1216 papal election

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Papal election
1216
Dates and location
18 July 1216
Perugia
Key officials
DeanNicola de Romanis
CamerlengoStefano di Ceccano
ProtopriestCinzio Cenci
ProtodeaconGuido Pierleone
Elected pope
Cencio Savelli
Name taken: Honorius III
← 1198
1227 →

The 1216 papal election was convoked in Perugia on 18 July 1216 following the death of Pope Innocent III two days earlier.[1] The troubled social and political climate in Italy, including the threat of schism and foreign invasions, led the assembled cardinals to adopt the procedure of compromissum, delegating the election to a committee of cardinal-bishops.[2][3]

The committee, which included Ugolino di Segni (later Pope Gregory IX) and Guido Papareschi, elected Cencio Savelli, aged 68, who took the name Honorius III.[1][2][4] Honorius III was both a Roman native and renowned for his diplomatic skills, which would prove essential for navigating the papacy through contemporary challenges such as the Fifth Crusade and ongoing disputes with secular powers.[5][6]

Seventeen cardinals participated in the election, while eight were absent, including several notable legates active in European affairs.[1] The swift and nearly unanimous outcome of the election was achieved amid uncertainty regarding external pressures and the need for unity during a critical period of Church history.[3]

List of participants

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There were 25 cardinals in the College of Cardinals in July 1216, including 23 curial cardinals and two "external cardinals", who did not reside in the papal curia[7] It is known that 17 of them participated in the election:[8]

Elector Title Elevated Elevator Other ecclesiastical titles Notes
Nicola de Romanis Bishop of Frascati 18 December 1204 Innocent III Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals
Ugolino di Segni Bishop of Ostia e Velletri 19 December 1198 Innocent III Committee member; cardinal-nephew; future Pope Gregory IX
Guido Papareschi Bishop of Palestrina 22 September 1190 Clement III Committee member
Pelagio Galvani Bishop of Albano ca. 1206/1207 Innocent III
Cinzio Cenci Priest of S. Lorenzo in Lucina 22 September 1190 Clement III Protopriest
Cencio Priest of SS. Giovanni e Paolo 20 February 1193 Celestine III Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals Elected Pope Honorius III; possibly of Savelli family
Giovanni Colonna di Carbognano Deacon of SS. Cosma e Damiano 27 May 1206 Innocent III
Gregorio Gualgano Priest of S. Anastasia 27 May 1206 Innocent III
Robert of Courson Priest of S. Stefano al Monte Celio 19 May 1212 Innocent III
Peter of Benevento Priest of S. Lorenzo in Damaso 19 May 1212 Innocent III His name is often erroneously listed as Pierre Duacensis[9]
Stefano di Ceccano, O.Cist. Priest of SS. XII Apostoli 13 April 1213 Innocent III Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church
Tommaso da Capua Priest of S. Sabina 5 March 1216 Innocent III Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church
Guido Pierleone Deacon of S. Nicola in Carcere Tulliano 18 December 1204 Innocent III Protodeacon; Archpriest of the patriarchal Vatican Basilica
Ottaviano dei conti di Segni Deacon of SS. Sergio e Bacco 27 May 1206 Innocent III Cardinal-nephew
Gregorio Crescenzi Deacon of S. Teodoro 5 March 1216 Innocent III
Romano Bonaventura Deacon of S. Maria in Portico 5 March 1216 Innocent III
Stefano de Normandis dei Conti Deacon of S. Adriano 5 March 1216 Innocent III Cardinal-nephew

Absentee cardinals

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Eight cardinals, including six curial and two "external cardinals", were absent:

Elector Cardinalatial title Elevated Elevator Notes
Benedetto Bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina 3 June 1200 Innocent III
Ruggiero di San Severino Cardinal Priest of S. Eusebio ca. 1178/80 Alexander III Archbishop of Benevento 1179-1221 ("external" cardinal)
Leone Brancaleone, C.R.S.F. Priest of S. Croce in Gerusalemme 3 June 1200 Innocent III Papal legate in Lombardy
Guala Bicchieri Priest of SS. Silvestro e Martino ai Monti 18 December 1204 Innocent III Papal legate in England
Stephen Langton S.R.E. cardinalis 27 May 1206 Innocent III Archbishop of Canterbury 1207-1228; resigned this titulus S,. Crisogono after episcopal consecration in 1207; "external" cardinal
Pietro Sasso Priest of S. Pudenziana 27 May 1206 Innocent III Archpriest of the patriarchal Liberian Basilica; papal legate in Germany
Bertrannus Deacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro 19 May 1212 Innocent III
Rainiero Capocci, O.Cist. Deacon of S. Maria in Cosmedin 5 March 1216 Innocent III Papal legate in Lombardy

Election of Pope Honorius III

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Perugia cityscape (15th century)

The cardinals assembled in Perugia two days after the death of Innocent III. They deliberated in the enclosure,[10] though it is not certain whether voluntarily or under pressure of the local authorities.[11] They decided to elect the new Pope by compromissum, it means, not by the whole Sacred College, but by the committee of few of them, empowered by the rest to appoint the new Pontiff. This time the committee included only two cardinal-bishops: Ugolino of Ostia and Guido of Palestrina.[12] On that same day, they elected Cardinal Cencio, called Camerario, aged 68, who accepted his election and took the name of Honorius III.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c Maleczek, Werner (1984). Papst und Kardinalskolleg von 1191 bis 1216 (in German). Wien.
  2. ^ a b "Honorius III". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Vatican History: Honorius III". Vatican History. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  4. ^ "Papal elections and conclaves by century". Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  5. ^ "Pope Honorius III". Catholic Answers Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  6. ^ Powell, James M. (1977). "Honorius III and the Leadership of the Crusade". The Catholic Historical Review. 63 (4): 521–536. ISSN 0008-8080.
  7. ^ The reconstruction of the Sacred College in July 1216 is based on W. Maleczek, Papst und Kardinalskolleg von 1191 bis 1216, Wien 1984. Maleczek has rectified the earlier reconstructions made by Alphonso Ciacconio in his Vitae et res gestae Pontificum Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalium (1677) and Conrad Eubel in his Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi (1913), which are the main sources for the lists in both electronic accounts listed below.
  8. ^ W. Maleczek, op.cit., p. 357
  9. ^ Pierre Duacensis and Peter of Benevento were actually different persons; Duacensis was never promoted to the cardinalate. See an article by John Wei, TWO LETTERS OF HONORIUS III TO CATALONIA, pp. 84–85 note 6
  10. ^ For this reason, an account on Vatican History Archived 2011-05-27 at the Wayback Machine considers this election the "first papal conclave"
  11. ^ Ambrogio Piazzoni, Historia wyboru papieży, Wyd. M, Kraków 2003, pp. 181–182
  12. ^ Vatican history Archived 2011-05-27 at the Wayback Machine

Sources

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