Acrown-cardinal (Italian:cardinale della corona)[1] was acardinal protector of aRoman Catholic nation, nominated or funded by a Catholic monarch to serve as their representative within theCollege of Cardinals[2][3] and, on occasion, to exercise the right claimed by some monarchs toveto a candidate for election to the papacy.[4] More generally, the term may refer to any cardinal significant as a secular statesman or elevated at the request of a monarch.
Francis Burkle-Young defines a crown cardinal as one "elevated to the cardinalate solely on the recommendation of the European kings and in many cases without having performed any service at all for the advancement of the Church."[5]
According to conclave historian Frederic Baumgartner, the crown-cardinals "rarely came to Rome except for the conclaves, if then, and they were largely unknown to the majority of the College. Usually unable to take part in thepratiche, they were notpapabili and rarely received more than one or two votes".[6] Crown-cardinals generally opposed the election of crown-cardinals from other kingdoms, although they tended to unite against the election ofcardinal-nephews.[6]
Opposition to national cardinal protectors arose in the fifteenth century due to the perceived conflict of interest, andPope Martin V attempted to forbid them entirely in 1425.[7] A reform ofPope Pius II dated 1464 regards national cardinal protectors as generally inconsistent with curial responsibility, with several exceptions.[7] Such protectorships were first openly permitted by popesInnocent VIII andAlexander VI, both of whom required the explicit written consent of the pontiff for a cardinal to take up a "position of service to a secular prince".[8] An unnamed cardinal even suggested elevating national cardinal protectors to a full and official position in theRoman Curia, equivalent to an ambassador.[8]
The institution of a cardinal protector of a nation-state may have originated in the 14th century, serving as a predecessor for the diplomatic institutions of theHoly See developed in the 16th century.[9] The institution of the crown-cardinal first became a dominant one within theCollege of Cardinals with theconsistory ofPope Eugene IV on December 18, 1439 (on the heels of the election ofAntipope Felix V by theCouncil of Basel), which nominated an unprecedented number of cardinals with strong ties to European monarchs and other political institutions.[10]
| Monarch/Nation | Cardinal | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Charles VII of France | Renaud de Chartres | Chancellor of France |
| Charles VII of France | Guillaume d'Estouteville | Royal cousin, constructor ofMont Saint-Michel |
| Henry VI of England | Louis de Luxembourg de Beaurevoir | Chancellor for France |
| Henry VI of England | John Kemp | former chancellor of England and archbishop of York |
| Afonso V of Portugal | António Martins de Chaves | Bishop of Porto |
| Kingdom of Hungary (interregnum) | Dénes Szécsi | Primate-designate of Hungary |
| Władysław III of Poland | Zbigniew Oleśnicki | Archbishop of Kraków |
| Holy Roman Empire (interregnum) | Petrus de Schaumburg | Imperial Counsellor |
| René I of Naples | Niccolo d'Acciapaccio | Archbishop of Capua |
| Milan | Gerardo Landriani Capitani | Bishop of Como |
| Genoa | Giorgio Fieschi di Lavagna | Archbishop of Genoa |
| Philip the Good | Jean Le Jeune | Ambassador to the Council of Ferrara-Florence |
The first explicit reference to protectorship pertaining to a nation-state dates to 1425 (theCatholic Encyclopedia says 1424[11]) whenPope Martin V forbade cardinals to "assume the protection of any king, prince or commune ruled by a tyrant or any other secular person whatsoever."[12] This prohibition was renewed in 1492 byPope Alexander VI. This prohibition was not renewed byPope Leo X in the ninth session of theLateran Council of 1512.[11]
Some crown-cardinals werecardinal-nephews or members of powerful families; others were selected solely on the recommendation of European monarchs, in many cases with little previous ecclesiastical experience.[13] During the reigns ofAvignonPope Clement VI andPope Urban VI in particular, it was acknowledged that monarchs could select retainers and expect them to be elevated to the College of Cardinals.[13] The going rate for the creation of a crown-cardinal was about 2,832scudi.[2]
Pope Alexander VII had to elevate crown-cardinalsin pectore.[14] Pope Urban VI (1378–1389) forbade crown-cardinals from receiving gifts from their respective sovereigns.[11]
World War I cemented the decline of the institution of the crown cardinal, as many monarchies either became extinct or declined in power.[13]
In the case of Spain, France, and Austria, from the 16th to 20th centuries, crown-cardinals had the prerogative to exercise thejus exclusivae, that is, to veto a candidate for the papacy deemed "unacceptable" by their patron. Crown-cardinals usually arrived with a list of such candidates but often had to confer with their patrons during conclaves via messengers and attempt, with varying degrees of success, to delay the conclave from proceeding until they received a response. For example,Pope Innocent X (elected 1644) andPope Innocent XIII (elected 1721) survived late-arriving veto instructions from France and Spain respectively.[1] Austrian crown-cardinalCarlo Gaetano Gaisruck reached thepapal conclave of 1846 too late to exercise the veto against Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, who had already been elected and taken the namePius IX.[citation needed]
The following includes a complete list of crown cardinal-protectors in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries:[15]
Protectors:
Vice-protectors and co-protectors
TheKing of France historically had only one cardinal protector at a time,[16] chosen by a complicated process that involved the King, the secretary of state for foreign affairs, the French ambassador to Rome, and other French power brokers, but not the Pope.[19] The crown-cardinal of France was also abbotin commendam of several French abbeys.[20]
There was traditionally at least one resident French cardinal in theRoman Curia during the first half of the sixteenth century, but Louis XII and Francis I chose three successive Italian cardinals as protector of France thereafter.[7]
The protector of theHoly Roman Empire was often the protector of the Austrian hereditary lands.[16]
Vice-protectors and co-protectors
Cardinal-protectors of Sweden were appointed by king of PolandZygmunt III Waza, who had claimed the rights to the Swedish Crown.[30]
Protectors of the Duchy of Savoy
Protectors of the Kingdom of Sardinia
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TheKing of Spain could have as many as five or six cardinal protectors (Spanish:Protector de España) simultaneously, although traditionally the protector ofCastile was the most frequently turned to.[16]
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