was a leading candidate in the Conclave. Riario, a former member of the
Pazzi conspiracy against the Medici, would later be caught plotting against Leo X and be forced to surrender the
Palazzo della Cancelleria to avoid execution.
Pope Julius II had created twenty-seven cardinals during his reign of more than nine years. Twelve of these had died, leaving fifteen cardinals, who were referred to as the 'Younger Cardinals'. They formed a faction, under the leadership of the della Rovere cardinals. The 'Elder Cardinals', named by earlier popes, numbered sixteen, and were led by Raffaele Sansoni Riario, the Cardinal of S. Giorgio, a nephew of
Pope Sixtus IV. Twenty-five of the living thirty-one cardinals entered the
conclave on Friday 4 March. Cardinal
Sisto Gara della Rovere, one of Pope Julius' nephews, was so ill that he had to be carried into the Conclave, and he was given special accommodations. Cardinal Soderini and Cardinal de'Medici were also ill. Medici had been in Rome since the 28th of February, but he was suffering from a fistula, and needed to be operated on. He did not enter the Conclave until 6 March, and had to be carried into the Conclave area in a sedan chair. The Cardinal Camerlengo, Raffaele Riario, accompanied by Cardinal d' Aragona and Cardinal Farnese, made the traditional examination of the entire area of the Conclave, and then supervised the sealing of the doors. The first several days were spent in the regular daily Congregations on the drafting of
Electoral Capitulations and regulating the procedures of the Conclave. The Conclavists, too, were drawing up a list of demands, which included the disposal of the property of whichever Cardinal happened to be elected pope. The successful candidate's Conclavists were entitled to their employer's property as 'spoils', but the other conclavists wanted their share. It had been the custom for hundreds of years for each cardinal, at the time of the second Obeisance to the new Pope, to present him with a small memorandum (
libellus), in which was listed the names of the Cardinal's most favored followers with specific requests for benefices for them. These requests were usually granted, usually on the spot. Each cardinal had to draw up his list. A copy of the
Capitulations was seen by the Florentine diarist, Luca Landucci. He reported that there were thirty clauses. One provided that the Pope could not create more than two cardinals from members of his own family, when the number of Cardinals was below 24, and with the agreement of two-thirds of the cardinals. Another required that there be a General Council of Christians to reform the Church, and to prepare a crusade against the Infidel. Another required that the text of the Capitulations be read out twice a year in Congregation. Another stated that the Roman Curia could not be transferred elsewhere in Italy without the consent of half of the cardinals; and that it could not be transferred outside of Italy without the consent of two-thirds. Ludwig Pastor, the historian of the Papacy, quotes those and others: that any cardinal who did not already possess an income of 6000 ducats would be given a subsidy of 200 ducats per month; that no cardinal would be appointed a Legate against his will; that all benefices connected with the Lateran Basilica and the Vatican Basilica would be conferred on Romans only. The list went on. No pope ever felt obliged to carry out all or any of these Capitulations. Among the conclavists was
Giacomo di Brescia, the private physician required by Cardinal Medici; Giacomo, despite his plea, was not permitted to leave early once his services were no longer required.
Balloting The first Scrutiny took place on March 10 after a ceremonial reading of Julius II's bull against
simony. The voting itself took place in the chapel of S. Niccolo da Bari, which was replaced by the Cappella Paolina in the reign of
Pope Paul III. As the ranking
cardinal-deacon,
prior Diaconum, Medici himself was charged with the counting of the ballots. Seventeen votes were required for a canonical election. Cardinal Serra received thirteen votes on the first ballot, Grosso della Rovere 8, Accolti 7, Antonio del Monte 7, Bakócz 8, Fieschi 7, Finale 5, Soderini 4, Robert Guibé 3, Adriano de Castello 3, Achille de Grassis 3, Farnese 3, Grimani 2, Bainbridge 2, Vigerio 1, Remolino 1, and Medici 1. Medici himself—who voted for Soderini, Antonio del Monte, and Pietro Accolti—received the vote of
Matthäus Schiner. Riario received not a single vote—so much for the designation
papabile. Although Pirie subscribes this outcome to chance (see below), Roscoe argues that Alborense had the support of the older cardinals, while the younger, and particularly the royal and noble cardinals supported Medici.
Reconsideration of positions Riario's position, without a single vote in his favor, must have caused him to reconsider his position. He was not
papabile. He therefore had to make some sort of accommodation with his enemy Medici. That night, in the main hall of the Conclave (the Sala Ducale?), the Cardinals and Conclavists observed Cardinal Medici and Cardinal
Raffaele Riario in close conversation for more than an hour, although no other observer was able to make out the subject. Between then and the time for the vote next morning, a rumor spread among the cardinals as to the outcome of the conversation, and every other cardinal flocked to Medici's cell to congratulate him. Trollope claims that every cardinal did such because "it is ill voting against a man to-day who is to be the despotic master of your fate and fortunes on the morrow". Actually, the success of Medici was due to the unity of the 'Younger Cardinals' behind their chosen candidate, as much as to Medici's mildness and generosity toward friend and enemy, as Pio de Carpi explained to the Emperor Maximilian. ==Election==