1243 papal election
election of Pope Innocent IV
The 1243 papal election (16 May – 25 June) elected Cardinal Sinibaldo Fieschi of Genoa to succeed Pope Celestine IV. The conclave began after the Holy See had been vacant for 18 months and six days, therefore ca. May 16, 1243. There were nine cardinals present. Six votes were needed, therefore, for a canonical election. It took some five weeks for the cardinals to agree on an acceptable candidate. Fieschi took the name Innocent IV.
Election of 1241
The election which took place around the death of Pope Gregory IX on August 22, 1241, was a particularly stressful one. There were military operations, both inside and outside the City of Rome, towns and properties were destroyed, Guelphs and Ghibellines warred against each other, and two of the cardinals were captured in battle and were held prisoner by the Emperor Frederick II. When the electoral meeting began, only ten of the twelve cardinals participated. The cardinals were tightly confined, on orders of the Senator of Rome, Matteo Rosso Orsini, and during that conclave one cardinal died. After seven weeks of deadlocked negotiations in the summer heat of Rome, the cardinals finally managed to produce the required two-thirds majority on October 25 for Cardinal Goffredo Castiglione, who chose the name Celestine IV. Pope Celestine was never crowned. It is also said that he was never consecrated, which is pointless, since he was already a bishop, and that he never issued a bull, which is contested.
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