Papal conclave, 1484
| Papal conclave August 1484 |
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Coat of arms during the vacancy of the Holy See
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| Dates and location | |
| 26–29 August 1484 Apostolic Palace, Papal States |
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| Key officials | |
| Dean | Rodrigo Borja |
| Elected Pope | |
| Giovanni Battista Cybo (Name taken: Innocent VIII) |
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The papal conclave from August 26–29, 1484, elected Pope Innocent VIII after the death of Pope Sixtus IV.
The election
At the death of Sixtus IV, the conclave of cardinals that met to elect his successor numbered thirty-two cardinals.[1]
The immediate context of the election was the nearly unprecedented packing of the College of Cardinals by Sixtus IV, not only in terms of overall size, but also in terms of cardinal-nephews and crown cardinals.[2] As a result, nearly all of the non-Venetian cardinals supported the continuation of Sixtus IV's policies of isolation towards the Republic of Venice, specifically the Peace of Bagnolo.[2] However, the two factions of cardinals differed over whether the church ought to prioritize the continuation of the Italian League or should prioritize papal power (especially vis-a-vis Naples) over the preservation of the peace.[2] Cardinal Borja led the first faction and Cardinal della Rovere, the second; these factions were roughly aligned with the Orsini and Colonna families, respectively.[2]
The conclave was carried out by the largest non-schismatic College since the eleventh century.[2] Because of an intense dispute between the Colonna and Orsini, the city of Rome was marked by far more civil unrest during the sede vacante than was to be expected historically. while Count Girolamo Riario was away besieging a Colonna stronghold, his palace was sacked and his wife fled to the Castel S. Angelo. Upon his return to the city Count Riario joined his wife and held the Castel until persuaded to withdraw from the city with payment of 4000 ducats.[3]
In order to prevent the selection of Cardinal Barbo, on the evening before the election, after the cardinals retired for the night, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, nephew of the late Pope, and Cardinal Borgia, the Vice-Chancellor, visited a number of cardinals and secured their votes with the promise of various benefices.
Cardinal electors
| Elector | Nationality | Order | Title | Elevated | Elevator | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rodrigo Borja | Spanish | Cardinal-bishop | Bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina, administrator of Valencia | Dean of the College of Cardinals; future Pope Alexander VI; cardinal-nephew | ||
| Giuliano della Rovere | Cardinal-bishop | Bishop of Ostia e Velletri, bishop of Bologna, administrator of Avignon | Future Pope Julius II; cardinal-nephew | |||
| Oliviero Carafa | Cardinal-bishop | Bishop of Albano | ||||
| Marco Barbo | Venetian | Cardinal-bishop | Bishop of Palestrina, patriarch of Aquileia | Cardinal-nephew | ||
| Giovanni Battista Zeno | Venetian | Cardinal-bishop | Bishop of Frascati | Cardinal-nephew | ||
| Giovanni Michiel | Venetian | Cardinal-priest | Title of S. Marcello | Cardinal-nephew | ||
| Stefano Nardini | Cardinal-priest | Title of S. Maria in Trastevere, archbishop of Milan | ||||
| Giovanni Battista Cibo | Cardinal-priest | Title of S. Cecilia, bishop of Molfetta | Elected Pope Innocent VIII | |||
| Giovanni Arcimboldo | Cardinal-priest | Title of S. Prassede, bishop of Novara | ||||
| Philibert Hugonet | French | Cardinal-priest | Title of Ss. Giovanni e Paulo, bishop of Macon | |||
| Jorge da Costa, O.Cist. | Portuguese | Cardinal-priest | Title of Ss. Marcellino e Pietro, archbishop of Lisbon | |||
| Girolamo Basso della Rovere | Cardinal-priest | Title of S. Crisogono, bishop of Recanati | Cardinal-nephew | |||
| Pietro Foscari | Cardinal-priest | Title of S. Nicola fra le Immagini | ||||
| Giovanni d'Aragona | Neapolitan | Cardinal-priest | Title of S. Sabina | |||
| Raffaele Riario | Cardinal-priest | Title of S. Lorenzo in Damaso | Cardinal-nephew | |||
| Domenico della Rovere | Cardinal-priest | Title of S. Clemente, archbishop of Turin | Cardinal-nephew | |||
| Giovanni Conti | Cardinal-priest | Title of Ss. Nereo ed Achilleo, archbishop of Conza | ||||
| Juan Margarit i Pau | Spanish | Cardinal-priest | Title of S. Vitale, bishop of Gerona | |||
| Giovanni Giacomo Sclafenati | Cardinal-priest | Title of S. Stefano al Monte Celio, bishop of Parma | ||||
| Francesco Todeschini-Piccolomini | Cardinal-deacon | Deacon of S. Eustachio, bishop of Siena | Future Pope Pius III | |||
| Gabriele Rangone, O.Min.Obs. | Cardinal-deacon | Deacon of Ss. Sergio e Bacco, bishop of Agrigento | ||||
| Giovanni Battista Savelli | Cardinal-deacon | Deacon of S. Nicola in Carcere Tulliano | ||||
| Giovanni Colonna | Cardinal-deacon | Deacon of S. Maria in Aquiro | ||||
| Giambattista Orsini | Cardinal-deacon | Deacon of S. Maria Nuova | ||||
| Ascanio Sforza | Cardinal-deacon | Deacon of Ss. Vito e Modesto |
Absentee cardinals
| Elector | Nationality | Order | Title | Elevated | Elevator | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luis Juan del Milà | Spanish | Cardinal-priest | Title of Ss. IV Coronati, bishop of Lérida | |||
| Thomas Bourchier | English | Cardinal-priest | Title of S. Ciriaco, archbishop of Canterbury | |||
| Jean Balue | French | Cardinal-bishop | Bishop of Albano, bishop of Angers | |||
| Pedro González de Mendoza | Spanish | Cardinal-priest | Title of S. Croce in Gerusalemme, archbishop of Sevilla and administrator of Sigùenza | |||
| Charles II, Duke of Bourbon | French | Cardinal-priest | Title of Ss. Silvestro e Martino ai Monti, archbishop of Lyon | |||
| Pierre de Foix, le jeune | French | Cardinal-deacon | Deacon of Ss. Cosma e Damiano, bishop of Vannes | |||
| Paolo Fregoso | Genoese | Cardinal-priest | Title of S. Anastasia, archbishop of Genoa |
