Pattenden, Miles. Electing the Pope in early modern Italy, 1450-1700

Folger bibliographic ID: 357967
Folger call number: BX1805 .P33 2017
Folger holdings ID: 506198

Electing the Pope in Early Modern Italy, 1450-1700 offers a radical reassessment of the history of early modern papacy, constructed through the first major analytical treatment of papal elections in English. Papal elections, with their ceremonial pomp and high drama, are compelling theatre, but, until now, no one has analysed them on the basis of the problems they created for cardinals: how were they to agree rules and enforce them? How should they manage the interregnum? How did they decide for whom to vote? How was the new pope to assert himself over a group of men who, until just moments before, had been his equals and peers? 00This study traces how the cardinals' responses to these problems evolved over the period from Martin V's return to Rome in 1420 to Pius VI's departure from it in 1798, placing them in the context of the papacy's wider institutional developments

General notes

Electing the Pope in Early Modern Italy, 1450-1700 offers a radical reassessment of the history of early modern papacy, constructed through the first major analytical treatment of papal elections in English. Papal elections, with their ceremonial pomp and high drama, are compelling theatre, but, until now, no one has analysed them on the basis of the problems they created for cardinals: how were they to agree rules and enforce them? How should they manage the interregnum? How did they decide for whom to vote? How was the new pope to assert himself over a group of men who, until just moments before, had been his equals and peers? 00This study traces how the cardinals' responses to these problems evolved over the period from Martin V's return to Rome in 1420 to Pius VI's departure from it in 1798, placing them in the context of the papacy's wider institutional developments Includes bibliographical references and index

Contents

1. Introduction -- 2. The Pope and his electors -- 3. Methods of election -- 4. The vacant see -- 5. Choosing candidates -- 6. The new Pope -- 7. Papal government -- 8. Conclusion

Extended title: Electing the Pope in early modern Italy, 1450-1700 / Miles Pattenden

Popes Papacy

author: Pattenden, Miles