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 surviving cardinals, a greater number than at any time since the close of the twelfth century, excepting perhaps for the multiplied rival cardinalatial colleges of the Great Schism (1378–1417).
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.[1] 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.[1] 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.[1] Cardinal Borja lead the first faction and Cardinal della Rovere the second; these factions were roughly aligned with the Orsini and Colonna families, respectively.[1]
The conclave was carried out by the largest non-schismatic College since the eleventh century.[1] Because of an intense dispute between the Colonna and Orsini, the city of Rome was marked more far more civil unrest during the sede vacante than was to be expected historically; as a result, Cardinal Barbo bribed Girolamo Riario 8000 ducats to withdrawal from the city for the duration of the conclave.[1]
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 Vincenzo Acquaviva 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 | ||||
Giovanni Battista 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 |
Notes[]
|