The Conclave: A Sometimes Secret and Occasionally Bloody History of Papal Elections Read Online Free PDF Page A
Author: Michael Walsh
episcopal church of Rome, the Lateran basilica, and Ursinus and two of his deacons were expelled from Rome by the civil authorities. Seven priests from among Ursinus’s supporters were arrested and imprisoned.
They did not stay long in detention. As soon as they were released they, and other followers of Ursinus, seized control of the basilica built by Liberius – which was probably near, if not actually on the site of, the present church of Santa Maria Maggiore. Again fighting broke out as Damasus’s men battled for control of the Liberian basilica. They won – but at the cost, says the pagan histor- ian Ammianus Marcellinus, of 137 dead. Never before, or indeed ever since, had there been quite so much death and destruction surrounding the election of a pope, and it was not quite over.
These riots took place at the end of September and the begin- ning of October 366. A year later Ursinus was allowed back into Rome, but violence again broke out. The would-be pope was hustled away. His supporters, however, managed to capture the supposed tomb of St. Agnes, which lay on the via Nomentana. Once more Damasus’s men went into action. Once again many died. But this time the imperial authorities lost patience. They banned fractious meetings within an area bounded by the twentieth milestone on the roads out of the city, and Damasus was left in charge of the see of Rome.
Though he proved to be a very e ff ective pope, his troubles were not yet over. Ursinus and his followers went north and appear to have allied themselves with the Arian heretics in Milan. When a convert Jew called Isaac took Damasus to court in 374 (the charges against the pope are unclear, though he may have accused him of adultery), Ursinus took advantage of Damasus’s discomforture to agitate for the removal of the ban against him coming to Rome.
The End of Empire 19
Damasus was cleared of the charges, Ursinus’s followers were dispersed, and he himself was exiled to Cologne. Nevertheless he eventually made his way back to Northern Italy and in 381 attempted to intervene in the Council of Aquileia which met to discuss, and condemn, Arianism. The bishops attending the Council complained to the emperor that Ursinus was interfering.
At the death of Damasus on 11 December 384 Ursinus re- emerged, putting himself forward yet again as a candidate for the bishopric of Rome. However, Siricius, who had been a deacon under Damasus, was unanimously elected as pope – as a letter from a relieved emperor to the Prefect of Rome reveals.
With the exception of the election of Damasus, there were no complications in the election to the papacy for a century after Constantine. Roman priest or deacon followed Roman priest or deacon. Damasus himself had been the son of a prominent Roman clergyman; Innocent I, elected in December 401, was even said to be the son of his predecessor, Anastasius I, who was elected in November 399, though the sonship was probably spiritual. Pope Innocent’s father’s name is also given as Innocent.
The pattern of the fourth century was, for the most part, repeated in the fifth, except for the pontificate of Zosimus. Zosimus was elected in March 417, on the death of Innocent I. He was not a Roman but a Greek, and perhaps of Jewish descent – his father was called Abraham. He ruled the church in Rome for less than two years, dying at Christmas 418, but his imperious manner won him few friends. The clergy of Rome complained about him to the imperial court at Ravenna, and though Zosimus appears to have won his case against his critics, his last months were filled with intrigue. A plot was hatched to elect a successor as soon as he was dead.
His death occurred on 26 December. The following day the priest Eulalius (possibly, like Zosimus, a Greek) barricaded himself inside the Lateran basilica with his supporters and proceeded to an election. That was a Friday, and the consecration of a Bishop of
20 The Conclave
Rome traditionally took place
They did not stay long in detention. As soon as they were released they, and other followers of Ursinus, seized control of the basilica built by Liberius – which was probably near, if not actually on the site of, the present church of Santa Maria Maggiore. Again fighting broke out as Damasus’s men battled for control of the Liberian basilica. They won – but at the cost, says the pagan histor- ian Ammianus Marcellinus, of 137 dead. Never before, or indeed ever since, had there been quite so much death and destruction surrounding the election of a pope, and it was not quite over.
These riots took place at the end of September and the begin- ning of October 366. A year later Ursinus was allowed back into Rome, but violence again broke out. The would-be pope was hustled away. His supporters, however, managed to capture the supposed tomb of St. Agnes, which lay on the via Nomentana. Once more Damasus’s men went into action. Once again many died. But this time the imperial authorities lost patience. They banned fractious meetings within an area bounded by the twentieth milestone on the roads out of the city, and Damasus was left in charge of the see of Rome.
Though he proved to be a very e ff ective pope, his troubles were not yet over. Ursinus and his followers went north and appear to have allied themselves with the Arian heretics in Milan. When a convert Jew called Isaac took Damasus to court in 374 (the charges against the pope are unclear, though he may have accused him of adultery), Ursinus took advantage of Damasus’s discomforture to agitate for the removal of the ban against him coming to Rome.
The End of Empire 19
Damasus was cleared of the charges, Ursinus’s followers were dispersed, and he himself was exiled to Cologne. Nevertheless he eventually made his way back to Northern Italy and in 381 attempted to intervene in the Council of Aquileia which met to discuss, and condemn, Arianism. The bishops attending the Council complained to the emperor that Ursinus was interfering.
At the death of Damasus on 11 December 384 Ursinus re- emerged, putting himself forward yet again as a candidate for the bishopric of Rome. However, Siricius, who had been a deacon under Damasus, was unanimously elected as pope – as a letter from a relieved emperor to the Prefect of Rome reveals.
With the exception of the election of Damasus, there were no complications in the election to the papacy for a century after Constantine. Roman priest or deacon followed Roman priest or deacon. Damasus himself had been the son of a prominent Roman clergyman; Innocent I, elected in December 401, was even said to be the son of his predecessor, Anastasius I, who was elected in November 399, though the sonship was probably spiritual. Pope Innocent’s father’s name is also given as Innocent.
The pattern of the fourth century was, for the most part, repeated in the fifth, except for the pontificate of Zosimus. Zosimus was elected in March 417, on the death of Innocent I. He was not a Roman but a Greek, and perhaps of Jewish descent – his father was called Abraham. He ruled the church in Rome for less than two years, dying at Christmas 418, but his imperious manner won him few friends. The clergy of Rome complained about him to the imperial court at Ravenna, and though Zosimus appears to have won his case against his critics, his last months were filled with intrigue. A plot was hatched to elect a successor as soon as he was dead.
His death occurred on 26 December. The following day the priest Eulalius (possibly, like Zosimus, a Greek) barricaded himself inside the Lateran basilica with his supporters and proceeded to an election. That was a Friday, and the consecration of a Bishop of
20 The Conclave
Rome traditionally took place
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