Conclave capitulation
{{Short description|Historical contracts attaching conditions to the election of a pope}}
{{primary sources|date=August 2018}}
File:Innozenz VI.gif, the first Pope to agree to a capitulation, and the first to disregard one]]
A conclave capitulation was a compact or unilateral contract drawn up by the College of Cardinals during a papal conclave to constrain the actions of the pope elected by the conclave. The legal term capitulation more frequently refers to the commitment of a sovereign state to relinquish jurisdiction within its borders over the subjects of a foreign state. Before balloting began, all cardinals present at the conclave would swear to be bound by its provisions if elected pope.Baumgartner, 2003, p. xiii. Capitulations were used by the College of Cardinals to assert its collective authority and limit papal supremacy, to "make the Church an oligarchy instead of a monarchy."Van Dyke, 1897, p. 172. Similar electoral capitulations were used on occasion from the 14th to the 17th centuries in Northern and Central Europe to constrain an elected king, emperor, prince, or bishop.
History
The College had made informal attempts to influence the actions of popes before drafting formal capitulations. The first capitulation was drafted in the conclave of 1352, which elected Pope Innocent VI,Jugie, Pierre. Levillain, ed. 2002. "Cardinal." pp. 241-242. and most conclaves for the next 300 years produced similar documents.Baumgartner, 2003, pp. 52-54.
In 1353, Innocent VI declared these first Capitulations invalid with his Apostolic Constitution, Sollicitudo, citing a Constitution of Pope Gregory X, Contingit,{{Cite CE1913|wstitle=Episcopal and Pontifical Capitulations}} which prohibited papal conclaves from dealing with issues other than the election of a Pope. This papal response would be repeated for most future Capitulations, which were generally disregarded. For this reason, papal historian Frederic Baumgartner calls capitulations "an exercise in futility." Another papal historian, Van Dyke, surmises that by the election of Pope Sixtus IV (1471), "all the Popes for forty years had signed and promptly broken" the "Capitulation of the Conclave."Van Dyke, 1897, p. 198. Jugie considers the "regular recourse to capitulation" to be "above all, an admission of weakness." Despite their ineffectiveness, Capitulations still give an insight into the thinking of the Cardinals as they prepared to vote for a pope.
Although not the last Capitulations, that of the conclave of 1513 (which elected Pope Leo X) was a turning point for papal supremacy and attempts to control it through formal treaties; never again did the College attempt to limit its size through capitulations; although individual cardinals remained powerful, the College as a whole never regained its power as the "senate" of the Church.
In 1676, Pope-elect Innocent XI made the College swear to the capitulation that had been drafted by the previous conclave before accepting his election.
Though the practice was defunct, Pope John Paul II's 1996 Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis banned conclave capitulations as well as the papal veto, which had already been eliminated by Pius X.Walsh, 2003, p. 163. He wrote: "I likewise forbid the Cardinals before the election to enter into any stipulations, committing themselves of common accord to a certain course of action should one of them be elevated to the Pontificate. These promises too, should any in fact be made, even under oath, I also declare null and void."[https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_22021996_universi-dominici-gregis_en.html Universi Dominici Gregis] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070506074146/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_22021996_universi-dominici-gregis_en.html |date=May 6, 2007 }}
List of conclave capitulations
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! width="*" | Conclave year ! width="*" | Pope elected ! width="*" | Terms ! width="*" | Notes |
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|1352 |College of Cardinals limited to 20; no new cardinals until only 16 remained |First conclave capitulation |
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|1431Baumgartner, 2003, p. 68. |Half of papal revenue was to be shared with the College of Cardinals |Eugene IV issues a bull to put the capitulation into effect, but later withdrew it |
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|1458Baumgartner, 2003, p. 73. |Welfare for the poorer cardinals; and a crusade against the Ottoman Turks | |
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|1464Burkle-Young, Francis A. 1998. "[http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/election-paulii.htm The election of Pope Paul II (1464)]."Baumgartner, 2003, p. 78-79. |Continue the crusading war against the Turks |Similar to 1431 and 1454 capitulations |
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|Continue the crusading war against the Turks |Fewer limitations on papal power |
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|1484Baumgartner, 2003, p. 82. |Cardinals protected from retaliation by secular rulers in connection with the conclave | |
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|1492Burkle-Young, Francis A. 1998. "[http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/election-alexandervi.htm The election of Pope Alexander VI (1492)]." |Limits on the creation of new cardinals |No other terms known |
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|August–September 1503Baumgartner, 2003, p. 89. |Papal stipend of 2,400 ducats a year for cardinals with annual income less than 6,000 ducats |College of Cardinals not limited to 24 |
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|October 1503Baumgartner, 2003, p. 90. |General council to be held within two years |Shortest conclave ever |
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|College of Cardinals limited to 24Baumgartner, 2003, p. 92. |Imperial Ambassador considered the capitulation unlikely to be followed as it would make the cardinal elected only "half a Pope" |
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|Unknown |Called "an exercise in futility as always" by BaumgartnerBaumgartner, 2003, p. 95. |
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|1549-1550Baumgartner, 2003, p. 105. |Similar to that of 1523 |Ippolito II d'Este delayed negotiations on the capitulation for three days in an attempt to buy time for more French cardinals to reach the conclave |
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|1559Baumgartner, 2003, p. 117. |Pope prohibited from waging war on a Catholic prince (as Pope Paul IV had done with Spain) | |
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|1585Baumgartner, 2003, p. 129. |Continue the crusading war against the Turks, make peace with Catholic monarchs, complete the construction of St. Peters (which had been ongoing for seven decades) |Little mention of privileges or number of cardinals |
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|September 1590Baumgartner, 2003, p. 133. |None known | |
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|1669-1670Baumgartner, 2003, p. 162. |Reform of the clergy, independence from secular rulers, restoration of advisory role of cardinals | |
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|Same as that of 1670 |Unique in that Pope-elect made cardinals swear to the previous capitulation before accepting his election |
References
{{Reflist|3}}
;Sources
- Baumgartner, Frederic J. 2003. Behind Locked Doors: A History of the Papal Elections. Palgrave Macmillan. {{ISBN|0-312-29463-8}}.
- Levillain, Philippe, ed. 2002. The Papacy: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-92228-3}}.
- Pastor, Ludwig. 1908. The History of the Popes. K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltd.
- Setton, Kenneth Meyer. 1984. The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571: The 13th & 14th Centuries. DIANE. {{ISBN|0-87169-114-0}}.
- Van Dyke, Paul. 1897. The Age of the Renascence. The Christian Literature Co.
- Walsh, Michael. 2003. The Conclave: A Sometimes Secret and Occasionally Bloody History of Papal Elections. Rowman & Littlefield. {{ISBN|1-58051-135-X}}.
Further reading
- Becker, Hans-Jürgen (2024). Die päpstlichen Wahlkapitulationen. Ein Beitrag zur kirchlichen Verfassungsgeschichte [The papal election capitulations. A contribution to the constitutional history of the Church]. Päpste und Papsttum, vol. 51. Stuttgart: Anton Hiersemann, {{ISBN|978-3-7772-2423-7}} (edition and study of the known papal capitulations).