Papal Conclave | Definition, Roman Catholicism, History, Procedure ...

The transformation of papal elections

In the 11th century, when the entire church underwent reformation, the system of papal election was transformed. In 1059 Pope Nicholas II (1059–61) issued a decree that reformed the electoral procedure, limiting the role of the emperor. The election was to be carried out by the cardinal bishops (the highest rank of cardinals) with the assent of the cardinal priests and deacons and the acclamation of the people. Despite these reforms, papal elections in the 12th century continued to be turbulent affairs. In the 1130s and the 1160s and ’70s schisms occurred as disputed elections led to the consecration of popes and antipopes. The Third Lateran Council (1179), which followed one of these schisms, made all cardinals electors and required a two-thirds majority to decide the election.

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Nevertheless, abuses still occurred. When the cardinals failed to elect a pope more than two years after the death of Clement IV (1265–68), the local magistrate locked the electors in the episcopal palace, removed the roof (subjecting the cardinals to the elements), and allowed the cardinals nothing but bread and water until they made their selection, Gregory X (1271–76). At the second Council of Lyon in 1274 Gregory promulgated a constitution that called for the cardinals to meet in closed conclave and imposed strict regulations to guide the election; Pope Boniface VIII (1294–1303) ordered this decree to be incorporated into canon law.

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Despite the wisdom and rigor of Gregory’s reform, papal elections continued to face difficulties in the 14th century. The most serious problem resulted in the Western Schism, when in 1378 two groups of cardinals elected rival popes, one residing in Avignon (France) and the other in Rome, a third group of cardinals, convening in Pisa (Italy) in 1409, elected a third. The crisis caused by the schism was partially resolved by the reforms implemented at the Council of Constance (1414–18): the claims to the papacy of the Avignon pope, Benedict (XIII), and the pope selected by the Pisan cardinals, John (XXIII), were rejected, and each was branded a schismatic “antipope.” Gregory XII grudgingly resigned, and Martin V was elected to replace him.