 5329]
  9. Petrus Saxonis (Sasso) [Anagnis], Cardinal Priest in the titulus of S. Pudentianae (1205). His earliest known subscription is on June 22, 1206. He subscribed a bull for Innocent III on March 7, 1216 [Potthast, 5086]. (died after May 31, 1219, the date of his last known subscription).
  10. Joannes (Giovanni) de Columna (Colonna) [Romanus], second son of Oddone Colonna, Signore di Colonna, Monteporzio, Zagarolo, Gallicano e Palestrina. Cardinal Priest of S. Prassede (1212-1244) and previously Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Via Lata. Papal Legate on the V. Crusade, 1223. (died on February 9, 1245: 'Matthew of Westminster', Flores Historiarum II, p. 270 ed. Luard) [Eggs, Purpura Docta I, 138-140]. He did not subscribe the bull of April 19, 1216 at Viterbo.
  11. Stefano di Ceccano, OCist.[Fossanova], Cardinal Priest in the titulus of SS. XII Apostoli (1212-1227). His earliest subscription is on November 4, 1213. S.R.E. Camerarius [A. Theiner, Codex diplomaticus dominii temporalis S. Sedis I, p. 44-45, no. lviii]. Abbot of Fossanova.   "Cardinale di Fossanova". He subscribed for Innocent III on April 13, 1216 [Potthast, 5100], and he subscribed the bull of April 19, 1216 at Viterbo. His latest subscription under Innocent III was on June 23, 1216 at Perugia. He subscribed for the new Pope, Honorius III, on August 12, 1216 at Perugia [Potthast, 5327].
  12. Robertus Curzon (Courçon) [English], Cardinal Priest in the titulus of S. Stefano in Monte Celio (1212-1219). Studied at Oxford and Paris (ca. 1180), degree in Theology. Canon of Noyon (Noviomensis) and of Paris. Legatus a latere in France [Bouquet, Recueil des historiens de la Gaule et de la France 19, p. 593-594 = Potthast 4903 (March 7, 1214); Du Boulay, Historia Universitatis Parisiensis 3, p. 77]; his mission was concluded before July 5, 1216 [Bouquet, p .604 = Potthast 5125]. Cardinal Robert subscribed a bull at the Lateran on February 18, 1216 [Potthast, 5077], at the Lateran on March 7, 1216 [Potthast 5086] and at the Lateran on April 13, 1216 [Ughelli-Coleti IV, 1028 Potthast, 5100]. He subscribed the bull of April 19, 1216 at Viterbo. On July 5, 1216, Pope Innocent wrote from Perugia to the magistrates and people of Cahors, who were asking pardon for offenses committed against Cardinal Robert the Legate [Potthast, 5125]. He subscribed for the new Pope, Honorius III, at Perugia on August 12, 1216 [Potthast, 5327]. His latest subscription under Innocent III was on June 23, 1216 at Perugia. He was Legate on the Fifth Crusade, died in Damietta in 1219. [Cardella, pp. 223-224]. It is sometimes said that he was Chancellor of Paris ca. 1211-1212, based on a remark by Du Boulay [Du Boulay, Historia Universitatis Parisiensis 3, p. 76], but there is no room for him in the documentary list of Chancellors [cf. H. Denifle, Chartularium Universitatis Parisiensis I (Paris 1889), p. xix n. 3.] Eubel (p. 5 and p. 47) lists Robert Curson as a cardinal of the Creation of 1216, but he was present as a Cardinal in November, 1215, at the IV Lateran Council
  13. Gregorio Galgano, Cardinal Priest in the title of S. Anastasia. (died July 21, 1224, 1225 or 1226). Promoted in February, his earliest subscription is on March 21, 1216. He had been promoted from the Deaconry of S. Teodoro (1206-1216), during which time he had been Legate in Sicily and tutor of the young Frederick II.. He subscribed for Innocent III at the Lateran on April 13, 1216 [Potthast, 5100]. He subscribed the bull of April 19, 1216 at Viterbo. His latest subscription under Innocent III was on June 23, 1216 at Perugia. He subscribed for the new Pope, Honorius III, at the Lateran on October 11, 1216 [Potthast, 5340].
  14. Tommaso de Episcopo, Capuanus (da Capua), Cardinal Priest of S. Sabina (1216-1243). His earliest subscription is on March 7, 1216. He was formerly Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Via Lata. Major Penitentiarius.. A. Paravicini Bagliani, Cardinali di curia e "familiae" cardinalizie I (Padova: Antenore 1972), p. 13, states correctly that he had died in 1239, between August 18 and August 22. The dismally inaccurate list in the Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1929 [so too Eggs, 134], which is followed by Salvador Miranda, has him dying on August 22, 1243.   Ryccardus de S. Germano states, sub anno 1239 [MGH 19, 378]: Aput Anagniam Thomas Capuanus Sancte Sabine presbyter cardinalis 15 Kal. Septembris [August 18] obiit.   He was the author of a manual of style for the Papal Chancellery called Summa Dictaminis or Dictator Epistularis [Simon Frideric Hahn, Collectio monumentorum veterum et recentium ineditorum Tomus I (Brunsvigae 1724), pp. 279-385]. He subscribed a bull for the new Pope, Honorius III, on August 12, 1216 at Perugia [Potthast, 5327]
  15. Petrus, Cardinal Priest in the titulus of S. Laurentii in Damaso (1216-1217). His earliest subscription is on April 11, 1216. He had previously been Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Aquiro. He subscribed for Innocent III on April 13, 1216 [Potthast, 5100]. He subscribed the bull of April 19, 1216 at Viterbo. He subscribed for the new Pope, Honorius III, at Perugia on August 12, 1216 [Potthast, 5327]. His latest known subscription is on October 10, 1217 [Potthast, 5608]. He became Bishop of Sabina in April of 1217. He died on September 21, 1220 [Maleczek, Papst und Kardinalskolleg,175; Pietro Egidi, Necrologi e libri affini della Provincia Romana Volume I (Roma 1908), 98-99]

  16. Guido Pierleone [Romanus—not Urbevetanus—of the family that included Anacletus II (Petrus Petri Leonis).  Giovanni Pierleone had been Senator of Rome in 1196; Hugo Pierleone had been Bishop of Tusculum ca. 1164-1166 (Cappelletti, Chiese d'Italia I, 631), and Uguccione Pierleone Deacon of S. Angelo and Cardinal Priest of S. Clemente].Guido Pierleone was Cardinal Deacon of S. Nicola in Carcere Tulliano (1205-1221) He was created in the Ember Days of December, 1204, and first subscribed on January 9, 1205. (Cardinal Guido died on April 25, 1228, as a notice in the Kalendaria of the Church of Piacenza states: VII. Kal. Majj 1228. Obiit Guido Petri Leonis Praenestinus Episcopus, qui dedit huic Ecclesiae etc.]. He subscribed the bull of April 19, 1216 at Viterbo. His latest subscription under Innocent III was on June 23, 1216 at Perugia.
  17. Gregorius Crescenzio [Romanus], Cardinal Deacon of S. Teodoro. His uncle had been Cardinal Priest of S. Vitale. He was a creation of Innocent III in his last creation in 1216. His earliest subscription is on March 21, 1216. Legatus a latere in the Kingdom of Naples in 1213 {Baluzius, Epistolarum Innocentii III Tomus II, p. 801 = Potthast 4810]. In 1220-1223 he was a member of a legation to northern Europe, including Bohemia, Poland, and Scandanavia. He died sometime after a subscription on May 9, 1226 [Potthast 7568]. His latest subscription under Innocent III was on June 23, 1216 at Perugia. [Maleczek, pp. 183-184]
  18. Ottaviano dei Conti di Segni [Anagni], Cardinal Deacon of Ss. Sergio e Bacco (1205-1231), which was once Innocent III's Deaconry. Cousin of Innocent III. Cardinal Protodeacon. (died January 29, 1231, according to the "Liber Anniversariorum della Basilica Vaticana", in Egidi, p. 168, n. 2; p. 285). He subscribed the bull of April 19, 1216 at Viterbo. His latest subscription under Innocent III was on June 23, 1216 at Perugia.
  19. (Magister) Johannes Colonna [Romanus], Cardinal Deacon of SS. Cosma e Damiano (1206-1216). His earliest known subscription is on June 8, 1206. Later Cardinal Priest in succession to Honorius III at SS. Joannis et Pauli (1217-1245) [Eubel I, p. 42, SS. Joannis et Pauli, n. 1]. His latest known subscription under Innocent III is on April 18, 1216, at Viterbo, and his first known subscription under Honorius III is on October 11, 1216, at the Lateran [Potthast, 5340]. He subscribed the bull of April 19, 1216 at Viterbo. [Maleczek, pp. 154-162]
  20. Rainerius Capocci, OCist. [Viterbiensis], Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Cosmedin (1216-1250). His earliest subscription is on April 11, 1216. Sent by Honorius III immediately after the Election to Lombardy to deal with the war between Milan and Piacenza [MGH Epistolae Saeculi XIII Tomus I, no. 2; Potthast 5329]. On June 1, 1221, he was present when St. Francis celebrated a capitulum generale at S. Maria de Portiuncula (Analecta Franciscana I, p. 6). In 1222 appointed papal Rector of the Patrimony and Spoleto. In 1243 he lead the Guelfs of Rome against Frederick II (died 1250). He subscribed the bull of April 19, 1216 at Viterbo. [Maleczek, pp. 184-189]
  21. Romanus Bonaventura, Cardinal Deacon of S. Angelo in Pescheria (1216-1236), later Cardinal Bishop of Porto (1236-1243). Archpriest of the Liberian Basilica (but at dates unknown). (died 1243). His earliest subscription is on April 11, 1216. He subscribed for Innocent III on April 13, 1216 [Potthast, 5100]. He subscribed the bull of April 19, 1216 at Viterbo. His latest subscription under Innocent III was on June 23, 1216 at Perugia. He subscribed for the new Pope, Honorius III, on August 12, 1216 [Potthast, 5327].
  22. Bertrandus (Bertrannus], Cardinal Deacon of S. Georgii ad Velum Aureum (1212-1216). His earliest subscription is on August 8, 1212. His latest is on November 17, 1216 [Horoy, Honorii III opera omnia II, 86, no. 63; Pressuti, Regesta Honorii III   I, p. 19 no. 109]. He was promoted to the titulus of SS. Giovanni e Paolo by Honorius III in December, 1216. He was not in France, as Maleczek [p. 170-171] claims. Petrus Capuanus replaced him in this deaconry in 1219.
  23. Stefano de Normandis (dei Conti), Cardinal Deacon of S. Adriano (1216-1228). His earliest subscription is on March 21, 1216. He later was Cardinal Priest of S. Maria in Trastevere (1228-1254) Nephew of Innocent III (dei Conti) [Moroni, Dizionario storico-ecclesiastica 48, 110-111] (died December 8, 1254). He died on December 9, according to the Liber Annualium of S. Spirito in Sasso [Pietro Egidi, Necrologi e libri affini della Provincia Romana Volume I (Roma 1908), p. 162]. He subscribed the bull of April 19, 1216 at Viterbo. His latest subscription under Innocent III was on June 23, 1216 at Perugia.
  24. Thomas de Ebulo [Capuanus] Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Via Lata.   Johannes da Ferentino, Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Via Lata (1205-1216 ??). He wrote a bull Datum Romae apud Sanctum Petrum per manum Joannis S. Mariae in Via lata Diaconi Cardinalis on June 16, 1205. He had been pro-Chancellor in Innocent III's years 6, 7, and 8 (1203, 1204, 1205) [Ciaconius-Olduin II, 42]. Legate a latere in England (1206) [Potthast, 2676, 2727]. Ciaconius-Olduin II, column 24, believe he was dead before Innocent died, which is incorrect ; Panvinio, p. 151, and Eubel, p. 5 n.1 list him as living. His latest subscription as Cardinal Deacon, however, is on April 20, 1212. He was promoted to be Cardinal Priest of SS. Giovanni e Paolo (1212-1215). At the time of the Election of 1216 there was a vacancy at SS. Giovanni e Paolo. Cardinal Johannes of S. Maria in Via Lata was succeeded in the Deaconry by Cardinal Thomas of S. Maria in Via Lata, whose earliest subscription is on March 7, 1216 at the Lateran. Cardinal Thomas was in the suite of Innocent III as he headed north. He subscribed at Viterbo, Orvieto, Todi and Perugia. His latest subscription under Innocent III was on June 23, 1216 at Perugia. [Maleczek, 201-203 and 392]. Cardinal Thomas was promoted Cardinal Priest of S. Sabina by Honorius III in 1216. He died in 1239. It was Cardinal Thomas, not Cardinal Johannes, who took part in the Election of 1216 at Perugia.

Those not present at the Election:

  1. Stephen Langton, Cardinal Priest in the title of S. Crisogono. Professor (Doctor) of Theology (Paris), Canon of Notre Dame de Paris, Chancellor of Paris. Archbishop of Canterbury (1207-1228). He subscribed for the last time as Cardinal Priest on May 10, 1207. He was consecrated archbishop at Viterbo by Pope Innocent III on June 17, 1207 (Potthast, p. 266). Conspirator against King John of England, he led the coup that forced John to issue the Magna Carta (June 15, 1215), which was annulled by Innocent III (August 15, 1215: Rymer I, p. 135). Cardinal Langton had been suspended by Pope Innocent from all of his functions in 1215 (Potthast 5006: November 4, 1216), and was imprisoned in Rome. It cannot be determined whether he went on Innocent's journey to the north in the middle of April, 1216, which ended with the Pope's death in Perugia on July 16, though the prospect seems very doubtful. It should be questioned, therefore, whether he took part in the Election of July 18, 1216. Panvinio (Epitome, p. 152) does not mention him.   On February 20, 1218, five English bishops who were promoted in the absence of the Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury are ordered by the Pope to do him the customary Obedience as their Metropolitan —indicating that Langton was back in England by that date [Bliss, Calendar, p. 52]; and on February 25, 1218 the Cardinal himself received a mandate from Pope Honorius [Bliss, Calendar, p. 53].
  2. Guala (Wala) Bicherius (Bicchieri) [Vercelli] (aged ca. 66), Cardinal Priest of Ss. Silvestro e Martino tituli Equitii (1211-1227), formerly Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Porticu (1204-1211). Canon of the Cathedral of S. Eusebio in Vercelli, Bishop of Vercelli (1182-1184). His earliest subscription as Cardinal Deacon was on January 9, 1205, indicating that he had been created in the Ember Days of December, 1204. Legate in France, 1208. Legate in England from May 20, 1216 to September, 1218. Doctor in utroque iure (Bologna) (died 1227. A codicil to his Will is dated May 31, 1227: Lampugnani, p. 84, His executor was Cardinal Stefano de Ceccano.) Guala always signs as Cardinal Priest of S. Martini (Turonensis), never mentioning S. Silvestro, though Pope Silvester was the founder of the titulus (Armellini, Chiese di Roma, p. 460). The church had been restored by Guala's predecessor, Cardinal Hugo (1192-1205). The new pope Honorius III wrote a letter to Cardinal Guala, who was still in England, on July 25, 1216 [Pressutti, no. 5, p. 3] announcing his election; and in August, 1216 [Pressutti, no. 23 p. 8], inquiring about the election of a bishop of Hereford. Cardinal Guala was not at the Election in Perugia. Gioanni Lampugnani, Sulla vita di Guala Guala Bicchieri patrizio vercellese (Vercelli 1842), 34-56.
  3. Rogerius, OSB Cas., Cardinal Priest in the title of S. Eusebio. Former Abbot of Montecassino, appointed Archbishop of Benevento in 1179 by Alexander III [F. Ughelli, Italia sacra VIII (Venetiis 1721), 126]; he held the post until December 25, 1221 [cf. G. Cappelletti, Le chiese d' Italia III (1844), pp. 82-87]. His predecessor was Lombardus, who was appointed in 1171 and resigned before July 27, 1179 [Ughelli, Italia sacra VIII, 121-123]. He did not subscribe any papal documents. [Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica I, p. 3 n.1, and p. 5 n.2, does not consider him as one of the Cardinals alive at the time of the Election of 1198, or as one of the Cardinals alive at the time of the Election of 1216—though he survives until 1121; cf. Brixius, p. 66]. Ganzer, pp. 129-131, believes that he was not a cardinal during his archbishopric. He is called Cardinal of S. Eusebio is in E. Gattula, Historia Abbatiae Cassiniensis Pars prima (Venetiis 1733). 399, which Gattula quotes from the Register of Petrus Diaconus, and notes that the document is in a later hand, quamquam recentiori charactere [text also in Ughelli VIII, 126]. Ughelli [Italia Sacra VIII, 126] also mentions the existence of a second text, which was later published by Stefano Borgia, in Memorie istoriche della pontificia città di Benevento Parte III (Roma 1769) 185-187. [My thanks to Tomasz Karlikowske for drawing this to my attention]. A letter of Philippus, Bishop of Troia and Rector of Benevento notes that, in accordance with a papal mandate, Pater noster d(omi)nus Roggerius dei gratia sancti Eusebii Cardinalis Beneventanus Episcopus suspenderat ab officio iudicatus [Petrum Malaina]. The document was found by Norbert Kamp, Kirche und Monarchie im staufischen Konigreich Sizilien (1973), p. 206. There is no question, therefore, that Rogerius was a Cardinal of S. Eusebio from 1180 to his death in 1221. Ughelli mentions a third document, dated 1220, but it has not been located. In any case, there is no evidence that Cardinal Rogerius attended the Election of 1216, or 1198, or 1187, or 1187, or 1181.

Salvador Miranda, though he does not list Cardinal Guala as absent, does list a number of absentees from the Election of 1216, who can be found in Ciaconius-Olduin II, 38-42 and in authors who depend on Ciaconius.   Konrad Eubel spent a lifetime, removing such spurious cardinals from the list of real Cardinals, but Miranda allows them back in. Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica medii aevi   editio altera (Münster 1913), at p. 5, n. 1, provides reasons why none of the following "cardinals" should be allowed on the list. In his biographies of each "cardinal", Miranda notes many of Eubel's objections, but he includes them as cardinals and/or electors anyway.

Some of the genuine cardinals (other than the relatives of Innocent III) appear to have been related. F. Ughelli prints (Ciaconius-Olduin II, 62-63) a text (written between 1219 and 1221) which indicates a blood relationship among three of the cardinals; it reads as follows:

Miseratione Divina Petrus Sabinensis Episcopus (1216-1221), Nicolaus Tusculanus Episcopus (1219-1227) de Claramonte nuncupatus, et Stephanus [de Ceccano] tituli Basilicae duodecim Apostolorum (1213-1227) Sacrosanctae Romana Ecclesiae Cardinales, universis christifidelibus tam praesentibus quam futuris praesentes nostras literas inspecturis, salutem in Domino sempiternam. Notum facimus, et testamur, quod potentissimus et magnificus Princeps et Dominus D. Federicus de Claramonte consanguinis noster, miles creatus nuper a sanctissimo in Christo Patre et Domino nostro D. Honorio divina providentia Papa Tertio, etc.

 

 

Election

According to Bernardus Guidonis [Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores III, p.486], Perusinis causa electionis papae strictissime arctantibus cardinales ('the Perusines enclosed the cardinals very securely for the sake of the election of a pope'). What exactly this means is impossible to say, for there is no corroboration or amplification in other sources. Was this a proto-conclave, in which the Cardinals were locked up in a single place? Or was this just a measure to see that the Cardinals could not leave Perugia until they had elected a pope? Ciaconius-Olduin (II, column 43) decorate this bare statement, pointing out that the considerations were the Crusade, civic dissensions in Italy, the disagreements which had begun to appear among the Electors, and ultimately the fear that the Election might become a prolonged affair. Therefore, "illico, Cardinales in comitio se recluserunt." The Cardinals shut themselves away! Is there an extra se in that sentence?

In his letter announcing his election [Potthast 5321; Pressutti no. 6], Supernae dispositio majestatis, Pope Honorius makes the following absolutely standard remarks, indicating that in the end the Cardinals reached unanimity:

Ipsius demum venerabili corpore, secundum celebrem consuetudinem tumulato, universi cardinales unanimiter convenerunt, ut de substituendo pastore tractarent; cumque omnium et singulorum voluntates essent diligenter requisitae, in nos vota omnium convenerunt, et ita pari voto et unanimi concordia, de parte sollicitudinis vocaverunt nos in plenitudinem potestatis.

In his letter Magnus Dominus et laudabilis [Pressutti no. 1], Honorius says that the Cardinals discussed things diligently and that the discussions lasted a long time:

sequenti die celebratis exequiis ac cum honore debito collocato ipsius corpore in sepulcro, una cum fratribus nostris ad eligendum convenimus successorem, et die tertio, Spiritus sancti gratia invocata, super hoc tractavimus diligenter, et post tractatum diutinum placuit fratribus universis humeris nostris, quamvis insufficientibus, imponere onus istud.

It appears, however, to judge from an excerpt from a different letter of Pope Honorius himself [Winkelmann, 376; Clausen, p. 8 and n. 3], that the Election was difficult. The Cardinals decided to use the Way of Compromise, and agreed upon a committee composed of the Bishop of Ostia, Hugo (Hugolinus) dei Conti di Segni, and the Bishop of Palestrina, Guido Papareschi. They immediately chose Cardinal Cencius Savelli, and the rest of the Cardinals agreed unanimously in the choice. The entire business was completed in a single day.

Postquam Dei et hominum mediator felicis memorie Innocentium episcopum tercium ex hoc mundo ad celestem patriam evocavit, convenerunt universi cardinales, ut de substituendo pastore tractarent. Cum autem venerabilibus fratribus nostris Ostiensi et Prenestino episcopis eligendi fuisset postestas ab universitate concessa, nostris humeris pallium apostolicum imposuerunt, cogendo nos subire onus, quod evitare libentius optabamus. Sic enim antecessoris nostri decessum et promotionem nostram universitati vestre intimare tenemur, rogantes vos in domino et monentes, quatinus ipsius animam et nostram insufficientiam piis orationibus taliter adjuvetis, ut, si aliqua ei macula de contagiis terrenis inhesit, per vestrarum orationum suffragia diluatur et nos Petri naviculam possimus cum temone fidei et anchora iustitie gubernare.

Unfortunately, this text is known only in part. It occurs in a book called Antiqua rhetorica, written by Boncompagnus of Florence, and published in 1226 [Winkelmann, p. 374]. It is presumably presented as a formula by which the Papal Chancellery frames the announcement of a papal election. The phraseology is markedly similar to other letters issued in July and August, 1216, announcing the election of Honorius III. It is to be regretted that the full document has not been preserved. Extreme caution should be exercised.

Investiture and Coronation

Honorius III (Cincius Savelli) was consecrated in the Church of S. Peter (the old Cathedral), Perugia, July 24, 1216. He was crowned, according to Ciaconius-Olduin (who do not name their source), by Cardinal Guido Pierleone. Onuphrio Panvinio (p. 151), who usually mentions this detail, did not know who crowned Honorius.

On August 31, 1216, Honorius returned to Rome [Chronicon Fossae Novae, in Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores VII, 893; Potthast, p. 469]. He took possession of the Lateran Basilica, his cathedral church, on September 4, 1216:

III. Idus Augusti consecratus est. Pridie Kal. Septembris reversus est apud Romam ad Sanctum Petrum. Pridie Non. Septembris receptus est in Ecclesia Lateranensi cum tanto gaudio et veneratione, gloria, et jucunditate, quod omnes videntes dixerunt, quod nullus de praedecessoribus suis in receptione similis ei fuisset.



Bibliography

 

Henry Richards Luard (editor), Matthaei Parisiensis, Monachi Sancti Albani, Chronica Majora   Vol. IV.   A.D. 1248 to A. D. 1258 (London: Longman 1880) 

Cronaca di Fra Salimbene Parmigiano (tr. Carlo Cantarelli) Volume 1 (Parma: Luigi Battei 1882).   Monumenta historica ad provincias Parmensem et Placentinam pertinentia. Chronica Fr. Salimbene Parmensis, Ordinis Minorum (Parmae: Petrus Fiaccadori 1857) [editio princeps, from a single Vatican ms., containing only part of chronicle 1212-1287]. Emil Michael, SJ, Salimbene und seine Chronik (Innsbruck 1889).

"Gesta Innocentii PP. III.," J.-P. Migne (editor) Patrologiae Latinae Tomus CCXIV: Innocentius III Pontifex Maximus (Paris 1890), xvii-ccxxviii. Bartolomeo Platina, Historia B. Platinae de vitis pontificum Romanorum ... Onuphrii Panvinii ... cui etiam nunc accessit supplementum ... per Antonium Cicarellam (Coloniae Agrippinae: sumptibus Petri Cholini, 1626), pp. 208-212. Bartolomeo Platina, Storia delle vite de' Pontefici edizione novissima Tomo terzo (Venezia: Domenico Ferrarin, 1763), 82-97. Onuphrio Panvinio, Epitome Pontificum Romanorum a S. Petro usque ad Paulum IIII. Gestorum (videlicet) electionisque singulorum & Conclavium compendiaria narratio (Venice: Jacob Strada 1557).  Alphonsus Ciaconius [Alfonso Chacon], Vitae et Res Gestae Pontificum Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalium ... ab Augustino Oldoino Societatis Iesu recognitae Tomus Secundus (Romae: sumptibus Philippi et Antonii de Rubeis 1677) [Volume 2 of the 4 volume edition]. Lorenzo Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa Tomo primo Parte secondo (Roma: Pagliarini 1792). Werner Maleczek, Papst und Kardinalskolleg von 1191 bis 1216 (Wien 1984).

Augustinus Theiner (editor), Caesaris S. R. E. Cardinalis Baronii, Od. Raynaldi et Jac. Laderchii Annales Ecclesiastici   Tomus Vigesimus 1198-1228 (Barri-Ducis: Ludovicus Guerin 1870) [Baronius-Theiner].

MGH: G. H. Pertz (editor), Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptorum Tomus XVIIII (Hannover 1866). [Ryccardus de S. Germano, Chronica].   Monumenta Germaniae Historica SS 23 (1863), 333-383 [Urspurgensium Chronicon].

Ludovico Antonio Muratori, Annali d' Italia Volume 17 (Firenze: Leonardo Marchini 1827), esp. 288-293.

Aloysius Tomassetti (editor), Bullarum, Diplomatum, et Privilegiorum sanctorum Romanorum Pontificum Taurinensis Editio III (Turin 1858), pp. 593 ff. [Bullarium Romanum]

Ed. Winkelmann, "Zwolf Papstbriefe zur Geschichte Friedrichs II und seiner Nachkommen," Forschungen zur deutschen Geschichte 15 (1875), pp. 373-389: 

J. Clausen, Papst Honorius III (1216-1227. Eine Monographie (Bonn: P. Hauptmann 1895).   Pietro Pressutti, I regesti del Pontefice Onorio III dal anno 1216 all' anno 1227   Vol. I (Roma: A. Befani 1884).

Paul Fabre, Étude sur le Liber censuum de l' Église romain (Paris: E. Thorin 1892).

F. Gregorovius, History of Rome in the Middle Ages, Volume V.1 second edition, revised (London: George Bell, 1906) Book IX, Chapter 3, pp. 96-128.   J. B. Sägmüller, Thätigkeit und Stellung der Kardinale bis Papst Bonifaz VIII. (Freiburg i.Br.: Herder 1896). Karl Wenck, review of Sägmüller, Thätigkeit, in Göttingsche gelehrte Anzeiger 163 (1900) 139-175.   

Gioanni Lampugnani, Sulla vita di Guala Bicchieri, patrizio vercellese (Vercelli 1842). A. Parravicini Bagliani, Cardinali di curia e "familiae" cardinaliste, dal 1227 al 1254 Volume II (Padua 1972)

W. H. Bliss (editor), Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland. Papal Letters. Volume I (London 1893). W.W. Shirley (editor), Royal and Other Historical Letters illustrative of the Reign of Henry III Volume II. 1236-1272 (London: Longmans 1866).   Abbot Francis Aidan Gasquet, Henry the Third and the Chruch (London 1905). Helene Tillman, Die päpstlichen Legaten in England bis zur Beendigung der Legation Gualas (1218) (Bonn 1926).

Conradus Eubel, OFM Conv., Hierarchia Catholici Medii Aevi...ab anno 1198 usque ad annum 1431 perducta editio altera (Monasterii 1193) 7-8.  

Joseph Felten, Papst Gregor IX. (Freiburg i.B. 1886).


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