Papal election, 1227

Papal election of March 19, 1227 – papal election convoked after the death of Pope Honorius III on March 18, 1227 at Rome.

Contents

• List of participants
• Absentee cardinal
• References

The cardinals present at Rome assembled in Septizodium on the next day after the death of Honorius III and decided to elect the new Pope by compromissum, it means not by the whole Sacred College of Cardinals but by the committee of few of them, empowered by the rest to appoint the new Pontiff. The same procedure had been already used in the previous election. The committee numbered three cardinals, among whom were cardinal-bishops Ugolino di Segni of Ostia and Konrad von Urach of Porto (the name of the third one is not registered). Initially the committee elected its member Konrad von Urach with two votes out three, but he refused the tiara. Hereupon the rest of cardinals unanimously elected Ugolino di Segni (another committee member) on March 19, 1227. He reluctantly accepted the high honour, taking the name of Gregory IX.

The new Pope received the pallium in the Vatican Basilica on March 21, 1227, and on the same day was enthroned in the Lateran Basilica. On April 11, 1227, his relative Ottaviano Conti di Segni, archdeacon of the Sacred College, solemnly crowned him in the Basilica di S. Maria in Maggiore.