Ubi Periculum

Ubi periculum (Latin: Where danger) was a papal bull promulgated by Pope Gregory X during the Second Council of Lyon on 7 July 1274 that established the papal conclave as the method of selection for a pope. The regulations for a conclave drew on the experiences of the Cardinals, who had been subjected to the tactics adopted by the magistrates of Viterbo against the cardinals in the protracted papal election of 1268–1271, which had produced Gregory X.

A pair of political scientists has suggested that the fact that Gregory X was not a cardinal before his election to the Papacy caused him to adopt a policy that de-emphasized the interests of the College of Cardinals. Such an interpretation is unlikely, or at least incomplete. The goal of Ubi periculum was to limit dilatory tactics and distractions within papal elections, and outside intrusions which might impinge upon the freedom of the electors; it was certainly intended to produce faster outcomes, and, by making the rules more explicit and detailed, to reduce the chances of schism and disputed elections. The imposition of monastic-style modes of living inside the Conclave may also have been intended to lift the minds of the electors out of the everyday business of governing the church, and focus their attention on the spiritual importance of their activity.

Ubi periculum appears to have drawn from the election procedures of the Dominican constitution of 1228 as well as the communes of Venice (1229) and Piacenza (1233). This should not cause surprise, since Gregory X's closest collaborator, Cardinal Peter of Tarantaise, Bishop of Ostia, was a Dominican. Cardinal Bonaventura, Bishop of Albano (who died in 1274) was a Franciscan. And Cardinal Bertrand de Saint Martin, Bishop of Sabina (appointed in 1273) was a Benedictine.

Gregory X's Constitution with respect to conclaves legislated a number of important points:

The first election following Ubi periculum observed its rules and took only one day, 20-21 January, 1276. The application of "Ubi periculum", however, was suspended by Pope Adrian V, in consultation with the cardinals, since, on the basis of the Conclave of January, 1276, he wished to make adjustments and improvements in the regulations. But Adrian V died only thirty-nine days after his election, and had no opportunity to carry out his revisions. The elections of 1277, 1280–1281, 1287–1288, and 1292–1294 were long and drawn out, though the suspension of "Ubi periculum" was only one contributing factor. The interference in papal elections by the Kings of Sicily, Charles I and Charles II, and the struggles between a French faction of Cardinals and an Imperial faction, complicated and delayed the selection of a new pope.Pope Celestine V (another non-cardinal and Benedictine monk) reinstituted the law of the conclave.

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