| Papal election 1277 | |
|---|---|
| Dates and location | |
| 30 May – 25 November 1277 Palazzo dei Papi di Viterbo | |
| Key officials | |
| Dean | Bertrand de Saint-Martin |
| Camerlengo | Guillaume de Bray |
| Protopriest | Anchero Pantaleone |
| Protodeacon | Giovanni Gaetano Orsini |
| Elected pope | |
| Giovanni Gaetano Orsini Name taken: Nicholas III | |
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The 1277 papal election (May 30 – November 25), convened in Viterbo after the death of Pope John XXI, was the smallest papal election since the expansion of suffrage to cardinal-priests and cardinal-deacons, with only seven cardinal electors (following the deaths of three popes who had not created cardinals).[1] Because John XXI had revoked Ubi periculum, the papal bull of Pope Gregory X establishing the papal conclave, with his own bull Licet felicis recordationis, the cardinal electors were able to take their time. After six months of deliberation, the cardinals eventually elected their most senior member Giovanni Gaetano Orsini as Pope Nicholas III. From the end of the election until Nicholas III's first consistory on March 12, 1278, the number of living cardinals—seven—was the lowest in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.[1]
- ^ a b Miranda, Salvator. 1998. "Papal elections and conclaves of the 13th Century (1216–1294)." But see correction offered by John Adams Sede Vacante 1277; accessed March 13, 2010; concerning Bertrand de Saint-Martin