Papal conclave
September 1590
Dates and location
7–15 September 1590[1]
Apostolic Palace, Papal States
Key officials
DeanGiovanni Antonio Serbelloni
Sub-deanAlfonso Gesualdo
CamerlengoEnrico Caetani
ProtopriestMark Sittich von Hohenems Altemps
ProtodeaconAndreas von Österreich
Elected pope
Giovanni Battista Castagna
Name taken: Urban VII
← 1585

The September 1590 papal conclave, attended by 54 cardinals, elected Cardinal Giovanni Battista Castagna as Pope Urban VII.[1][2]

The conclave lasted a week, and was heavily swayed by the influence of the twenty-two Spanish cardinals.[3][4][2] Castagna, who had been favored by Sixtus V as a successor and was on the list of candidates whom Philip II of Spain had approved, was a favorite from the beginning,[1][2][5] although a significant opposing faction supported Marco Antonio Colonna.[1][6] Castagna's poor health, which would ultimately kill him after a papacy of only thirteen days, made him a more palatable candidate to cardinals who were outraged at Philip's attempts to sway the election.[2]

Contemporary newspapers reported that a disagreement between Cardinals Ascanio Colonna and Francesco Sforza di Santa Fiora during the conclave nearly became violent.[7]

Diagram of the cardinals' cubicles at the 1590 papal conclave.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Platina (1685). The Lives of the Popes: From the Time of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, to the Reign of Sixtus IV. Christopher Wilkinson. p. 206.
  2. ^ a b c d Pattenden, Miles; Baker-Bates, Piers, eds. (17 February 2016). The Spanish Presence in Sixteenth-Century Italy: Images of Iberia. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781317015000.
  3. ^ Harbaugh, Jim (2003). The Conclave: A Sometimes Secret and Occasionally Bloody History of Papal Elections. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 123.
  4. ^ Jedin, Hubert; Dolan, John Patrick, eds. (1980). History of the Church: Reformation and Counter Reformation. Burns & Oates. p. 508.
  5. ^ Neligan, William H, ed. (1869). The Lives and Times of the Roman Pontifs, from St. Peter to Pius Ix, Volume 1, Issue 2. D. & J. Sadlier. p. 872.
  6. ^ Petrucci, Francesco, ed. (21 September 2013). Papi in Posa: 500 Years of Papal Portraiture. Gangemi Editore. p. 90. ISBN 9788849258769.
  7. ^ Hunt, John M. (11 March 2016). The Vacant See in Early Modern Rome: A Social History of the Papal Interregnum. Brill. p. 226. ISBN 9789004313781.
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