A fact from October 1503 papal conclave appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 29 July 2009 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Roman Curia, a project which is currently considered to be inactive.Roman CuriaWikipedia:WikiProject Roman CuriaTemplate:WikiProject Roman CuriaRoman Curia articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject European Microstates, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of European Microstates on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.European MicrostatesWikipedia:WikiProject European MicrostatesTemplate:WikiProject European MicrostatesEuropean Microstates articles
October 1503 papal conclave is within the scope of WikiProject Catholicism, an attempt to better organize and improve the quality of information in articles related to the Catholic Church. For more information, visit the project page.CatholicismWikipedia:WikiProject CatholicismTemplate:WikiProject CatholicismCatholicism articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Elections and Referendums, an ongoing effort to improve the quality of, expand upon and create new articles relating to elections, electoral reform and other aspects of democratic decision-making. For more information, visit our project page.Elections and ReferendumsWikipedia:WikiProject Elections and ReferendumsTemplate:WikiProject Elections and ReferendumsElections and Referendums articles
Latest comment: 7 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Despite what Baumgartner might say, there were electoral capitulations. They are mentioned in Johannes Burchard's Diary, and they were signed by the Cardinals on 1 November 1503, All Saints' Day. The full text is to be found in: Johann Burchard (1885). L. Thuasne (ed.). Capelle pontificie sacrorum rituum magistri diarium: sive Rerum urbanarum commentarii (1483-1506) (in French and Latin). Vol. Tome troisième. Paris: E. Leroux. pp. 295–298, in note 1. See also Petruccelli, I, p. 463; Pastor, Volume VI, p. 211; Walter Ullmann (1972). "Julius and the Schismatic Cardinals". In Baker, Derek (ed.). Schism, Heresy and Religious Protest: Papers Read at the Tenth Summer Meeting and the Eleventh Winter Meeting of the Ecclesiastical History Society. Cambridge, England: Ecclesiastical History Society by Cambridge University Press. pp. 177–178. ISBN978-0-521-08486-4.
Latest comment: 7 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
The article states, on the authority of Baumgartner: "... making the conclave the shortest ever, less than ten hours." Burchard records that the Conclave was enclosed at the first hour of the night, which in November would be well before 6 p.m. He records that, next morning there was a Mass of the Holy Spirit, held at the "sixteenth hour" (I'm not good at Roman Time, but I do know that Mass cannot begin until it is light, which in November is after 6 a.m.). This was followed by the signing of the Capitulations, by all thirty-seven cardinals. After that, the Conclavists were removed and the doors closed, so that the voting could begin. The voting was by written ballot, and it was a preference ballot. One cardinal could name several candidates on the ballot, and five Cardinals did in fact take the trouble and time to do so . The details of each and every ballot were recorded by Burchard in his Diary.(Burchard, pp. 298-299) Then, unless there is a sudden demand for unanimity (and there is no record of it), the ballots need to be tallied. Then comes the ritual questions about accepting and taking a name. Then the official minute of the proceedings has to be drawn up by notaries (in this Conclave, the winner was known on October 20, and a draft could have been prepared long in advance) and witnessed. And only then is the Conclave completed. All of this could not have taken less than ten hours. Baumgartner did not know essential information, the Capitulations (they are always referred to in the plural, by the way), and therefore his reckoning is way off. The statement should be deleted.
.svg)
