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Papal election
1277
Papal election; 1277;
Dates and location
	30 May – 25 November 1277; Palazzo dei Papi di Viterbo
Key officials
Dean	Bertrand de Saint-Martin
Camerlengo	Guillaume de Bray
Protopriest	Anchero Pantaleone
Protodeacon	Giovanni Gaetano Orsini
Elected pope
	Giovanni Gaetano Orsini; Name taken: Nicholas III
	← September, 1276 1280–81 →

The 1277 papal election (May 30 – November 25), convened in Viterbo after the death of Pope John XXI, was the smallest papal election since the expansion of suffrage to cardinal-priests and cardinal-deacons, with only seven cardinal electors (following the deaths of three popes who had not created cardinals).^[1] Because John XXI had revoked Ubi periculum, the papal bull of Pope Gregory X establishing the papal conclave, with his own bull Licet felicis recordationis, the cardinal electors were able to take their time. After six months of deliberation, the cardinals eventually elected their most senior member Giovanni Gaetano Orsini as Pope Nicholas III. From the end of the election until Nicholas III's first consistory on March 12, 1278, the number of living cardinals—seven—was the lowest in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.^[1]

Cardinal electors

The seven cardinal electors were evenly divided between three supporters of Charles of Anjou and three cardinals from prominent Roman families, who opposed the interests of Charles in Italy, and there was one uncommitted cardinal.^[2]^[3]

Elector	Nationality	Faction	Order and Title	Elevated	Elevator	Notes
Bertrand de Saint-Martin	French	neutral	Cardinal-bishop of Sabina	1273, June 3	Gregory X	Dean of the College of Cardinals
Anchero Pantaleone	French	Angevin	Cardinal-priest of S. Prassede	1262, May 22	Urban IV	Cardinal primoprete; Cardinal-nephew
Guillaume de Bray	French	Angevin	Cardinal-priest of S. Marco	1262, May 22	Urban IV	Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals
Giovanni Gaetano Orsini	Roman	Roman	Cardinal-deacon of S. Nicola in Carcere Tulliano	1244, May 28	Innocent IV	Protodeacon, archpriest of the patriarchal Vatican Basilica, Inquisitor General, and Protector of the Order of Franciscans; Elected Pope Nicholas III
Giacomo Savelli	Roman	Roman	Cardinal-deacon of S. Maria in Cosmedin	1261, December 17	Urban IV	Future Pope Honorius IV
Goffredo da Alatri	Italian	Angevin	Cardinal-deacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro	1261, December 17	Urban IV
Matteo Rosso Orsini	Roman	Roman	Cardinal-deacon of S. Maria in Portico	1262, May 22	Urban IV	Nephew of Giovanni Orsini

Absentee cardinal

Elector	Nationality	Order and Title	Elevated	Elevator	Notes
Simon de Brion	French	Cardinal-priest S. Cecilia	1261, December 17	Urban IV	Papal legate in France; Future Pope Martin IV

Procedure

Pope Nicholas III was elected after six months of deadlock.

Initially, the cardinals met only once a day for balloting and returned to their respective habitations after the scrutinies.^[4] For two months, voting proceeded uneventfully along national lines with the French^[5] and Roman cardinals evenly divided.^[4]

After six months the impatient magistrates of Viterbo locked the cardinals in the town hall (once elected, Nicholas III moved the papacy back to Rome).^[6]

Notes and references

^ ^a ^b Miranda, Salvator. 1998. "Papal elections and conclaves of the 13th Century (1216–1294)." But see correction offered by John Adams Sede Vacante 1277; accessed March 13, 2010; concerning Bertrand de Saint-Martin
^ Medley, D.J. 2004. The Church and the Empire. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1-4191-5673-X. p. 171.
^ Pham, John-Peter. 2004. Heirs of the Fisherman: Behind the Scenes of Papal Death and Succession. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-517834-3. p. 24.
^ ^a ^b Bower, 1766, p. 307.
^ Cardinal da Alatri, the only non-Roman Italian Cardinal, voted together with French, while Bertrand of Sabina assumed neutral attitude.
^ Smith, Philip. 1885. The History of the Christian Church During the Middle Ages. Harper & Bros. p. 92.

Sources

Bower, Archibald. 1766. The History of the Popes. ^{[better source needed]}
Konrad Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, vol. I, Leipzig 1913, p. 9
J.P. Adams (2016), "SEDE VACANTE 1277", California State University Northridge; retrieved: 2 September 2022.