The Papal conclave of 1534 (October 11 – October 13) was convened after the death of Pope Clement VII, and elected as his successor cardinal Alessandro Farnese, who became Pope Paul III.
Pope Clement VII died on September 25, 1534. At the time of his death, there were forty six Cardinals, but only thirty five of them participated in the election of his successor:
Alessandro Farnese (created Cardinal on September 20, 1493) – Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia e Velletri; commendatario of S. Eustachio; Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals; Bishop of Parma and Bishop of Saint-Pons-de-Thomières; Archpriest of the patriarchal Lateran Basilica
Giovanni Piccolomini (July 1, 1517) – Cardinal-Bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina; Sub-dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals
Giovanni Domenico de Cupis (July 1, 1517) – Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina; commendatario of S. Lorenzo in Lucina; Bishop of Nardò; Administrator of Trani, Macerata e Recanati, Adria and Montepeloso
Bonifacio Ferrero (July 1, 1517) – Cardinal-Bishop of Palestrina
Lorenzo Campeggio (July 1, 1517) – Cardinal-Bishop of Albano; Administrator of Salisbury, Porenza and Crete; Cardinal-protector of England
Francesco Cornaro (December 20, 1527) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Ciriaco alla Terme; Archpriest of the Sacred College of Cardinals; Archpriest of the patriarchal Vatican Basilica
Matthew Lang von Wellenberg (March 10, 1511) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Angelo in Pescheria; Archbishop of Salzburg; Bishop of Cartagena
Louis de Bourbon de Vendôme (July 1, 1517) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Sabina; Bishop of Laon; Administrator of Le Mans
Benedetto Accolti the Younger (May 3, 1527) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Eusebio; Archbishop of Ravenna; Administrator of Cremona, Policastro and Bovino; Cardinal-protector of Spain
Agostino Spinola (May 3, 1527) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Apollinare; Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church; Administrator of Savona
Marino Grimani (May 3, 1527) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Marcello; Administrator of Ceneda, Concordia and Città di Castello
Antonio Sanseverino, O.S.Io.Hieros. (November 21, 1527) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Maria in Trastevere; Archbishop of Taranto; Cardinal-protector of the Order of Capuchins
Gianvincenzo Carafa (November 21, 1527) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Pudenziana; Administrator of Anglona
Andrea Matteo Palmieri (November 21, 1527) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Clemente; Administrator of Lucera; Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals
Francisco Quiñones (December 7, 1527) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Croce in Gerusalemme; Governor of Veroli and Campagna
Ippolito de' Medici (January 10, 1529) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Lorenzo in Damaso; Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church; Archbishop of Avignon; Administrator of Monreale and Lecce; Legate in Marche
François de Tournon (March 9, 1530) – Cardinal-Priest of SS. Marcellino e Pietro; Archbishop of Bourges
Bernhard von Cles (March 9, 1530) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Stefano al Monte Celio; Bishop of Trent; president of the Imperial Secret Council
Antonio Pucci (September 22, 1531) – Cardinal-Priest of SS. IV Coronati; Grand penitentiary; Bishop of Pistoia and Vannes; Cardinal-protector of Poland and Portugal
Esteban Gabriel Merino (February 21, 1533) – Cardinal-Priest of SS. Giovanni e Paolo; Patriarch of the West Indies; Bishop of Jaén
Jean Le Veneur (November 7, 1533) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Bartolomeo all’Isola; Bishop of Lisieux
Philippe de la Chambre, O.S.B. (November 7, 1533) – Cardinal-Priest of SS. Martino ai Monti
Innocenzo Cibo (September 23, 1513) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Maria in Domnica; Protodeacon of Sacred College of Cardinals; Archbishop of Genoa; Administrator of Turin; Legate in Bologna
Paolo Emilio Cesi (July 1, 1517) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Eustachio; Administrator of Orte e Civita Castellana; Archpriest of the patriarchal Liberian Basilica; Prefect of the Apostolic Signature; Cardinal-protector of the Duchy of Savoy
Alessandro Cesarini (July 1, 1517) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Maria in Via Lata; Administrator of Pampeluna, Gerace and Otranto
Giovanni Salviati (July 1, 1517) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Cosma e Damiano; Administrator of Santa Severina, Ferrara, Teano and Bitetto
Nicolò Ridolfi (July 1, 1517) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Maria in Cosmedin; Administrator of Vicenza, Imola and Salerno
Agostino Trivulzio (July 1, 1517) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Adriano; Administrator of Toulon and Bayeux; Legate in Marittima e Capmagna
Francesco Pisani (July 1, 1517) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Marco; commendatario of S. Maria in Portico and S. Agata in Suburba; Bishop of Padua; Administrator of Treviso and Cittànova
Jean de Lorraine (May 28, 1518) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Onofrio; Bishop of Metz; Administrator of Narbonne, Reims and Verdun
Ercole Gonzaga (May 3, 1527) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Maria Nuova; Bishop of Mantua; Governor of Tivoli; Cardinal-protector of Spain
Girolamo Grimaldi (November 21, 1527) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro; Administrator of Bari, Brugnato and Venafro
Girolamo Doria (January, 1529) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Tommaso in Parione; Administrator of Noli and Tarragona
Niccolò Gaddi (May 3, 1527) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Teodoro; Bishop of Fermo; Administrator of Cosenza and Sarlat; Cardinal-protector of France
Odet de Coligny de Châtillon (November 7, 1533) – Cardinal-Deacon of SS. Sergio e Bacco; Administrator of Toulouse
Twenty electors were created by Clement VII and thirteen of Leo X. Cardinal Dean Farnese was created by Alexander VI, while Cardinal Lang von Wellenberg by Julius II.
Eleven Cardinals did not participate in this conclave:
François Guillaume de Castelnau-Clermont-Lodève (November 29, 1503) – Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati, Archbishop of Auch; Bishop of Agde; Legate in Avignon
Albert of Mainz (March 24, 1518) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Pietro in Vincoli; Archbishop of Mainz; Archbishop of Magdeburg; Administrator of Halberstadt
Eberhard von der Mark (August 9, 1520) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Crisogono; Bishop of Liège; Administrator of Valencia
Antoine du Prat (November 21, 1527) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Anastasia; Archbishop of Sens; Administrator of Albi and Meaux; Chancellor of the Kingdom of France
Louis de Gorrevod (March 9, 1530) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Cesareo in Palatio; Bishop of Bourg-en-Bresse; Papal Legate in the Duchy of Savoy
García de Loaysa, O.P. (March 9, 1530) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Anastasia; Bishop of Sigüenza; president of Consejo Real y Supremo de las Indias
Íñigo López de Mendoza y Zúñiga (March 9, 1530) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Nicola in Carcere Tulliano; Bishop of Burgos
Alonso Manrique de Lara (February 22, 1531) – Cardinal-Priest of SS. XII Apostoli; Archbishop of Seville; Grand Inquisitor of Spain
Juan Pardo de Tavera (February 22, 1531) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Giovanni a Porta Latina; Archbishop of Toledo; president of the Royal Council of Spain
Claude de Longwy de Givry (November 7, 1533) – Cardinal-Priest of S. Agnese in Agone; Administrator of Poitiers and Langres
Alfonso de Portugal (July 1, 1517) – Cardinal-Deacon of S. Lucia in Septisolio; Archbishop of Lisbon and Évora
Seven absentees were creatures of Clement VII, three of Leo X and one of Julius II.
College of Cardinals was divided into three factions:
Italian party – it grouped ten Italian Cardinals (Pucci, Salviati, Ridolfi, Medici, Cibo, Spinola, Grimaldi, Cupis, Cesi and Doria). Their leader was Vice-Chancellor Ippolito de' Medici, Cardinal-nephew of Clement VII.
French party – it included six French Cardinals and five Italians (Trivulzio, Sanseverino, Pisani, Gaddi and Palmieri). The leaders of this party were de Lorraine and Tournon.
Imperial faction – included seven Italians (Piccolomini, Cesarini, Vincenzo Carafa, Ercole Gonzaga, Campeggio, Grimani and Accolti) as well as two Spanish and two German Cardinals.
Cardinals Farnese, Ferreri and Cornaro were considered neutral.
Candidates to the papacy
Although several Cardinals were considered papabili, it was generally thought that Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, dean of the Sacred College, has the best prospects for the election. He had already official support of the king Francis I of France and of Cardinal Medici, leader of Italian party, who realized this way the will of his uncle Clement VII, but, as neutral, he was also acceptable for the Imperial faction. Emperor Charles V declared this time a total disinterest in the result of the papal election, because the last two Popes, Clement VII and Adrian VI, whom he had helped to obtain the tiara, failed his hopes. The great advantage of Cardinal Dean was his relatively advanced age (66) and poor health. It indicated that his pontificate would be very short, so even those cardinals, who themselves had papal ambitions (f.e. Trivulzio), inclined to vote for him, hoping for the next conclave in the near future.
Conclave began on October 11, but the first electoral assembly took place on the next day. Cardinal de Lorraine in the name of king of France officially proposed the candidature of Farnese, and this initiative immediately obtained the support of Trivulzio, leader of pro-French Italians, and of Medici, leader of the Italian party. The consent of Imperialists was also quickly achieved, and in the evening it was clear that Alessandro Farnese would be elected unanimously. On October 13 in the morning a formal scrutiny took place, but it was a mere formality: Farnese received all votes except of his own. He accepted his election and took the name of Paul III. On November 3 he was solemnly crowned by Protodeacon Innocenzo Cibo.
