A papal conclave was held from 6 to 11 August 1492 to elect a new pope to succeed Innocent VIII, who had died on 25 July 1492. Of the 27 members of the College of Cardinals, all but four attended. On the fourth ballot, the conclave elected Cardinal Rodrigo Borja, the vice chancellor of the Roman Catholic Church. After accepting his election, he took the name Pope Alexander VI.
The event was the first papal conclave to be held in the Sistine Chapel. Cardinal Rodrigo Borja was elected unanimously on the fourth ballot. The election is notorious for allegations that Borja bought the votes of his electors, promising them lucrative appointments and other material gifts. Concerns about this conclave were among the reasons that Pope Julius II—who was at the time of the election one of the foremost candidates and participants, as Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere—enacted stronger rules against simony in 1503, shortly after Alexander VI's death in the same year. In the 1492 conclave, Charles VIII of France reportedly bankrolled 200,000 ducats (plus 100,000 ducats from the Doge of Genoa) for the election of Giuliano della Rovere.
Cardinal electors Of the 23 cardinals participating in the conclave, fourteen had been elevated by Pope Sixtus IV.Pastor, Ludwig. 1906. The History of Popes. K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltd. p. 416 The cardinals of Sixtus IV, known as the "Sistine Cardinals" and led by Giuliano della Rovere, had controlled the conclave of 1484, electing one of their own, Giambattista Cibo as Pope Innocent VIII.Signorotto, Gianvittorio, and Visceglia, Maria Antonietta. 2002. Court and Politics in Papal Rome, 1492–1700. Cambridge University Press. , p. 17 Since 1431 the composition of the College of Cardinals had been radically transformed, increasing the number of cardinal-nephews (from 3 to 10), crown-cardinals (from 2 to 8), and representatives of powerful Roman noble families (from 2 to 4).Burke-Young, Francis A. 1998. "The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church: Papal elections in the Fifteenth Century: The election of Pope Alexander VI (1492) ." Retrieved 28 August 2009 With the exception of three curial officials and one pastor, the cardinals were "secularly-minded princes largely unconcerned with the spiritual life of either the Latin church or its members."
At the time of Innocent VIII's death, the names of Cardinals Gherardo and Sanseverino (both created in pectore), had not been published, thus making them ineligible to participate in the conclave; however, both were published as an act of the College in sede vacante, Gherardo having been pushed by Giovanni Battista Orsini and Sanseverino by Ascanio Sforza. Gherardo was assigned the title of Santi Nereo e Achilleo, which it was believed Innocent VIII had intended for him; Sanseverino was given the poor and undesirable diaconate of San Teodoro to ensure that the future pontiff would confirm his assignment.
According to the account of bishop ambassador Giovanni Andrea Boccaccio, at least seven cardinals considered themselves papabile, having dismantled the furnishings of their palaces as a precaution against the traditional pillaging of the pope-elect's residence by the Roman populace: da Costa, di Campofregoso, Michiel, Piccolomini, Domenico della Rovere, Savelli, and Zeno.
Elector NationalitySource: the respective biographical entries by Miranda, Salvador (1998–2009) The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church: conclave of 1492 . Retrieved 28 August 2009 Order and titleMiranda, Salvador (1998–2009) The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church: conclave of 1492 . Retrieved 28 August 2009 Elevated Elevator NotesRodrigo BorjaKingdom of ValenciaCardinal-Bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina20 February 1456created in pectore; published 17 September 1456Callixtus IIIVice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church, Administrator of Valenciaelected Pope Alexander VICardinal-nephew, House of BorgiaOliviero CarafaNeapolitanCardinal-Bishop of Sabina18 September 1467Paul IIVice Dean of the College of CardinalsCrown cardinal of Ferdinand I of NaplesGiuliano della RovereSavonaCardinal-Bishop of Ostia and Velletri16 December 1471created in pectore; published 22 December 1471Sixtus IVDean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal-nephew, bishop of Bologna, administrator of AvignonFuture Pope Julius IIGiovanni Battista ZenoVenetianCardinal-Bishop of Frascati21 November 1468Paul IICardinal-nephewGiovanni MichielVenetianCardinal-Bishop of Palestrina21 November 1468Paul IICardinal-nephewJorge da CostaPortugueseCardinal-Bishop of Albano16 December 1476Sixtus IVArchbishop of Lisbon; Crown cardinal of Afonso V of PortugalGirolamo Basso della RovereSavonaCardinal-Priest of S. Crisogono10 December 1477created in pectore; published 12 December 1477Sixtus IVCardinal-nephew; bishop of Recanati e MacerataDomenico della RoverePiedmontCardinal-Priest of S. Clemente10 February 1478Sixtus IVCardinal-nephew; archbishop of TurinPaolo di CampofregosoGenoeseCardinal-Priest of S. Sisto15 May 1480Sixtus IVFormer ruler of Genoa; archbishop of GenoaGiovanni ContiRomanCardinal-Priest of S. Vitale15 November 1483Sixtus IVGiovanni Giacomo SclafenatiMilaneseCardinal-Priest of S. Cecilia15 November 1483Sixtus IVBishop of ParmaLorenzo Cibò di MariGenoeseCardinal-Priest of S. Marco9 March 1489Innocent VIIICardinal-nephew; archbishop of BeneventoArdicino della PortaMilanese (Novara)Cardinal-Priest of Ss. Giovanni e Paolo9 March 1489Innocent VIIIBishop of AleriaAntoniotto PallaviciniGenoeseCardinal-Priest of S. Prassede9 March 1489Innocent VIIIBishop of OrenseMaffeo Gherardo, O.S.B.Cam.VenetianCardinal-Priest of Ss. Nereo e Achilleo9 March 1489 (created in pectore)Innocent VIIINot published before death of Innocent VIII; patriarch of VeniceFrancesco PiccolominiSieneseCardinal-Deacon of S. Eustachio5 March 1460Pius IIProtodeacon, bishop of Siena, future Pope Pius III, Cardinal-nephewRaffaele RiarioSavonaCardinal-Deacon of S. Lorenzo in Damaso12 December 1477Sixtus IVCamerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, Cardinal-nephewGiovanni Battista SavelliRomanCardinal-Deacon of S. Nicola in Carcere Tulliano15 May 1480Sixtus IVFormer Governor of BolognaGiovanni ColonnaRomanCardinal-Deacon of S. Maria in Aquiro15 May 1480Sixtus IVGiambattista OrsiniRomanCardinal-Deacon of S. Maria Nuova15 November 1483Sixtus IVAscanio SforzaMilaneseCardinal-Deacon of Ss. Vito e Modesto6 March 1484created in pectore; published 17 March 1484Sixtus IVHouse of Sforza, ruling family member of MilanGiovanni de' MediciFlorentineCardinal-Deacon of S. Maria in Domnica9 March 1489Innocent VIIIFuture Pope Leo X, member of the ruling family of FlorenceFederico SanseverinoNeapolitanCardinal-Deacon of S. Teodoro9 March 1489 (created in pectore)Innocent VIIINot published before death of Innocent VIII
Absent cardinals There is no evidence that the 4 absent cardinals made an attempt to reach Rome for the conclave. Elector Nationality Order and title Elevated Elevator NotesLuis Juan del Mila y BorjaCatalanCardinal-Priest of Ss. IV Coronati20 February 1456created in pectore; published 17 September 1456Callixtus IIIArchpriest of the Sacred College; bishop of Lérida; de facto retiredCardinal-nephewPedro González de MendozaCastilianCardinal-Priest of S. Croce in Gerusalemme7 May 1473Sixtus IVArchbishop of Toledo; Had not left Iberian Peninsula since elevationCrown cardinal of the Catholic MonarchsAndré d'EspinayFrenchCardinal-Priest of Ss. Silvestro e Martino ai Monti9 March 1489Innocent VIIIArchbishop of Bordeaux, and Lyon; Crown cardinal of Charles VIII of FrancePierre d'AubussonFrenchCardinal-Deacon of S. Adriano9 March 1489Innocent VIIIGrand Master of Knights HospitallerBusy defending Rhodes from the Turks
Procedures
As dictated by the prescriptions Ubi periculum and Ne Romani, the conclave should have begun on 4 August, ten days after the death of Innocent VIII; however, the conclave was delayed to await the slow arrival of the aged Gherardo, bearing a letter from Venice's Council of Ten urging his acceptance into the College. The cardinals had decided as early as their first meeting on 24 July to use the Sistine Chapel for the balloting and assembly of the conclave.
Johann Burchard, the German papal master of ceremonies, who presided over the conclave, as well as the previous one in 1484, kept an extensive diary, noting that each cardinal was provided:Chamberlin, 2003, p. 169
The Mass of the Holy Spirit (celebrated by Giuliano della Rovere rather than Borja who as Dean would traditionally have been the celebrant) and then a speech by Bernardino Lopez de Carvajal, a Spaniard and the ambassador to Ferdinand and Isabella, on the "evils afflicting the Church" preceded the beginning of the conclave on 6 August 1492.Bellonci, Maria. 2003. Lucrezia Borgia. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. , p. 7 Another Spaniard, Gonzalo Fernandez de Heredia, archbishop of Tarragona, was appointed prefect of the Vatican. Two important offices during sede vacante were filled with compatriots of Cardinal Borja, and it is believed that they both were chosen by Borja in his capacity as Dean to strengthen his position before the conclave.
The remainder of 6 August was consumed by the drafting and subscription to the conclave capitulation, which—although not extant—is known to have restricted the number of new cardinals which could be created by the new pope.
Vote count + Nationality of cardinal electorsCountryNumber of electorsPapal States, Savona4 eachGenoa, Milan, Naples, Venice3 eachFlorence, Portugal, Spain1 each
The first ballot ("scrutiny"), held on 8 August was said to have resulted in nine votes for Carafa, seven for Borja, Costa, and Michiel, and five for Giuliano della Rovere, with Sforza notably receiving zero votes.Bellonci, 2003, p. 6
The second ballot produced nine for Carafa, eight for Borja, seven for Michiel, and five for Giuliano della Rovere.
According to the Florentine Ambassador, one of the guards of the conclave, as of 10 August there had been three unsuccessful ballots, favoring Costa and Carafa,Pastor, 1902, p. 381 but in no way indicating Borja might be chosen.Setton, Kenneth Meyer. 1984. The Papacy and the Levant, 1204–1571: The 13th & 14th Centuries. , p. 433 According to Sigismondo de' Conti, papal secretary and chronicler, the vote was unanimous on the fourth ballot, taken early in the morning on 11 August although Borja had only 15 votes prior to the accessus;Bellonci, 2003, p. 8 other accounts say Borja received all the votes except for his own, which he gave to Carafa.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the election of Rodrigo Borja was "almost entirely due to" Giambattisti Orsini.
Allegations of simony
According to Pastor, 'the corruption during the reign of Pope Innocent VIII had increased to such an extent that it became possible by bribery to procure the election of such a successor as Pope Alexander VI'.Pastor, The History of the Popes vol V, p. 170 The Venetian envoy to Milan informed his confrère in Ferrara: "that by simony and a thousand villanies and indecencies the papacy has been sold, which is a disgraceful and detestable business", adding that he expected Spain and France to withhold their support from the new pontiff. After the conclave, a ubiquitous epigram within Rome was: "Alexander sells the Keys, the Altar, Christ Himself—he has a right to for he bought them."Chamberlin, 2003, p. 170