January 1276 conclave


A conclave was held from 21 to 22 January 1276 to elect the successor of Pope Gregory X, who succumbed to illness on the return from the Second Ecumenical Council of Lyon. During the two day conclave, the Dominican friar and cardinal Peter of Tarentaise, bishop of Ostia, was elected pope and took the name Innocent V.
It was the first conclave held under the rules of constitution Ubi periculum, issued by Pope Gregory X in 1274, which established papal conclaves. According to Ubi periculum cardinals were to be secluded in a closed area; they were not even accorded separate rooms. No cardinal was allowed to be attended by more than one servant unless ill. Food was to be supplied through a window; after three days of the meeting, the cardinals were to receive only one dish a day; after five days, they were to receive just bread and water. During the conclave, no cardinal was to receive any ecclesiastical revenue. These provisions were regularly disregarded, at the discretion of the cardinals, particularly the requirement of being incommunicado.
Although several times before papal elections were held in the circumstances similar to those described by Ubi periculum, for the first time such situation was formally required by a papal Constitution. For this reason, the conclave of January 1276 can be considered the first conclave in history in the strictly legal sense of this word.

List of participants

Pope Gregory X died on January 10, 1276, at Arezzo. At the time of his death there were probably 15 cardinals in the Sacred College, but only 13 of them participated in the subsequent conclave. Seven of them were created by Urban IV, four by Gregory X and one by Gregory IX:
ElectorCardinalatial titleElevatedAppointed byOther ecclesiastical titlesNotes
Pierre de Tarentaise, O.P.Bishop of Ostia e VelletriJune 3, 1273Gregory XGrand penitentiaryElected Pope Innocent V
João Pedro JuliãoBishop of FrascatiJune 3, 1273Gregory XFuture Pope John XXI
Vicedominus de VicedominisBishop of PalestrinaJune 3, 1273Gregory XNephew of Pope Gregory X
Bertrand de Saint-Martin, O.S.B.Bishop of SabinaJune 3, 1273Gregory X
Simone PaltanieriPriest of SS. Silvestro e MartinoDecember 17, 1261Urban IVProtopriest
Ancher PantaleonPriest of S. PrassedeMay 1262Urban IV
Guillaume de BrayPriest of S. MarcoMay 1262Urban IV
Riccardo AnnibaldiDeacon of S. Angelo in Pescheria1238Gregory IXProtodeacon; Archpriest of the patriarchal Vatican Basilica;
Protector of the Order of Augustinians
nephew of Pope Innocent III
Ottobono FieschiDeacon of S. AdrianoDecember, 1251Innocent IVArchpriest of the patriarchal Liberian Basilicafuture Pope Adrian V
Uberto CoconatiDeacon of S. EustachioDecember 17, 1261Urban IV
Giacomo SavelliDeacon of S. Maria in CosmedinDecember 17, 1261Urban IVFuture Pope Honorius IV
Goffredo da AlatriDeacon of S. Giorgio in VelabroDecember 17, 1261Urban IV
Matteo Rosso OrsiniDeacon of S. Maria in PorticoMay 1262Urban IVNephew of Pope Nicholas III

Absentee cardinals

Two cardinals were absent, including one created by Urban IV and one created by Innocent IV:
ElectorCardinalatial titleElevatedAppointed byOther ecclesiastical titlesNotes
Simon Monpitie de BriePriest of S. CeciliaDecember 17, 1261Urban IVPapal Legate in the Kingdom of FranceFuture Pope Martin IV
Giovanni Gaetano OrsiniDeacon of S. Nicola in Carcere TullianoMay 28, 1244Innocent IVInquisitor General; Protector of the Order of FranciscansFuture Pope Nicholas III

Conclave. Election of Pope Innocent V

On January 20, 10 days after the death of Gregory X, 15 cardinals assembled in the episcopal palace in Arezzo. In the first scrutiny on the following day they unanimously elected French Cardinal Pierre de Tarentaise, bishop of Ostia e Velletri, who took the name of Innocent V. He was the first Dominican pope.