Am a historian of the medieval papacy and editor of the next three volumes of the history of the papacy in cambridge. So for me it was more or less mandatory to see the new movie “Conclave”.

based on Robert Harris novel from 2016The film shows the politics behind the election of a Pope to lead the 1.36 billion Catholics in the world. Any researcher who has spent time in the Vatican will find familiarity in the speeches and behaviors of the characters, which are accurately represented.

That the movie What it doesn’t do, however, is explain where the word “conclave” comes from and how the mysterious system was created in the first place. The conclave is formed from Latin words meaning “with a key,” in reference to how cardinals are kidnapped to elect a Pope (today inside the Vatican; but wherever a Pope died, in the Middle Ages.

Why kidnapped? Because it took centuries for the Church to develop an electoral system free of manipulation and violence, which should resonate in contemporary politics.

Chosen by ‘the people’?

Once free from Byzantine and Holy Roman imperial controls, from the late 11th century onwards, a medieval pope had powers far superior to those possessed by a pope today. Not only did he offer spiritual guidance, but the Pope was heavily involved in political affairs, including negotiations between states, and was head of the richest institution in existence, collecting taxes and revenue from most of Europe.

The choice of this powerful figure was a cantankerous affairmarred by violence and external interference.

Originally, in early Christianity, the Pope had been appointed by the “people of Rome” who agreed by consensus. In reality, that meant that the choice was in the hands of mobs, aristocrats, kings, emperors, or anyone with any kind of control over Rome. Consensus was achieved through negotiation or force. Very often, powerful people could appoint whoever they wanted.

For example, the election of Pope Conon in 686 is described in “The book of the pontiffs”, a medieval collection of brief papal biographies, as a chaotic affair that included the military. The author states that “there was much discussion, as the clergy favored Archpriest Peter while the army favored Theodore, the next in seniority.” After long negotiations, the clergy opted for Conon, who had been third in rank under the late Pope.

Looting the Vatican

In addition to “internal” pressures, a mob pattern emerged loot the dead Pope’s property – sometimes including the clothes of his corpse and his liturgical vestments. It is difficult to identify why: greed, certainly, and the obtaining of something that had been touched by holy men. But I would say that the mafia also resented the authorities who took the nomination process away from the “people.”

The Council of Chalcedon, a meeting of bishops in 451, prohibited clerics from confiscating the belongings of a dead bishopat risk of losing his rank. Another council, a few years later, decreed: “Let no one, by theft, force or deceit, conceal, remove or conceal anything” upon the death of a bishop.

However, the looting continued for centuries. In a letter from 1050 to the Catholics of the diocese of Osimo, in present-day Italy, Cardinal Peter Damian stated:

From various reports we know the perverse and totally detestable practice of certain people, who upon the death of the bishop break in as enemies and rob his house, like thieves they take his belongings, set fire to the houses he owns, and with fierce and savage barbarity He cut down their vines and orchards.

The film may be alluding to this story when a cardinal asks Dean Lawrence, the man presiding over the conclave, if he could keep the late Pope’s chess game.

college of cardinals

To save the electoral system from internal and external chaos, Pope Nicholas II decreed in 1059 that popes should be chosen by men of the clergy –i.e. cardinal-bishops. Until then, cardinals had participated in liturgical functions in the great basilicas of Rome. They could be priests, deacons or bishops.

This didn’t work. A century later, Pope Alexander III decreed that all cardinals – with equal representation among priests, deacons and bishops – would become electors of the Pope, and a candidate needed to obtain two-thirds of the votes to win.

Still, intrigue and squabbling continued to mar the process for years. While there was a “Vacant See” in the Vatican, the cardinals were the governors of the church, so the incentive was on their side to delay the process.

AND the looting expandedand the cardinals’ residences became new targets. Sometimes dismissals occurred even before the Pope died, when rumors of a selection circulated.

strict secret

The continued chaos, as well as the cardinals’ lengthy negotiations and continued outside influences, pushed Pope Gregory X to act. In 1274, he instituted the decree “Periculus of Ubi.” The first words of the text were “Ubi periculum maius intenditur”: “Where the greatest danger lies.” A papal nomination It was a dangerous business. – sometimes to the person, more often to their property.

The “Ubi periculum” established the foundations of the conclave system that is still used today; most importantly, the cardinals would be completely isolated and confined during the process.

Kidnapped cardinals would not stop in long discussionsespecially when they were far from the comfort of their own palaces, they were only allowed a single attendant and slept in simple cells. If they took more than three days to decide, they lost the privilege of several meals a day, reducing them to just one. The politics of the stomach!

By the way, the traditional looting now extended to the conclave cells.

two potatoes

Under the new rules, the cardinals’ role was strictly limited to electing the next pope. But this did not stop them from continuing their intrigues.

On the death of Gregory XI in 1378, the cardinals elected Pope Urban VI, but soon repented. A few months later he was deposed. and chose a new onewith the pretext that the first elections were held under pressure: fear of mobs. Still, they knew very well that looting was “common.”

The chronicler Dietrich de Niem, a witness to the events, made it clear. After Urban was elected – unanimously – “he immediately moved his books and other valuables to a safe place, so they would not be stolen.” Dietrich wrote. And he added: “It is the custom of the Romans to enter his palace and steal his books and things of this kind.”

Catholics now had two popes: the one who had been elected in April 1378 (Urban VI, who refused to give up power) and the one elected in September 1378, Clement VII. Two popes, two courts and two “obediences” divided Europe. The crisis, which lasted from 1378 to 1417, is called the great western schism.

Power is tempting, and violence and electoral manipulation are not new.