Talk:October 1503 papal conclave

Electoral Capitulations
Despite what Baumgartner might say, there were electoral capitulations. They are mentioned in Johannes Burchard's Diary, and they were signed by the Cardinals on 1 November 1503, All Saints' Day. The full text is to be found in: See also Petruccelli, I, p. 463; Pastor, Volume VI, p. 211;

--Vicedomino (talk) 22:05, 20 August 2017 (UTC)

Length of Conclave
The article states, on the authority of Baumgartner: "... making the conclave the shortest ever, less than ten hours." Burchard records that the Conclave was enclosed at the first hour of the night, which in November would be well before 6 p.m. He records that, next morning there was a Mass of the Holy Spirit, held at the "sixteenth hour" (I'm not good at Roman Time, but I do know that Mass cannot begin until it is light, which in November is after 6 a.m.). This was followed by the signing of the Capitulations, by all thirty-seven cardinals. After that, the Conclavists were removed and the doors closed, so that the voting could begin. The voting was by written ballot, and it was a preference ballot. One cardinal could name several candidates on the ballot, and five Cardinals did in fact take the trouble and time to do so. The details of each and every ballot were recorded by Burchard in his Diary.(Burchard, pp. 298-299) Then, unless there is a sudden demand for unanimity (and there is no record of it), the ballots need to be tallied. Then comes the ritual questions about accepting and taking a name. Then the official minute of the proceedings has to be drawn up by notaries (in this Conclave, the winner was known on October 20, and a draft could have been prepared long in advance) and witnessed. And only then is the Conclave completed. All of this could not have taken less than ten hours. Baumgartner did not know essential information, the Capitulations (they are always referred to in the plural, by the way), and therefore his reckoning is way off. The statement should be deleted.

--Vicedomino (talk) 22:53, 20 August 2017 (UTC)