Papal selection before 1059
The selection of the Pope, the Bishop of Rome and Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church, prior to the promulgation of In Nomine Domini in AD 1059 varied throughout history.
The practice of papal appointment during this period would later result in the putative jus exclusivae, i.e., the claimed but invalid right to veto the selection that Catholic monarchs exercised into the twentieth century.
Further, the frequent de facto requirement of political approval of elected popes significantly lengthened periods of sede vacante, i.e., transitional vacancy of the papacy, and weakened it.
[3][4] According to historian Frederic J. Baumgartner, at least in part, although the election of bishops in other early Christian communities is often described in contemporary sources, the earliest Roman sources date from AD 400 and Irenaeus of Lyon[5] (date from AD 180), claiming that Saint Peter the Apostle himself appointed Popes Linus, Cletus/Anacletus, and Clement, in that order, as his successors.
[6][4] This anecdote makes clear that "the choice of bishop was the public concern for the entire Christian community of Rome".
[8] However, the influence of Emperor Constantine I, a contemporary of Sylvester I and Mark, would help solidify a strong role for the Roman emperor in the selection process: Constantine chose Julius I for all intents and purposes, and his son Constantius II exiled Liberius and installed Felix II (an Arian) as his successor.
[8] Felix and Liberius were succeeded in schism by Ursinus and Damasus, respectively, the latter of whom managed to prevail by sheer bloodshed, and he is the first bishop of Rome who can non-anachronistically be referred to as a "pope" (παππάς, or pappas).
[12] Upon his invasion of Italy, Justinian I forced Silverius to abdicate and in his place installed Pope Vigilius, a former papal legate to Constantinople.
[12] The continuing power of appointment of the Byzantine Emperor can be seen in the legend of Pope Gregory I writing to Constantinople to ask them to refuse his election.
[12] Pope Boniface III issued a decree denouncing bribery in papal elections and forbidding discussion of candidates for three days after the funeral of the deceased pope; thereafter, Boniface III decreed that the clergy and the "sons of the Church", i.e. nobles, should meet to elect a successor, each voting according to their conscience.
After that, the Emperor delegated the approval to the Exarch of Ravenna, the Byzantine governor of central Italy, including the Duchy of Rome.
[13] During the pontificate of Pope Benedict II (684–85), Emperor Constantine IV waived the requirement of imperial approval for papal consecration, recognizing the great shift in the demographics of the City and its clergy.
[16] Pope Stephen II crossed the Alps to appeal for the aid of Pepin the Short upon his election in 752, following the Lombard conquest of Ravenna, resulting in the Donation of Pepin which strengthened the claim of the Popes to the de facto Papal States, and thus the incentives for secular interference in Papal selection.
[20] Stephen III then proceeded to convene a synod of 39 Frankish and Italian bishops,[20] which decided that ‘no layman should ever presume to be promoted to the sacred honour of the ponticate, nor even anyone in orders, unless he had risen through the separate grades and had been made cardinal deacon or priest’ (that is, within Rome).
[22] Thereafter the process was returned by apostolic constitution to the status quo circa 769, reincorporating the lay Roman nobles, who continued to dominate the procedure for 200 years, and requiring the Pope to swear loyalty to the Frankish monarch.
[26] However, the death of Henry III and the rise of child Emperor Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor allowed Pope Nicholas II (1059–61) to promulgate In Nomine Domini in 1059, ensuring that all future elections and, eventually, conclaves, would conform to a basic procedure that has remained largely unchanged for almost a millennium.
