Papal conclave, Autumn 1590

Coat of arms during the vacancy of the Holy See
Dates and location
8 October – 5 December 1590 Apostolic Palace, Papal States
Key officials
Dean	Giovanni Antonio Serbelloni
Sub-Dean	Alfonso Gesualdo
Camerlengo	Enrico Caetani
Protopriest	Mark Sittich von Hohenems Altemps
Protodeacon	Andreas von Österreich
Election
Vetoed	Ippolito Aldobrandini, Vincenzo Lauro, ...
Elected Pope
Niccolò Sfondrati (Name taken: Gregory XIV)
← September 1590 1591 →

Papal Conclave from 8 October – 5 December 1590 was the second conclave of 1590 where Gregory XIV was elected as the successor of Urban VII. The autumn conclave was marked by unprecedented royal interference from Philip II of Spain.

Urban VII was elected as pope on 15 September 1590. On 27 September 1590 he died due to malaria infection after only 12 days of his pontificate before he could be crowned, making him the shortest-reigning pope in history. His death was deeply mourned by the poor from Rome who inherited his wealth.

The conclave after the death of Urban VII was attended by all the cardinals who took part in his election, with the exception of Cardinal Federico Cornaro (died on 4 October) Protodeacon Andreas von Österreich and Camerlengo Enrico Caetani also came to Rome. 54 out of 65 cardinals took part in conclave.:

Twenty-four electors were nominees of Sixtus V, fifteen of Gregory XIII, six of Pius V, eight of Pius IV, and one of Julius III.

Eleven cardinals were absent:

Seven of them were appointed by Gregory XIII and four by Sixtus V.

As during the previous conclave there were three large fractions:

There were two small groups practising nepotism. One was related to Pius IV (Sitticus von Hohenems, Serbelloni, Gesualdo i Avalos d'Aragona) and the latter one to Pius V (Bonelli, Albani). Due to the small size of the groups they almost did not play any major role and the majority of nominees of these Popes become part of the Spanish fraction. The Cardinals who were considered as papabile were: Serbelloni, Marchntonio Colonna, Gallio, Paleotto, Madruzzo, Santori, Facchinetti, Sfondrati, Valier, Lauro, della Rovere.

In the context of this conclave, the Prophecy of the Popes was forged, probably in order to support Cardinal Girolamo Simoncelli's bid for the papacy.

On 6 October, even before the conclave had started, the Spanish ambassador Olivares gave the Cardinals the official recommendations of King Philip II. They contained two lists of names. The first one had seven names: Madruzzo, Santori, Facchinetti, Sfondrati, Paleotti, Gallio and Marcantonio Colonna. The king’s official will was a choice of one of those seven names. The second list contained the names of 30 cardinals, who Philip II put a clear veto on. The subjects from Madrid were banned from voting against the king’s recommendations. Philip II wished to secure his claim to the French throne by gaining power over the The Holy See. Although in the past, secular monarchs had many times and in different ways tried to influence the election of popes, such an explicit interference was unprecedented. It was the beginning of what in the seventeenth century was considered as Jus exclusivae.