1370 conclave


In the papal conclave held on 29 and 30 December 1370, after the death of Pope Urban V, Cardinal Pierre de Beaufort was elected pope under the name Gregory XI. He thus became seventh and the last pope of the period of Avignon Papacy.

List of participants

Urban V died on 20 December 1370, at Avignon. He was the first pope who resided in Rome since 1304, although only for a short time. At the time of his death, there were 20 living cardinals. Eighteen of them participated in the conclave:
ElectorTitleElevatedElevatorNotes
Guy de BoulogneBishop of Porto e Santa Rufina; commendatario of S. Cecilia and S. CrisogonoSeptember 20, 1342Pope Clement VIDean of the Sacred College of Cardinals
Raymond de Canillac, C.R.S.A.Bishop of PalestrinaDecember 17, 1350Pope Clement VI
Guillaume de la Sudrie, O.P.Bishop of Ostia e VelletriSeptember 18, 1366Pope Urban V
Gilles Aycelin de MontaiguBishop of FrascatiSeptember 17, 1361Pope Innocent VI
Philippe de CabassoleBishop of SabinaSeptember 22, 1368Pope Urban V
Pierre de MonterucPriest of S. AnastasiaDecember 23, 1356Pope Innocent VI Archpriest of the Sacred College of Cardinals; Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church
Guillaume de la JugiéPriest of S. ClementeSeptember 20, 1342Pope Clement VI Cardinal-protector of the Order of Franciscans
Jean de BlauzacPriest of S. MarcoSeptember 17, 1361Pope Innocent VI
Guillaume d'Aigrefeuille, O.S.B.Priest of S. Stefano al Monte CelioMay 12, 1367Pope Urban VCamerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals
Stephen LanghamPriest of S. SistoSeptember 22, 1368Pope Urban V
Bernard du BosquetPriest of SS. XII ApostoliSeptember 22, 1368Pope Urban V
Jean de DormansPriest of SS. IV CoronatiSeptember 22, 1368Pope Urban VChancellor of the Kingdom of France
Etienne de PoissyPriest of S. EusebioSeptember 22, 1368Pope Urban VGrand penitentiary
Francesco TebaldeschiPriest of S. SabinaSeptember 22, 1368Pope Urban V
Pietro CorsiniPriest of S. Lorenzo in DamasoJune 7, 1370Pope Urban V
Pierre Roger de Beaufort
Deacon of S. Maria NuovaMay 28, 1348Pope Clement VI Protodeacon of the Sacred College of Cardinals; Archpriest of the patriarchal Lateran Basilica and of the patriarchal Liberian Basilica; Cardinal-protector of the Kingdom of Naples
Rinaldo OrsiniDeacon of S. AdrianoDecember 17, 1350Pope Clement VIArchpriest of the patriarchal Vatican Basilica
Hugues de Saint-MartialDeacon of S. Maria in PorticoSeptember 17, 1361Pope Innocent VI

Nine electors were created by Pope Urban V, five by Clement VI and four by Innocent VI.
Post of the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, the most important during sede vacante, was occupied by Arnaud Aubert, archbishop of Auch and nephew of Pope Innocent VI.

Absentees

Two Cardinals, both created by Urban V, did not participate in this conclave, because they were in Italy:
ElectorCardinalatial TitleElevatedElevatorNotes
Angelic de Grimoard, C.R.S.A.Bishop of AlbanoSeptember 18, 1366Pope Urban V Papal Vicar in Italy
Pierre d'Estaing, O.S.B.Priest of S. Maria in TrastevereJune 7, 1370Pope Urban V Rector of the Duchy of Spoleto

The election of Pope Gregory XI

Eighteen cardinals present in Avignon entered the conclave on December 29. In the first ballot on the next day in the morning Cardinal Pierre Roger de Beaufort, nephew of Clement VI, protodeacon of the Sacred College, was unanimously elected Pope. He initially opposed his election but eventually accepted and took the name of Gregory XI. On January 2, 1371, he was ordained to the priesthood, and on January 3 he was consecrated bishop of Rome by the dean of the College of Cardinals Guy de Boulogne, and crowned by the new protodeacon Rinaldo Orsini in the cathedral Notre Dame des Doms in Avignon.