Papal conclave, 1846
Encyclopedia
Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI , born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari, named Mauro as a member of the religious order of the Camaldolese, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1831 to 1846...
on 1 June 1846 triggered the Papal conclave of 1846. Fifty of the 62 members of the College of Cardinals
College of Cardinals
The College of Cardinals is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church.A function of the college is to advise the pope about church matters when he summons them to an ordinary consistory. It also convenes on the death or abdication of a pope as a papal conclave to elect a successor...
assembled in the Quirinal Palace
Quirinal Palace
The Quirinal Palace is a historical building in Rome, Italy, the current official residence of the President of the Italian Republic. It is located on the Quirinal Hill, the tallest of the seven hills of Rome...
, one of the papal palaces in Rome and the seat of two earlier 19th century conclaves. The conclave began on 14 June and had to elect a pope who would not only be head of the Catholic Church but also the head of state and government of the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
, the extensive lands around Rome and Northern Italy
Northern Italy
Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...
which the Catholic Church governed.
Conclave divided over how to rule the Papal States
Absolutism (European history)
Absolutism or The Age of Absolutism is a historiographical term used to describe a form of monarchical power that is unrestrained by all other institutions, such as churches, legislatures, or social elites...
in the governance of the Papal States, a continuation of the hardline policies of Pope Gregory XVI and his right-wing Secretary of State
Cardinal Secretary of State
The Cardinal Secretary of State—officially Secretary of State of His Holiness The Pope—presides over the Holy See, usually known as the "Vatican", Secretariat of State, which is the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia...
, Luigi Lambruschini
Luigi Lambruschini
Luigi Lambruschini was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in the mid nineteenth century.-Biography:...
, while the liberals wished for some measure of moderate reform and favored two candidates in Pasquale Tommaso Gizzi and Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
.
Lambruschini received a majority of the votes in the early ballots, but failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority. On the fourth ballot the liberal candidate, Mastai-Ferretti, Archbishop (personal title) of Imola
Imola
thumb|250px|The Cathedral of Imola.Imola is a town and comune in the province of Bologna, located on the Santerno river, in the Emilia-Romagna region of north-central Italy...
, achieved that requirement and was elected, receiving four more than the required two-thirds majority. He took the name Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
(known also as Pio Nono).
Failed attempt to veto Ferretti
As with other conclaves up to and including the 1903 conclavePapal conclave, 1903
The Papal conclave of 1903 was caused by the death of the 93-year-old Pope Leo XIII, who at that stage was the third-longest reigning pope in history....
, various Catholic monarch
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
s claimed a right to veto
Veto
A veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...
a cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
who might be elected, forcing the cardinals to pick someone else. Emperor Ferdinand of Austria
Ferdinand I of Austria
Ferdinand I was Emperor of Austria, President of the German Confederation, King of Hungary and Bohemia , as well as associated dominions from the death of his father, Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, until his abdication after the Revolutions of 1848.He married Maria Anna of Savoy, the sixth child...
had charged Cardinal Karl Kajetan Gaisruck
Carlo Gaetano Gaisruck
Carlo Gaetano Gaisruck was the archbishop of Milan from 1816 to 1846.Gaisruck was born in Austria. He was elected the canon of the Cathedral chapter of Passau in September of 1788. In 1800 he was ordained a Catholic priest. The next year he became the auxiliary bishop of Passau, thus gaining the...
, the Archbishop of Milan (then part of the empire's territory), with vetoing the liberal Ferretti. However Gaisruck arrived too late at the conclave. By the time he got there Ferretti had been elected, had accepted the papacy and had been proclaimed publicly.
Aftermath
Pope Pius IX was crownedPapal Coronation
A papal coronation was the ceremony of the placing of the Papal Tiara on a newly elected pope. The first recorded papal coronation was that of Pope Celestine II in 1143. Soon after his coronation in 1963, Pope Paul VI abandoned the practice of wearing the tiara. His successors have chosen not to...
with the Papal tiara
Papal Tiara
The Papal Tiara, also known incorrectly as the Triple Tiara, or in Latin as the Triregnum, in Italian as the Triregno and as the Trirègne in French, is the three-tiered jewelled papal crown, supposedly of Byzantine and Persian origin, that is a prominent symbol of the papacy...
on 21 June 1846. He became the longest-reigning pope since Saint Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
, sitting on the papal throne for nearly 32 years. Initially a liberal, following a short-lived deposition
Deposition (politics)
Deposition by political means concerns the removal of a politician or monarch. It may be done by coup, impeachment, invasion or forced abdication...
and the proclamation of the Roman Republic
Roman Republic (19th century)
The Roman Republic was a state declared on February 9, 1849, when the government of Papal States was temporarily substituted by a republican government due to Pope Pius IX's flight to Gaeta. The republic was led by Carlo Armellini, Giuseppe Mazzini and Aurelio Saffi...
, Pius was returned to power by troops from the French Second Republic
French Second Republic
The French Second Republic was the republican government of France between the 1848 Revolution and the coup by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte which initiated the Second Empire. It officially adopted the motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité...
and became a conservative reactionary
Reactionary
The term reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is "radical". While it has not been generally considered a term of praise it has been adopted as a self-description by...
.
In 1870 the remaining territories of the Papal States were seized by Victor Emmanuel II
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
Victor Emanuel II was king of Sardinia from 1849 and, on 17 March 1861, he assumed the title King of Italy to become the first king of a united Italy since the 6th century, a title he held until his death in 1878...
, King of Italy. Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
, with the former papal palace, the Quirinal, becoming the King's palace. Pius IX withdrew in protest to the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
where he lived as a self-proclaimed "Prisoner in the Vatican
Prisoner in the Vatican
A prisoner in the Vatican or prisoner of the Vatican is how Pope Pius IX described himself following the capture of Rome by the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy on 20 September 1870. Part of the process of Italian unification, the city's capture ended the millennial temporal rule of the popes...
". He died in 1878.
Conclave factfile
- Dates of conclave: June 14–16, 1846
- Location: Quirinal PalaceQuirinal PalaceThe Quirinal Palace is a historical building in Rome, Italy, the current official residence of the President of the Italian Republic. It is located on the Quirinal Hill, the tallest of the seven hills of Rome...
, RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
- Arrived late or Absent, included:
- Karl Kajetan Gaisruck, Archbishop of Milan
- Giacomo MonicoGiacomo MonicoGiacomo Monico was an Italian prelate that was named Patriarch of Venice in 1827.- Life :Born in Riese, he was educated in the seminary of the diocese of Treviso and ordained in 1801. He then taught at local seminary before being named parish pastor in Asolo. In 1823 he was appointed as bishop of...
, Patriarch of VenicePatriarch of VeniceThe Patriarch of Venice is the ordinary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice. The bishop is one of the few Patriarchs in the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church...
- Present included:
- Ludovico MicaraLudovico MicaraLudovico Micara was an Italian Capuchin and Cardinal. He was born at Frascati. Ordained in 1798, he became Dean of the College of Cardinals....
, Dean of the College of CardinalsDean of the College of CardinalsThe Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals is the president of the College of Cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church, and as such always holds the rank of Cardinal Bishop. The Dean is not necessarily the longest-serving member of the whole College... - Carlo Oppizzoni, Archbishop of Bologna
- Chiarissimo Falconnieri-Mellini, Archbishop of Ravenna
- Cosimo Corsi, Archbishop of Pisa
- Sisto Riario SforzaSisto Riario SforzaSisto Riario Sforza was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals.-Family:Sforza was born in Naples, Italy and belonged to the noble House of Riario-Sforza...
, Archbishop of Naples - Luigi CiacchiLuigi CiacchiLuigi Ciacchi was an Italian Cardinal and priest of Roman Curia.Born in Pesaro, Marche, he was made Cardinal by Pope Gregory XVI. He also took part in the conclave that elected Pope Pius IX.He died in Rome....
, - Paolo PolidoriPaolo PolidoriPaolo Polidori was an Italian Roman Catholic Cardinal.Born in Iesi, Marche, he studied in the seminary of Perugia.-Priesthood:...
, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Council, Titular archbishop of Tarsus
- Ludovico Micara
- Historic features of 1846 Conclave:
- Last of three conclaves held in the Quirinal Palace and last held outside the Vatican
- election of pope who would have the second-longest reign in papal history
- last conclave held during the existence of the Papal States
- Apparent victory for liberals and apparent rejection of previous pope's policies
- failed attempt by Austrian emperor to exercise a veto
- last conclave made up exclusively of cardinals from continental EuropeContinental EuropeContinental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
| Duration | 3 days |
|---|---|
| Number of ballots | 4 |
| Electors | 62 |
| Absent | 12 |
| Present | 50 |
| Africa | 0 |
| Latin America | 0 |
| North America | 0 |
| Asia | 0 |
| Europe | 62 |
| Oceania | 0 |
| Mid-East | 0 |
| Veto used | failed attempt by Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria Ferdinand I of Austria Ferdinand I was Emperor of Austria, President of the German Confederation, King of Hungary and Bohemia , as well as associated dominions from the death of his father, Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, until his abdication after the Revolutions of 1848.He married Maria Anna of Savoy, the sixth child... |
| DECEASED POPE | GREGORY XVI (1831–1846) |
| NEW POPE | PIUS IX (1846–1878) |