| Month: | December |
| Year: | 1294 |
| Dates: | 23–24 December 1294 |
| Location: | Castel Nuovo, Naples |
| Dean: | Gerardo Bianchi |
| Camerlengo: | Tommaso d'Ocra |
| Protopriest: | Benedetto Caetani |
| Protodeacon: | Matteo Rosso Orsini |
| Ballots: | 1 |
| Pope Elected: | Benedetto Caetani |
| Nametaken: | Boniface VIII |
| Prevconclave Year: | 1292–94 |
| Prevconclave Link: | 1292–1294 papal election |
| Nextconclave Year: | 1303 |
| Nextconclave Link: | 1303 papal conclave |
The 1294 papal conclave (23–24 December) was convoked in Naples after the resignation of Pope Celestine V on 13 December 1294. Celestine V had only months earlier restored the election procedures set forth in the papal bull Ubi periculum of Pope Gregory X, which had been suspended by Pope Adrian V in July 1276. Every papal election since then has been a papal conclave. It was the first papal conclave held during the lifetime of the preceding pontiff, an event not repeated until the 2013 papal conclave following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.
Celestine V, founder of the Order of Celestines, widely esteemed and venerated for his holiness, was elected to the papacy on 7 July 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, 28 September 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 cardinals.[1] Eventually, on 13 December 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]
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]
| Elector | Place of birth | Cardinalatial title | Elevated | Elevator | Other ecclesiastical titles | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gerardo Bianchi | Parma | Bishop of Sabina | 12 March 1278 | Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals | |||
| Rome | Bishop of Frascati | 22 December 1285 | Nephew of Honorius IV; former archbishop of Monreale (1278—1286) | ||||
| Hugh Aycelin, O.P. | Billom, France | Bishop of Ostia e Velletri | 16 May 1288 | Nicholas IV | |||
| Matteo d'Acquasparta, O.F.M. | Acquasparta | Bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina | 16 May 1288 | Grand penitentiary | Former minister general of the Order of Franciscans (1287—1289) | ||
| Simon de Beaulieu | Château de Beaulieu, France | Bishop of Palestrina | 18 September 1294 | Former archbishop of Bourges (1281—1294) | |||
| Bérard de Got | Villandraut, France | Bishop of Albano | 18 September 1294 | 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 | 12 April 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 | 16 May 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 | 18 September 1294 | Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church (1294-1300) | |||
| Jean Lemoine | Crécy, France | Priest of SS. Marcellino e Pietro | 18 September 1294 | ||||
| Pietro d'Aquila, O.S.B.Cas. | L'Aquila | Priest of S. Croce in Gerusalemme | 18 September 1294 | ||||
| Guillaume de Ferrières | Provence | Priest of S. Clemente | 18 September 1294 | Crown-cardinal of King Charles II of Naples | |||
| Nicolas de Nonancourt | Nonancourt, France | Priest of S. Marcello[6] | 18 September 1294 | ||||
| Robert de Pontigny, O.Cist. | France | Priest of S. Pudenziana | 18 September 1294 | 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 | 18 September 1294 | ||||
| Giovanni Castrocoeli, O.S.B.Cas. | Priest of S. Vitale | 18 September 1294 (or October 1294) | Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church
| ||||
| Matteo Rosso Orsini | Rome | Deacon of S. Maria in Portico | 22 May 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 | 12 March 1278 | Nicholas III | Archpriest of the patriarchal Liberian Basilica | Uncle of Cardinal Pietro Colonna | |
| Napoleone Orsini Frangipani | Rome | Deacon of S. Adriano | 16 May 1288 | Nicholas IV | Relative of Cardinal Matteo Orsini Rosso and nephew of Pope Nicholas III (1277 - 1280) | ||
| Pietro Colonna | Rome | Deacon of S. Eustachio | 16 May 1288 | Nicholas IV | Nephew of Cardinal Giacomo Colonna | ||
| Landolfo Brancaccio | Naples | Deacon of S. Angelo in Pescheria | 18 September 1294 | ||||
| Guglielmo de Longhi | Bergamo | Deacon of S. Nicola in Carcere | 18 September 1294 |
On 23 December 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.[7] Soon after his election he returned to Rome, where on 23 January 1295 he received his episcopal consecration from Cardinal Hugh Aycelin, Bishop of Ostia.[8] [9] He was crowned by Matteo Rosso Orsini, who was prior Diaconorum of the Sacred College.[10]