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21 Sept.
S E. 2003.
Lib. d. B. xiii.
f. 87. |
371. Pope Pius III.
The Apostolic See having become vacant, the cardinal
bishops, cardinal presbyters, and cardinal deacons, assembled
in conclave on the 21st September 1503, and after taking
their seats in the usual order, concluded what follows. |
Resolutions of the
Cardinals in conclave.
As the cardinals have to perform higher duties, so they
ought to enjoy greater privileges, than the other servants of
Christ. All the cardinals present in this conclave swear,
therefore, that whoever of them is elected Pope shall, immediately
after his election, bind himself, by oath, strictly to
observe the following clauses.
1. The new Pope shall pay out of the revenues of the Holy
see, 200 gold florins a month to each cardinal who has not a
clear income of 6,000 gold florins a year from his ecclesiastical
benefices, and from the revenues of his cardinal's hat. He
further promises to maintain all the cardinals in the possession
of the benefices they now hold, however contrary to law
it may be.
2. The future Pope shall not lay his hand on the
person or property of any cardinal, or make alterations in
the offices and revenues of any cardinal, without the express
consent of two thirds of all the cardinals. The voting is
to be by ballot. The Pope will not prosecute any cardinal,
or permit any cardinal to be prosecuted, except according to
the advice, and with the assistance, of three cardinals, who
are to be elected separately by each of the three orders of
cardinals as their deputies. No cardinal shall be condemned,
unless convicted by the number of witnesses prescribed by
the constitution of Sylvester. "Prœsul 'non damnetur."
No taxes or burdens, of whatever denomination, shall be laid
on the livings and property of the cardinals. The Pope shall
not accept gifts from them, even if voluntarily offered.
3. Every cardinal is at full liberty to dispose, at his pleasure,
of all monasteries, priories, &c. depending on him. All former
promises, titles, &c. granted by the Apostolic See are null and
void, in so far as they limit the liberty of the cardinals. If
livings become vacant by the death of an officer of the Papal
Court, the Pope is not allowed to nominate a successor to
them, except with the consent of the cardinal to whose
department the vacated office belongs. If a living in the gift
of one cardinal, but held by an officer of another cardinal,
become vacant, the cardinal, in whose gift it is, may dispose
of it at his pleasure.
4. All cardinals present in this election shall enjoy the
privileges contained in this agreement, even if they absent
themselves from Rome with the permission of the Pope.
5. The future Pope shall confirm all privileges and prerogatives
granted by any of his predecessors to the cardinals.
6. The offices of chancellor, penitentiary, and chamberlain
of the Roman See are to be restored to their former state.
Cardinal Julius, Bishop of Ostia and Penitentiary, Raphael
Cardinal of St. George and Chamberlain, and Cardinal Ascanius,
Vice-Chancellor, are henceforth to enjoy all the prerogatives
and revenues which formerly have belonged to their
offices.
7. The cardinals who assist the Pope in the execution
of his sacerdotal duties are not to be censured or punished,
except in cases provided for by the Corpus juris clausum,
and with the consent of two-thirds of all the cardinals.
8. The new Pope will pay all the debts which the Papal
See owes to cardinals, and will leave in their keeping all
the towns, castles, and other places which they hold as security
till he has entirely satisfied them.
9. All Papal briefs, without exception, shall be dispatched in
the Papal Chancellery and nowhere else.
10. In order that the Pope may not be able to send away
from Rome those cardinals who oppose him, no cardinal is
obliged to accept a commission as legate.
11. The Pope shall absolve all cardinals, and every one of
them, from all crimes and offences hitherto committed by them,
"however exorbitant, enormous, and great they may be." This
absolution is to be perfectly valid, even when, according to the
precepts of the Church, the case requires a special confession,
and the absolution is most specially reserved to the
individual cognizance of the Pope. All irregularities committed
by the cardinals in administering the sacraments, &c.
are to be entirely forgiven. The cardinals are to remain in
the undisturbed possession of all the property they may have
acquired, however ill-gotten it may be. The absolution is to
have effect in both the ecclesiastical and secular courts ; and,
in fine, "the cardinals and every one of them shall once more
become as innocent as they were when they came from the
baptismal font." If, however, the cardinals, or any one of
them, prefer to confess their sins, they are at liberty to choose
any suitable person, even from the order of Mendicant Friars,
as their private confessor ; and such a confessor shall have all
the power and prerogatives of the Pope himself, that is to
say, as the Vicar of Christ and Successor of St. Peter, to give
absolution of all and every kind of sin.
12. The new Pope shall not include the name of any cardinal
in the orders and laws which it is usual to publish the
day after his inthronization, unless he bestow some favour
on the cardinal named. Should the Pope, nevertheless, include
the name of any cardinal in such order or law, the chancellor
is bound not to permit such order or law to be
published.
13. The new Pope shall grant no special reservations to
any persons, except in cases in which such reservations are
usual.
14. He shall give to each cardinal a fortified place or castle
in the neighbourhood of Rome. After the death of the cardinal
to whom the place or castle is given, it is to revert to the
Pope.
15. Livings, convents, and other church preferments which
have been renounced by cardinals, are to be returned to them
without delay.
16. The new Pope shall employ all his influence in order
that cardinals and other priests may obtain the revenues
of such livings as are conferred upon them, but which have
hitherto been withheld from them.
17. All church preferments and other offices in the city of
Rome are reserved to Roman citizens only.
18. The cardinals who have business to transact with the
Pope have hitherto been sometimes obliged to wait in the
antechamber together with other persons who are not cardinals.
Henceforth a decent waiting-room shall be kept for the exclusive
use of the cardinals in every palace where the Pope may
reside. The chamberlain is responsible that no person except
the cardinals enter the room.
19. The Pope shall not permit soldiers to walk between
himself and the cardinals in public processions.
20. He shall pay 200 gold florins a month to every cardinal
who, in consequence of his vote at the election, may be deprived
of his revenue by any secular prince.
21. The Pope shall approve all that has been done, during
the vacancy of the Papal See, by the College of Cardinals.
22. All privileges conceded to the cardinals by any Pope
are to be revived, and never hereafter to be revoked.
23. The governors of the seven legations must be cardinals,
and the election of the Pope must be approved by
the majority of the Sacred College. The voting is to be by
ballot. No legate shall be obliged to hold his office longer
than three years, if he does not wish it.
24. The offices of the vice-chancellor, penitentiarius, and
chamberlain are henceforth to be held for three years.
25. The conduct of the consistorial affairs is to be committed
to the cardinals themselves, who are at the same
time entitled to receive the fees.
26. If one of the cardinals die, the oldest cardinals
are at liberty to select the bishopric, the livings, houses,
castles, &c. of the deceased cardinal. This right of option,
however, is restricted to the six first vacancies.
27. Secular princes write oftentimes to cardinals, and
ask them things which are dishonest, and reflect unfavourably
on the honour of the Pope and the cardinals. Any
cardinal whatever receiving such a letter from a secular prince,
must henceforth communicate it to the Sacred College, and
send such an answer as the majority of the cardinals may
decide upon.
28. The castles which Pope Alexander took from the
bishopric of Bologna are to be re-united to it.
29. Pope Alexander VI. inflicted great losses on Cardinal
Julius, Bishop of Ostia, on the Cardinals St. George,
Colonna, &c. The new Pope is to indemnify them. All the
livings in the gift of cardinals which Pope Alexander VI.
sold, are to be returned to the cardinals to whom they
belong. The money paid for them is to be given back to the
buyers.
30. The new Pope is to pay to the cardinal vice-chancellor
28,000 ducats, lent to the Papal treasury, and 10,000
ducats extorted from him by Pope Alexander VI. Moreover,
he shall restore to the said vice-chancellor the town of Nepi
and the borough of Anticuli, together with the furniture
of which he was robbed by the said Pope Alexander.
31. The new Pope shall return to the Cardinal Colonna
all the lands, rents, &c. of which he was deprived by Pope
Alexander VI.
32. He shall return to the same Cardinal Colonna the
dresses, ornaments, and jewels of his kinswoman, which Pope
Alexander VI. appropriated to himself in the house of the
Cardinal of St. Angelo.
33. All members of the family of Colonna, Orsino, and
Savelli, and all their captains and followers, shall be restored
to their former dignities, possessions, and privileges.
34. The lands separated from the church of Rieti shall be
restored to it.
35. The new Pope shall administer good justice to the
States of the Church.
36. The Pope incurs, ipso facto, the punishment of eternal
damnation and malediction if he break any of these clauses.
He cannot absolve himself, or be absolved by any other
person, from such a crime. Any cardinal who obeys an
order of the new Pope which is in contradiction to these
clauses loses thereby all his revenues, and incurs other
punishments.
The signatures of 34 cardinals, and the ratification by
Pope Pius III., follow.
Latin. Copy. pp. 48. |
24 Sept.
S. E. T. c. I.
L. 4. f. 67. |
Conclusion of the
marriage treaty.
372. Ferdinand of Spain to Ferdinand, Duke De Estrada.
We have received your letters, and the treaty which you
have settled with the King of England, our brother, and
the said treaty for the marriage of the Prince of Wales and
the Princess of Wales, our children, has given us much pleasure.
May our Lord have them in His keeping, and permit
them to consummate the marriage, and bestow children upon
them, in accordance with our desires and those of the King
of England our brother.
Notwithstanding that the articles which have been agreed
upon in the marriage treaty are much more to the advantage
of the King of England than to ours, yet that he may be
aware of the love with which we have entered into the connection,
we will allow all to be settled in the manner you
agreed upon in England. We have accordingly ratified and
signed and sworn the treaty which you sent. |
Ratification to be
exchanged.
For the greater satisfaction of the King of England, we
have ordered the ratification to be despatched in the form
which you tell us was agreed upon in England, without
omitting or adding one word. Moreover, the Queen has sent
it you from here, so that when you have received a similar
one from the King of England you may deliver him ours, and
send us his.
I send you a letter from me to the King of England,
my brother, in which I have expressed the pleasure this
connection affords us, and that we have ratified and sworn
to the capitulation, together with all that was agreed upon
in England, as you will see more at length by the copy of
the said letter. Give it to him, and speak to him in conformity
with its contents, that he may know how liberally,
and with how much good will, we have assented to all that
was settled in England, and the pleasure which this connection
affords us. |
Dispensation for
the marriage.
Tell him also that we have already written to Rome in
order that our ambassador and his, or both conjointly, may
obtain the dispensation for the said marriage. But we believe
that some hindrance may have been caused by the death of
of the Pope, so that it will not, probably, be immediately despatched.
The first thing, however, which we will obtain
from the Pope who will succeed, shall be the said dispensation.
He (the King of England) ought to follow our example. |
Election of a new
Pope.
Say likewise from us that he has already witnessed the
injuries inflicted of late upon the Church and upon Christendom,
on account of there not being a good Pope. He
must see how much it imports the Church, and Christendom,
that the Pope be righteously elected, and how necessary it
is for the service of our Lord, and the wise government of
the Church, and for the purpose of making resistance to the
Infidels, and securing the peace and welfare of Christendom.
We, therefore, entreat him very affectionately that he will be
pleased to write to his ambassador, who is at Rome, saying,
that if the Pope should not be already elected, he should,
conjointly with our ambassador, endeavour to have a good
Pope elected as we have said, and that the College of Cardinals
should not be deprived of the liberty to make the aforesaid
election canonically. Let the ambassador of the King of
England, our brother, as well as our ambassador, endeavour
to procure this, and do you prevail upon him to send two
(copies of his instructions) by two several ways, immediately,
to Rome. |
King of France.
Succours demanded
from Henry VII.
Guienne and
Normandy.
I have written another letter, enclosed in this, to the King
of England, informing him that the King of France has made
war upon us in our kingdoms of Spain, and that, with all
the forces he possesses, he has collected an army together,
and has made a descent upon Rousillon, and destroyed our
fortress of Salsas. Therefore we pray and require the King
of England, our brother, that he aid us in the defence of our
kingdoms, as by the confederation made between us he is
bound to do. Give him our said letter, and ask him on
our part that which we ourselves ask him. For although we
have made provision in such a manner that, by the help of
God, we hope to drive the French out of our lands, and to
pursue them into France, yet still we desire that the King
our brother should aid us, as he is bound to do, and as we
in like case would do. See what aid he is prepared to give,
and if he say that he will consent to furnish the aid which
is obligatory upon him, and that he will send his troops, on
our sending money to pay them, tell him that the supplies
will be sent with our ratification. Say also, that we pray
that, as soon as it arrives in England, he will direct 2,000
infantry, picked men and well armed, to be made ready
immediately. You will then request him to name the captain
who will have to take the command of them, and freight the
ships in which they will have to come, in order that when the
money arrives they may set off instantly. Spread abroad,
moreover, a report that more troops are to come ; and, should
you see an opportunity, tell the King of England that if he
desire to make an effort to recover his duchies of Guienne and
Normandy, we will aid him, at our own cost, to recover
them. Show him that, if at any time it can be done, now
is the best and most favourable opportunity that can ever
offer itself. For the King of France has all his forces occupied
here, and cannot transport them elsewhere, and such forces as
remain occupy the country about Rome.
Let us know his wishes immediately as to everything, and
what assured hope we may entertain of England.—Barcelona,
24th September 1503.
Signed : I, The King.
Signed by Almazan.
Addressed : "By the King. To Ferdinand, Duke de
Estrada, his Maestra Sala, commander, and ambassador
in England."
Written in two different keys of cipher. Only a fragment
of one of them is extant. Deciphered by the editor.
Spanish. |
24 Sept.
S. E. T. c. I.
L. 4. f. 88. |
Ratification of the
treaty.
373. Ferdinand and Isabella.
Henry VII. possesses all and every virtue of a great king ;
his faithfulness especially is so great that he would prefer
to die rather than break his word. For this and many other
reasons they ratify the treaty concluded by their ambassador
with the commissioners of Henry VII. at Richmond on the
23rd of June 1503.—Barcelona, 24th September 1503.
Latin. pp. 4. |
24 Sept.
S. E. T. c. I.
L. 4. f. 84. |
King of France ;
his conduct.
374. King Ferdinand to Henry VII.
Has informed him, through his ambassadors, of his agreement
with the King of France, respecting the kingdom of
Naples. Has fulfilled, most strictly, all his obligations to the
King of France ; whilst the King of France, on the contrary,
has broken all his promises, and begun war, in order to take
by force that which does not belong to him by right. God has
hitherto favoured the just cause, and, there is no doubt, will
continue to do so in His justice. |
Preparations making
for war.
The King of France, however, has not contented himself
with making war in Italy, but has assembled all his forces,
and formed a great army, with which he is now besieging
the fortress of Salsas. His intention is to conquer the
counties of Roussillon and Cerdaña, and to invade and lay
waste as many provinces of Spain as he can. Feels deep
sorrow that Christians should destroy Christians instead of
turning their arms against the Infidels, but is obliged to
defend his dominions. The preparations of Spain are of such
a kind that the King of France will regret having begun
the war.
Informs him, as his friend and brother, of these occurrences,
and begs him to send the assistance which he is bound to
give, according to the treaty of alliance concluded between
England and Spain. Does not attack France, but only defends
his own kingdom. This, therefore, is exactly the case
provided for in the said treaty.—Barcelona, 24th September
1503.
Addressed : "To the most illustrious King of England
our most beloved brother."
Spanish. pp. 3. |
24 Sept.
S. E. T. c. I.
L. 4. f. 85. |
Marriage treaty.
375. King Ferdinand to Henry VII.
Has received his letter and the treaty concerning the marriage
between Henry, Prince of Wales, and the Princess
Katharine. Has, moreover, been informed by his ambassadors
that the act of betrothal between the said Prince and
Princess has been performed. Is very glad to hear these good
news, and to know that henceforth the interests of England
are identical with the interests of Spain.
Has ratified, signed, and sworn the treaty of marriage
without making any alteration in it. Sends the ratification
to his ambassadors in England, in order that they may
deliver it into his hands.—24th September 1503.
Addressed : "To the most illustrious King of England,
our beloved brother."
Spanish. pp. 2. |
24 Sept.
P. R. O. |
376. Ferdinand, King of Spain.
Ratifies the treaty of marriage between Henry, Prince of
Wales, and Katharine, Princess of Wales.—Barcelona, 24th
September.
Latin. pp. 10, in print. The treaty is included.
Printed in Rymer. |
26 Sept.
S. E. T. c. I.
L. 4. f. 81. |
Piracy committed
by Spanish captains.
377. Henry VII. to Ferdinand and Isabella.
Spanish captains daily commit acts of piracy and robbery
in English ports and waters on English subjects, as well as on
subjects of friendly powers. It is provided by the treaties
between England and Spain, that Spanish captains shall not
do any harm to English vessels, whenever they may meet
them, and to vessels of friendly Powers as long as they are in
English harbours or in English waters. Begs them, therefore,
to send orders to their admirals and captains to abstain, in
future, from similar acts of violence, and which certainly are
not calculated to increase the friendship between England
and Spain.
Would write more circumstantially on the subject, if it were
not to be expected that they will prohibit such glaring acts
of injustice as soon as they shall have been informed of them.
The French have been guilty of similar insults to Spanish
vessels in English harbours. Has written to King Louis,
and there is not the least doubt that he will, without loss of
time, make full reparation.—Langley, 26th September 1503.
Latin. pp. 3. |
30 Sept.
S. E. T. c. I.
L. 4. f. 88. |
378. Isabella, Queen of Spain.
Ratifies the treaty of marriage between Henry, Prince of
Wales, and Katharine, Princess of Wales, concluded at Richmond
on the 23rd of June 1503.—Segovia, 30th September
1503.
Latin. p. 1. |
30 Sept.
P. R. O. |
379. Isabella, Queen of Spain.
The same ratification.
Latin.
Printed in Rymer. |
