The papal conclave from August 6-9, 1471 elected Pope Sixtus IV

Pope Sixtus IV

Pope Sixtus IV , born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 1471 to 1484. His accomplishments as Pope included the establishment of the Sistine Chapel; the group of artists that he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance into Rome with the first masterpiece of the city's new artistic age,...

 following the death of Pope Paul II

Pope Paul II

Pope Paul II , born Pietro Barbo, was pope from 1464 until his death in 1471.- Early life :He was born in Venice, and was a nephew of Pope Eugene IV , through his mother. His adoption of the spiritual career, after having been trained as a merchant, was prompted by his uncle's election as pope...

. With the exception of the conclaves of the Western Schism

Western Schism

The Western Schism or Papal Schism was a split within the Catholic Church from 1378 to 1417. Two men simultaneously claimed to be the true pope. Driven by politics rather than any theological disagreement, the schism was ended by the Council of Constance . The simultaneous claims to the papal chair...

, this conclave was the first since 1305 to feature a working, two-thirds majority of Italians within 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...

, in no small part because of the absence of six non-Italian cardinals. This was in part due to the unexpectedness of the death of Paul II.

The election

The two main factions were those of d'Estouteville and Orsini, the latter of whom secured a major pre-conclave victory in managing to persuade the rest of the College to exclude the cardinals created by Paul II in pectore

In pectore

In pectore is a term used in the Catholic Church to refer to appointments to the College of Cardinals by the Pope when the name of the newly appointed cardinal is not publicly revealed...

, in explicit defiance of the last will and testament

Will (law)

A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...

 of the previous pontiff. Such creatures would be allowed to participate, for example, in the papal conclave, 1492

Papal conclave, 1492

The papal conclave of 1492 convened after the death of Pope Innocent VIII , elected unanimously on the fourth ballot Cardinal Rodrigo Borja as Pope Alexander VI...

. Paul II had created at least eight cardinals in secret, at least five of whom were alive at the time of the conclave: Pedro Ferriz, Pietro Foscari, Giovanni Battista Savelli

Giovanni Battista Savelli

Giovanni Battista Savelli was an Italian cardinal from the 15th century. Of the noble Savelli family to which belonged Pope Honorius III and Pope Honorius IV and Cardinals: Bertrando Savelli, Giacomo Savelli, Silvio Savelli, Giulio Savelli, Fabrizio Savelli, Paolo Savelli and Domenico Savelli...

, Ferry de Clugny

Ferry de Clugny

Ferry de Clugny, Cardinal and Bishop of Tournai was a highly-placed statesman and ecclesiastic in the service of the Dukes of Burgundy....

, and Jan Vitez.

A conclave capitulation

Conclave capitulation

A conclave capitulation is a capitulation drawn up by the College of Cardinals during a papal conclave, attempting to constrain the actions of the Pope elected by the conclave. Generally, all cardinals would swear to uphold it if elected Pope, and the capitulation would be finished before the first...

 was drawn up at the beginning of the conclave, but unusually it contained no explicit limitations on papal power, except to continue the Crusading war against the Turks. The aforementioned factions can more specifically be referred to as the "Pieschi" (primarily the creations of Pius II) and the "Paoleschi" (primarily the creations of Paul II).

As in the immediately previous conclaves, Bessarion emerged as an early favorite, with six votes on the second day, those of: d'Estouteville, Calandrini, Capranica, Ammanati-Piccolomini, Caraffa, and Barbo; d'Estouteville trailed with the votes of Bessarion, Gonzaga, and Monferrato as did Forteguerri with the votes of Orsini, Eruli, and Agnifilo; Orsini got nods from della Rovere and Michiel; Roverella from Borgia and Zeno; Eruli from Forteguerri; and Calandrini from Roverella. The old arguments against Bessarion, namely that he was a non-Italian, who in addition would be unacceptable to the princes of France, again prevailed.

The voting tallies are known with specificity because of the notes of Nicodemo de Pontremoli, sent to Duke of Milan Galeazzo Maria Sforza

Galeazzo Maria Sforza

Galeazzo Maria Sforza was Duke of Milan from 1466 until his death. He was famous for being lustful, cruel and tyrannical....

, currently residing in the State Archives of Milan. Notable favorites in the ensuing scrutinies are (chronologically): Calandrini, Forteguerri, and Roverella.

Of the favored candidates of Sforza, della Rovere was the most electable, so Gonzaga and Borja lobbied for him behind the scenes, all the while disguising their intentions by voting for others until the morning of August 9th, when along with d'Estouteville and Barbo they changed their votes to della Rovere in the accessus

Accessus

Accessus is a term applied to the voting in conclave for the election of a pope, by which a cardinal changes his vote and accedes to some other candidate. Accessus voting was first used in the papal conclave, 1455...

, giving him a total of 13 votes. The cardinals voting for della Rovere in the scrutiny were: Monferrato, Zeno, Michiel, Agnifilo, Roverella,Forteguerri, Bessarion, Calandrini, and Orsini. Contrary to the perennial tradition, the five remaining cardinals did not change their votes to della Rovere in the accessus to make the election "unanimous".

Cardinal electors

Elector	Nationality	Order	Title	Elevated	Elevator	Notes
Guillaume d'Estouteville, O.S.B.Clun.	French	Cardinal-bishop	Bishop of Ostia e Velletri, archbishop of Rouen			Dean of the College of Cardinals Dean of the College of Cardinals The 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...
Basilios Bessarion	Greek	Cardinal-bishop	Bishop of Sabina
Latino Orsini Latino Orsini Latino Orsini was an Italian Cardinal.He was of Roman branch of the Orsini family and the owner of rich possessions, He entered the ranks of the Roman clergy as a youth, became subdeacon, and as early as 10 March 1438, was raised to the Episcopal See of Conza in Southern Italy...	Roman	Cardinal-bishop	Bishop of Frascati
Filippo Calandrini Filippo Calandrini Filippo Calandrini was a half-brother of Pope Nicholas V, who named him bishop of Bologna in 1447 and Cardinal Priest in 1448. Grand penitentiary from 1459. He was also bishop of Albano and bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina . He died at Bagnoreggio, at the age of 73.-External links:*...		Cardinal-bishop	Bishop of Albano and Bologna			Cardinal-nephew Cardinal-nephew A cardinal-nephew is a cardinal elevated by a Pope who is that cardinal's uncle, or, more generally, his relative. The practice of creating cardinal-nephews originated in the Middle Ages, and reached its apex during the 16th and 17th centuries. The word nepotism originally referred specifically to...
Angelo Capranica		Cardinal-priest	Title of S. Croce in Gerusalemme
Berardo Eroli		Cardinal-priest	Title of S. Sabina, bishop of Spoleto
Niccolò Fortiguerra Niccolò Fortiguerra Niccolò Fortiguerra was an Italian papal legate, military commander, and Cardinal.Born at Pistoia, he was related to Pope Pius II and is counted as a cardinal-nephew. He had a doctorate in utroque iure from the University of Siena.He became bishop of Teano in 1458, and Cardinal in 1460...		Cardinal-priest	Title of S. Cecilia, bishop of Teano
Bartolomeo Roverella		Cardinal-priest	Title of S. Clemente, archbishop of Ravenna
Jacopo Piccolomini-Ammannati Jacopo Piccolomini-Ammannati Jacopo Piccolomini-Ammannati, or Giacomo Piccolomini was an Italian Renaissance cardinal and humanist.-Biography:...		Cardinal-priest	Title of S. Crisogono, bishop of Pavia			Arrived on August 7
Oliviero Carafa Oliviero Carafa Oliviero Carafa was an Italian cardinal and diplomat of the Renaissance. Like the majority of his era's prelates, he displayed the lavish and conspicuous standard of living that was expected of a prince of the Church...	Neapolitan	Cardinal-priest	Title of S. Eusebio, archbishop of Naples
Amico Agnifilo		Cardinal-priest	Title of S. Maria in Trastevere
Marco Barbo Marco Barbo Marco Barbo of Venice was a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and patriarch of Aquileia who served in the capacity of cardinal-nephew to his third cousin Pietro Barbo, Pope Paul II. In Rome he resided in the Palazzo di San Marco, as did the Venetian pope, who elected not to remove to the...	Venetian	Cardinal-priest	Title of S. Marco, patriarch of Aquileia			Cardinal-nephew Cardinal-nephew A cardinal-nephew is a cardinal elevated by a Pope who is that cardinal's uncle, or, more generally, his relative. The practice of creating cardinal-nephews originated in the Middle Ages, and reached its apex during the 16th and 17th centuries. The word nepotism originally referred specifically to...
Francesco della Rovere Pope Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV , born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 1471 to 1484. His accomplishments as Pope included the establishment of the Sistine Chapel; the group of artists that he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance into Rome with the first masterpiece of the city's new artistic age,... , O.F.M.Conv.		Cardinal-priest	Title of S. Pietro in Vincoli			Elected Pope Sixtus IV
Rodrigo Borja Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI , born Roderic Llançol i Borja was Pope from 1492 until his death on 18 August 1503. He is one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, and his Italianized surname—Borgia—became a byword for the debased standards of the Papacy of that era, most notoriously the Banquet...	Spanish	Cardinal-deacon	Deacon of S. Nicola in Carcere Tulliano, administrator of Valencia			Future Pope Alexander VI; cardinal-nephew Cardinal-nephew A cardinal-nephew is a cardinal elevated by a Pope who is that cardinal's uncle, or, more generally, his relative. The practice of creating cardinal-nephews originated in the Middle Ages, and reached its apex during the 16th and 17th centuries. The word nepotism originally referred specifically to...
Francesco Gonzaga Francesco Gonzaga Francesco Gonzaga was an Italian nobleman, who was Duke of Ariano.-Biography:He was brother of the Cardinal Gianvincenzo Gonzaga, nephew of Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga and of Francesco III Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua....		Cardinal-deacon	Deacon of S. Maria Nuova
Teodoro Paleologo di Monteferrato		Cardinal-deacon	Deacon of S. Teodoro
Giovanni Battista Zeno Giovanni Battista Zeno Giovanni Battista Zeno was a cardinal of the Catholic Church.He was made a cardinal by his uncle, Pope Paul II in November 1468. The Zeno Chapel in St Mark's Basilica, Venice, was built as his tomb....	Venetian	Cardinal-priest	Title of S. Anastasia			Cardinal-nephew Cardinal-nephew A cardinal-nephew is a cardinal elevated by a Pope who is that cardinal's uncle, or, more generally, his relative. The practice of creating cardinal-nephews originated in the Middle Ages, and reached its apex during the 16th and 17th centuries. The word nepotism originally referred specifically to...
Giovanni Michiel		Cardinal-deacon	Deacon of S. Angelo in Pescheria			Cardinal-nephew Cardinal-nephew A cardinal-nephew is a cardinal elevated by a Pope who is that cardinal's uncle, or, more generally, his relative. The practice of creating cardinal-nephews originated in the Middle Ages, and reached its apex during the 16th and 17th centuries. The word nepotism originally referred specifically to...

Absentee cardinals

Elector	Nationality	Order	Title	Elevated	Elevator	Notes
Alain de Coëtivy Alain de Coëtivy Alain de Coëtivy was a French prelate from a Breton noble family. He was bishop of Avignon, Uzès, Nîmes and of Dol, titular cardinal of Santa Prassede, then cardinal-bishop of Palestrina and cardinal-bishop of Sabina....	French	Cardinal-bishop	Bishop of Palestrina
Jean Rolin Jean Rolin Jean Philippe Rolin is a French writer and journalist. He received the Albert Londres Prize for journalism in 1988, and his novel L'organisation received the Medicis award in 1996....	French	Cardinal-priest	Title of S. Stefano al Monte Celio, bishop of Autun
Luis Juan del Milà	Spanish	Cardinal-priest	Title of Ss. IV Coronati, bishop of Lérida
Jean Jouffroy Jean Jouffroy Jean Jouffroy was a French prelate and diplomat.He was born at Luxeuil-les-Bains . After entering the Benedictine order and teaching at the university of Pavia from 1435 to 1438, he became almoner to Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, who entrusted him with diplomatic missions in France, Italy,... , O.S.B.Clun.	French	Cardinal-priest	Title of Ss. Silvestro e Martino ai Monti, bishop of Albi
Thomas Bourchier	English	Cardinal-priest	Title of S. Ciriaco, archbishop of Canterbury
Jean Balue Jean Balue Jean Balue was a French cardinal and minister of Louis XI.He was born of very humble parentage at Angle in Poitou, and was first patronized by the bishop of Poitiers. In 1461 he became vicar-general of the bishop of Angers. His activity, cunning and mastery of intrigue gained him the appreciation...	French	Cardinal-priest	Title of S. Susanna, bishop of Angers
Francesco Todeschini-Piccolomini Pope Pius III Pope Pius III , born Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini, was Pope from September 22 to October 18, 1503.-Career:...	Sienese	Cardinal-deacon	Deacon of S. Eustachio, bishop of Siena			Future Pope Pius III