Editing Pope Nicholas III (section)

==Cardinalate==

Giovanni Gaetano Orsini was one of a dozen men created a [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinal]] by [[Pope Innocent IV]] (Sinibaldo Fieschi) in his first [[Papal consistory|Consistory]] for the creation of cardinals, on Saturday, May 28, 1244, and was assigned the [[Deacon]]ry of [[San Nicola in Carcere]].<ref>Conrad Eubel, ''Hierarchia catholica medii aevi'' I, editio altera (Monasterii 1913), p. 7. A. Demski, ''Papst Nikolaus III. Eine Monographie'' (Münster 1903), p. 8 and n. 2.</ref> He was a [[Canon (priest)|Canon]] and [[Prebendary]] of York,<ref>Potthast, no. 21268.</ref> and also of Soissons and Laon.<ref>Demski, p. 9 n. 2.</ref> In the summer of 1244, he was one of five cardinals who fled to [[Genoa]] with Pope Innocent IV.<ref>August Potthast, ''Regesta Pontificum Romanorum'' II (Berlin 1875), 11459–11460 (September 27–28, 1244); A. Demski, ''Papst Nikolaus III. Eine Monographie'' (Münster 1903), p. 9.</ref> He was at [[Lyons]],<ref>Potthast, no. 11518 (July 23, 1145).</ref> and was present in June and July for the [[First Council of Lyon|Ecumenical Council of Lyons]].<ref>Potthast, no. 11729 (July 15), no. 11749 (July 23), and no. 11750 (July 24).</ref> Cardinal Orsini and the [[Curia]] did not return to Italy until May 1251&mdash;after the death of Emperor [[Frederick II Hohenstaufen]]. After spending the summer in [[Genoa]], [[Milan]] and [[Brescia]], they finally reached [[Perugia]] in November 1251, where the Papal Court resided continuously until April 1253.<ref>A. Parracivini Bagliani, "La mobilità della curia romana nel secolo XIII. Reflessi locali", in ''Società e istituzioni dell' Italia communale: l' esempio di Perugia (Secoli XII–XIV)'' (Perugia 1988) 155–278.</ref>

The Curia returned to Rome in mid-October, where Pope and Curia resided continually until the end of April, 1254. In May they went on pilgrimage to [[Assisi]], then visited [[Anagni]], where the Court stayed from June until the second week in October, when they went off in pursuit of [[Manfred, King of Sicily|Manfred]], [[Hohenstaufen]] regent of the Kingdom of Sicily. At the beginning of December, the [[Battle of Foggia]] took place, and the papal army was routed. Innocent IV died in [[Naples]], where he had taken refuge, on 7 December 1254, and the meeting to elect his successor was therefore held in Naples in the palace in which he had died. Voting began on Friday, 11 December, with ten of the twelve cardinals present, but no candidate received the required votes. But on Saturday, 12 December, Cardinal [[Rinaldo dei Conti di Segni]], the nephew of [[Pope Gregory IX]], who had a reputation of a conciliator, was elected pope. He chose to be called [[Pope Alexander IV|Alexander IV]] and was crowned on Sunday, December 20, 1254, in the [[Cathedral of Naples]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV1254.html |title=Sede Vacante and Election, December 1254|first=Dr. J. P. |last=Adams}}</ref> As for Cardinal Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, in his first eleven and a half years as a cardinal, he had only spent six months in the city of Rome. A peripatetic Curia had its disadvantages.

Pope Alexander IV and the Curia continued to live in Naples, until the first week of June 1255 when they returned to Anagni, and it was not until mid-November that the Pope was back in Rome. There the Curia stayed until the end of May, 1256, when it was off to Anagni for the summer, until the beginning of December. The problem was that Rome was in the hands of Senator [[Brancaleone degli Andalo]], Count of [[Casalecchio]], since 1252, and the [[Ghibbelines]] and Alexander was repeatedly driven out by unruly mobs.<ref>Gregorovius ''History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages'' V.1, 280–299; 310–311; 317–324, Karl Hampe, ''Urban IV und Manfred (1261–1264)'' (Heidelberg: Carl Winter 1905), p. 13. Giuseppe Rovere, ''Brancaleone degli Andaló senatore di Roma: contributo alla storia del comune di Roma nel Medio Evo'' (Udine 1895). Girolamo Giuliani, ''Il comune di Roma sotto il senatorato di Brancaleone degli Andalò (1252–1258)'' (Roma 1957).</ref> Rome was home again until the end of May, 1257, until the summer vacation at [[Viterbo]] began. The vacation lasted until the end of October, 1258, when the Court visited Anagni again; they stayed until the beginning of November, 1260. The Pope then was able to reside at the [[Lateran]] until the first week of May, 1261, when the Court was off to Viterbo again. Alexander IV died at Viterbo on 25 May 1261. Nineteen months were spent in Rome, out of a total of seventy-eight. Alexander had created no new cardinals, and so the Electoral meeting following his death had only eight participants. The Election was a long-drawn-out one, lasting from 25 May to 29 August 1261. Unable to agree on one of themselves, the Cardinals chose [[Jacques Pantaléon]], the [[Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem]], who, since 1255, was [[Papal Legate]] with the Crusade in the Holy Land. He became [[Pope Urban IV]], and was crowned at Viterbo on 4 September 1261.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV1261.html |title=Sede Vacante and Election, May—August, 1261|first=Dr. J. P.|last= Adams}}</ref>

Cardinal Orsini was named [[General Inquisitor]] by Urban IV on November 2, 1262,<ref>Fr. Joannis Hyacinthi Sbarale,''Bullarium Franciscanum'' II, p. 453; Potthast, no. 18422.</ref> the first known [[Grand Inquisitor]].<ref>J. B. Sägmüller, ''Thätigkeit und Stellung der Kardinale bis Papst Bonifaz VIII''. (Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder 1896) p. 111.</ref>

Cardinal Orsini attended the first [[Papal election, 1268–71|Conclave of 1268–1271]], and was one of the cardinals who signed the letter of complaint against the authorities and people of Viterbo for their treatment of the cardinals and the [[Curia]]. He was one of the six cardinals who were chosen by the rest of the [[Sacred College]] on September 1, 1271, to select a compromise candidate for election as pope. He was therefore instrumental in bringing to the papal throne the Archdeacon of [[Liège]], [[Teobaldo Visconti]], who was not a cardinal, and who was not even in Italy, but in the Holy Land on crusade.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV1268.html|title= Sede Vacante and Conclave of November, 1268—1 September, 1271|first=Dr. J. P.|last= Adams}}</ref> He traveled with the Curia to France in 1273, and was present at the Ecumenical Council of Lyons. He was not one of the cardinals in the suite of Pope Gregory X when he left Lyons in 1275 to return to Rome, nor was he at [[Arezzo]] where the Pope died on 10 January 1276, before reaching the city. He did not attend the [[Papal conclave, January 1276|first conclave]] which began on 20 January 1276, and concluded the next day with the election of Peter of Tarantaise, who became Pope [[Innocent V]].<ref>He was consecrated bishop and crowned pope at the Vatican Basilica on 22 February</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV1276.html |title=The Conclave of 20–21 January, 1276|first=Dr. J. P.|last= Adams}}</ref> Pope Innocent V (Peter of Tarantaise) died in Rome at the Lateran, on 22 June 22, 1276.

The second [[Papal conclave, July 1276|Conclave of 1276]] began, therefore, according to the rules set down by Pope Gregory X, on July 2. Thirteen cardinals were present, including Giovanni Gaetano Orsini. King [[Charles I of Sicily]] acted as the Governor of the Conclave, in which position he is said to have been rigorous, but understandably partisan in favor of the French faction. Cardinal [[Ottobuono Fieschi]] of Genoa was elected on July 11 and chose the name Pope [[Adrian V]].<ref>Gregorovius, pp. 474–475. Demski, pp. 34–37. Sternfeld, pp. 251–263.</ref> He lived only thirty-nine days longer, dying at Viterbo, where he had gone to meet King Rudolf and avoid the summer heat of Rome.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV1276b.html|title= Sede Vacante and Conclave, June–July, 1276 |first=Dr. J. P. |last=Adams}}</ref> According to Bernardus Guidonis, he was never ordained priest, consecrated bishop or crowned pope (''nondum promotus in sacerdotem nec coronatus nec consecratus'').<ref>"Life of [[Pope Adrian V|Adrian V]]", in Ludovico Muratori, ''Rerum Italicarum Scriptores'' III, 605.</ref> His one memorable act was to suspend the Constitution of Gregory X "[[Ubi periculum]]" which regulated conclaves. He intended, on the advice of his cardinals, to improve Gregory's regulations.  Cardinal Orsini was present at the discussion and decision. Shortly after his accession, moreover, Pope Adrian V had wanted King Charles I of Sicily to come to Viterbo to carry out the usual [[fealty]], and sent the Suburbicarian [[Bishop of Sabina]] (Bertrand de Saint Martin); Cardinal Giovanni (Orsini), Cardinal Deacon of [[San Nicola in Carcere|St. Nicola in Carcere Tulliano]]; and Cardinal Giacomo (Savelli), Cardinal Deacon of [[Santa Maria in Cosmedin]], to effect his wishes. Charles arrived in Viterbo from Rome on July 24. Unfortunately, Pope Adrian died, on August 18, leaving his negotiations with King Charles unfinished.<ref>F. Cristofori, ''Le tombe dei pape in Viterbo'' (Siena 1887), p. 175.</ref>

The third [[Papal election, September 1276|Conclave of 1276]] began at the beginning of September in Viterbo, where Adrian V had died. The opening ceremonies, which should have taken place on August 29, had to be delayed for several days because of the riotous behavior of the people of Viterbo. Since Pope Adrian had created no new cardinals, the number of cardinals was twelve; Cardinal [[Simon de Brion]] was still in France, serving as Papal Legate. Once the tumults had been put down, however, the cardinals did their business quickly.  On September 8, 1276, the senior Cardinal-Bishop, Peter Julian of Lisbon, was elected on the first ballot.  He chose to be called [[John XXI]], and on September 20 he was crowned at the [[Cathedral of San Lorenzo]] in Viterbo by Cardinal Giovanni Caetano Orsini.  Since John XXI was already a bishop, there was no ordination or consecration necessary.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV1276c.html |title=Sede Vacante and Conclave of August–September, 1276|first=Dr. J. P. |last=Adams}}</ref> He was the fourth pope of 1276. On 18 October, Cardinal Giovanni Gaetano Orsini was appointed Archpriest of St. Peter's, in place of Cardinal Riccardo Annibaldi, who had recently died, and who may have been too ill to participate in the Conclave or the Coronation.<ref>Potthast, no. 21171.</ref>

Pope Adrian V's suspension of the regulations of Gregory X, however imperfect they may have been, was under attack.  Some critics even claimed that the cardinals who vouched for the truth of the suspension, including Cardinal Peter Julian, were liars, or that the revocation was un[[canon law (Catholic Church)|canonical]]. These were probably the same troublemakers in the Curia who had instigated the disturbances that delayed the Conclave.<ref>Potthast, no. 21152.</ref> John XXI immediately struck back, on 30 September 1276, making it perfectly clear that the suspension had taken place and that it was valid.<ref>A. Theiner (ed.), ''Caesaris Baronii Annales Ecclesiastici'' Tomus 22 (Bar-le-Duc 1870), under the year 1276, §29, p. 376.</ref>  Ptolemy of Lucca states that the issue of this bull of revocation by John XXI was made at the suggestion of Cardinal Giovanni Caetano Orsini.<ref>Demski, 33 n, 3.</ref>  The negotiations which Cardinal Giovanni Caetano had been engaged in with King Charles I were brought to a completion, and Charles swore his oath of fealty to Pope John on 7 October 1276.<ref>Cristofori, 343–348.</ref>  It appeared that his reign was going to be a successful one, when one day in mid-May 1277, while the Pope was in a new room which he had just had built in the Episcopal Palace in Viterbo,  suddenly the roof caved in. There was nothing suspicious about this, since the palace had been under construction since 1268 and was still being worked on.  The Pope was severely injured from the falling stones and timber. He lingered in pain for several days (three, or six), and died on 20 May 1277, exactly eight months after his coronation.<ref>Sources are cited by Potthast, at p. 1718.</ref>  He had named no cardinals.

Yet another [[Papal election, 1277|Conclave]] took place in Viterbo, therefore, with seven cardinals in attendance.  Cardinal Simon de Brion was still in France as papal legate. But this was not an easy conclave.  Three of the electors belonged to the Angevin faction, and three opposed it.  The only surviving Cardinal-Bishop, the Benedictine Bertrand de Saint Martin, wavered back and forth, providing little leadership.  The Conclave therefore went on for more than five and a half months.  Finally, on the Feast of S. Catherine, 25 November 1277, Cardinal Giovanni Gaetano Orsini was elected.<ref>Demski, pp. 35–37.  Sternfeld, pp. 288–300.</ref>  He chose the name Nicholas III.  The new pope set out immediately for Rome.  He was ordained a priest on December 18, consecrated a bishop on December 19, and crowned on the Feast of S. Stephen, 26 December.  His election portended serious difficulties, for he was not a candidate of King Charles of Sicily.  Quite the contrary, he believed that King Charles had entirely too much influence in church affairs and in the operation of the Papal States.<ref>F. Gregorovius, ''History of Rome in the Middle Ages'', Volume V.2 second edition, revised (London: George Bell, 1906) pp. 475–481.</ref>