1774–1775 conclave
election of Pope Pius VI
The 1774–75 papal conclave (5 October – 15 February) was convoked after the death of Pope Clement XIV on 22 September 1774 and ended with the election of Cardinal Giovanni Braschi, who took the name Pius VI.
Death of Pope Clement XIV
Pope Clement XIV died suddenly on September 22, 1774, at the age of 68. His pontificate had been dominated by the problem of the Society of Jesus. The various courts under the House of Bourbon and the Kingdom of Portugal (under the House of Braganza) urged the general suppression of the order. The pope tried to defend Jesuits and to temporize, but finally had to capitulate, and in 1773 he issued the Brief Dominus ac Redemptor which suppressed the Society of Jesus. Father Lorenzo Ricci, general of the order, had been imprisoned in the Castel Sant'Angelo. However, the Jesuits still had many adherents in the Roman Curia and in the Sacred College of Cardinals. The attitude toward Jesuits remained the main criterion of the appreciation of the candidates to the papal succession in the subsequent conclave.
The death of a pope frequently presented an opportunity for the citizens of Rome to vent their anti-clerical feelings, often in the context of satires, sometimes salacious, directed at either the late pope or the cardinals. In 1774, the Governor of Rome had occasion to ban a drama entitled the Conclave for offending the "dignity, decorum, and venerable representation of the Sacred College, as well as, other persons as subjects".
Divisions among the cardinals
The College of Cardinals was generally divided into two blocs: curial, pro-Jesuit (zelanti) and political, anti-Jesuit.
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