1216 papal election explained

Year:1216
Notconclave:true
Dates:18 July 1216
Location:Perugia
Dean:Nicola de Romanis
Camerlengo:Stefano di Ceccano
Protopriest:Cinzio Cenci
Protodeacon:Guido Pierleone
Pope Elected:Cencio
Nametaken:Honorius III
Prevconclave Year:1198
Prevconclave Link:1198 papal election
Nextconclave Year:1227
Nextconclave Link:1227 papal election

The 1216 papal election (18 July), was convoked after the death of Pope Innocent III in Perugia (16 July 1216), elected Cardinal Cencio Camerario,[1] who took the name of Honorius III.

List of participants

There were 25 cardinals in the College of Cardinals in July 1216, including 23 curial cardinals and two "external cardinals", who did not reside in the papal curia[2] It is known that 17 of them participated in the election:[3]

ElectorTitleElevatedElevatorOther ecclesiastical titlesNotes
Nicola de RomanisBishop of Frascati18 December 1204
Ugolino di SegniBishop of Ostia e Velletri19 December 1198Innocent IIICommittee member; cardinal-nephew; future Pope Gregory IX
Bishop of Palestrina22 September 1190Committee member
Pelagio GalvaniBishop of Albanoca. 1206/1207
Cinzio CenciPriest of S. Lorenzo in Lucina22 September 1190Clement IIIProtopriest
CencioPriest of SS. Giovanni e Paolo20 February 1193Camerlengo of the Sacred College of CardinalsElected Pope Honorius III; possibly of Savelli family
Giovanni Colonna di CarbognanoDeacon of SS. Cosma e Damiano27 May 1206Innocent III
Gregorio GualganoPriest of S. Anastasia27 May 1206Innocent III
Robert CursonPriest of S. Stefano al Monte Celio19 May 1212Innocent III
Peter of BeneventoPriest of S. Lorenzo in Damaso19 May 1212Innocent IIIHis name is often erroneously listed as Pierre Duacensis[4]
Stefano di Ceccano, O.Cist.Priest of SS. XII Apostoli13 April 1213Innocent IIICamerlengo of the Holy Roman Church
Tommaso da CapuaPriest of S. Sabina5 March 1216Innocent IIIVice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church
Guido PierleoneDeacon of S. Nicola in Carcere Tulliano18 December 1204Innocent IIIProtodeacon
Archpriest of the patriarchal Vatican Basilica
Ottaviano dei conti di SegniDeacon of SS. Sergio e Bacco27 May 1206Innocent IIICardinal-nephew
Gregorio CrescenziDeacon of S. Teodoro5 March 1216Innocent III
Romano BonaventuraDeacon of S. Maria in Portico5 March 1216Innocent III
Stefano de Normandis dei ContiDeacon of S. Adriano5 March 1216Innocent IIICardinal-nephew

Absentee cardinals

Eight cardinals, including six curial and two "external cardinals", were absent:

ElectorCardinalatial titleElevatedElevatorNotes
BenedettoBishop of Porto e Santa Rufina3 June 1200
Ruggiero di San SeverinoCardinal Priest of S. Eusebio ca. 1178/80Alexander IIIArchbishop of Benevento 1179-1221 ("external" cardinal)
Leone Brancaleone, C.R.S.F.Priest of S. Croce in Gerusalemme3 June 1200Innocent IIIPapal legate in Lombardy
Guala BicchieriPriest of SS. Silvestro e Martino ai Monti18 December 1204Innocent IIIPapal legate in England
Stephen LangtonS.R.E. cardinalis27 May 1206Innocent IIIArchbishop of Canterbury 1207-1228; resigned this titulus S,. Crisogono after episcopal consecration in 1207; "external" cardinal
Pietro SassoPriest of S. Pudenziana27 May 1206Innocent IIIArchpriest of the patriarchal Liberian Basilica; papal legate in Germany
Deacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro19 May 1212Innocent III
Rainiero Capocci, O.Cist.Deacon of S. Maria in Cosmedin5 March 1216Innocent IIIPapal legate in Lombardy

Election of Pope Honorius III

The cardinals assembled in Perugia two days after the death of Innocent III. They deliberated in the enclosure,[5] though it is not certain whether voluntarily or under pressure of the local authorities.[6] They decided to elect the new Pope by compromissum, it means, not by the whole Sacred College, but by the committee of few of them, empowered by the rest to appoint the new Pontiff. This time the committee included only two cardinal-bishops: Ugolino of Ostia and Guido of Palestrina.[7] On that same day, they elected Cardinal Cencio, called Camerario, aged 68, who accepted his election and took the name of Honorius III.

Sources

Notes and References

  1. The older sources refer him as member of Savelli family but modern scholars reject it http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios1193.htm
  2. The reconstruction of the Sacred College in July 1216 is based on W. Maleczek, Papst und Kardinalskolleg von 1191 bis 1216, Wien 1984. Maleczek has rectified the earlier reconstructions made by Alphonso Ciacconio in his Vitae et res gestae Pontificum Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalium (1677) and Conrad Eubel in his Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi (1913), which are the main sources for the lists in both electronic accounts listed below.
  3. W. Maleczek, op.cit., p. 357
  4. Pierre Duacensis and Peter of Benevento were actually different persons; Duacensis was never promoted to the cardinalate. See an article by John Wei, TWO LETTERS OF HONORIUS III TO CATALONIA, pp. 84–85 note 6
  5. For this reason, an account on Vatican History considers this election the "first papal conclave"
  6. Ambrogio Piazzoni, Historia wyboru papieży, Wyd. M, Kraków 2003, pp. 181–182
  7. http://www.vaticanhistory.de/vh/html/honorius_iii_.html Vatican history