1227 papal election
The 1227 papal election (19 March), was convoked after the death of Pope Honorius III on 18 March 1227 at Rome.
| Papal election 1227 | |
|---|---|
| Dates and location | |
| 19 March 1227 Septizodium,[1] Rome | |
| Key officials | |
| Dean | Ugolino di Segni |
| Protopriest | Guala Bicchieri |
| Protodeacon | Ottaviano dei Conti di Segni |
| Elected pope | |
| Ugolino di Segni Name taken: Gregory IX | |
 | |
The cardinals present at Rome assembled in Septizodium[1] on the next day after the death of Honorius III and decided to elect the new Pope by compromissum, meaning not by the whole Sacred College of Cardinals but by the committee of few of them, empowered by the rest to appoint the new Pontiff. The same procedure had been already used in the previous election. The committee numbered three cardinals, among whom were cardinal-bishops Ugolino di Segni of Ostia and Konrad von Urach of Porto (the name of the third one is not registered). Initially the committee elected its member Konrad von Urach with two votes out three, but he refused the tiara. Hereupon the rest of cardinals unanimously elected Ugolino di Segni (another committee member) on 19 March 1227. He reluctantly accepted the high honour, taking the name of Gregory IX.[2]
The new Pope received the pallium in the Vatican Basilica on 21 March 1227, and on the same day was enthroned in the Lateran Basilica. On 11 April 1227, his relative Ottaviano Conti di Segni, archdeacon of the Sacred College, solemnly crowned him in the Basilica di S. Maria in Maggiore.[3]
List of participants
Probably 15 out of 18 cardinals participated in the election:[4]
Absentee cardinal
Probably three cardinals were absent:
| Elector | Cardinalatial title | Elevated | Elevator | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Langton | S.R.E. cardinalis | 27 May 1206 | Innocent III | Archbishop of Canterbury 1207–1228; resigned his titulus S. Crisogono after receiving episcopal consecration in 1207; external cardinal |
| Giovanni Colonna di Carbognano | Priest of S. Prassede | 27 May 1206 | Innocent III | Rector of Spoleto |
| Romano Bonaventura | Deacon of S. Maria in Portico | 5 March 1216 | Innocent III | Papal Legate in the southern France |
Notes
- Or possibly the Septasolium. There has been confusion about these locations, as described by Dr. J. P. Adams
- The Catholic Encyclopedia: Pope Gregory IX; and Gaetano Moroni, vol. XXXII p. 257 and vol. LXXXV, p. 261. Timo Bandhold, p. 9, says that only Konrad von Urach is known to have been a committee member and the rest two members of that body are unknown
- Salvador Miranda: Cardinal Ugolino dei conti di Segni (Pope Gregory IX)
- The reconstruction is based on: Vatican History: Konklave 1227 Archived 3 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine; F. Bourkle-Young: notes to the papal election of 1227 on The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church (by S. Miranda); and K. Eubel, p. 5 n. 5, but with corrections based on the biographical entries of the respective cardinals in Werner Maleczek, Papst und Kardinalskolleg von 1191 bis 1216, Vienna 1984 and Elfriede Kartusch, Das Kardinalskollegium in der Zeit von 1181-1227, Univ. of Vienna 1948.
Sources
- Konrad Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, volumen I, 1913
- F. Bourkle-Young: notes to the papal election of 1227
- Vatican history
- The Catholic Encyclopedia: Pope Gregory IX
- Werner Maleczek, Papst und Kardinalskolleg von 1191 bis 1216, Wien 1984
- Timo Bandhold, Die Wahl Papst Gregors IX., 2007, ISBN 3-638-81022-4
- Gaetano Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica da S. Pietro sino ai nostri giorni Vol. XXXII and vol. LXXXV, Tipografia Emiliana, Venezia, 1840 - 1861
