Italian
It’s time for the Conclave and also for curiosity, from the longest to the shortest
How long will the next Conclave last? It’s difficult to predict, although the trend is now fixed between 4 and 5 days. However, it is interesting to take a walk through time to understand how the “permanences” in seclusion have changed over time to reach the long-awaited white smoke.
The Longest Conclave in History
It was held in Viterbo and lasted two years and nine months, more precisely from November 29, 1268, to September 1, 1271, with the election of Pope Gregory X. Frankly, today the surprise reigns supreme when recalling the news, even though it was the political divergences and factions of the time that led to this sensational deadlock, resolved not only by the sibylline mediation of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Rudolf I of Habsburg, who decisively pushed for the election of Gregory X, but also by the uprising of the people led by the podestà Alberto di Montebuono, assisted by the capopolo Raniero Gatti, who not only reduced the food supply but also uncovered the roof. Immediately after, the infamous agreement was reached.
The shortest Conclave in history
Ten hours for the white smoke, that’s how many were needed to elect on November 1, 1503, Julius II, the 216th Pope of the Church, founder of the Vatican Museums and the Swiss Guard, as well as patron of Michelangelo and Raphael and initiator of St. Peter’s Basilica.
The places of the Conclave
In the Vatican, the next Conclave will be the fifty-third in history, the twenty-sixth in the Sistine Chapel, but let’s not forget that there have been Conclaves held in Viterbo, Arezzo, and even beyond the borders in Cluny, Avignon, and Constance.
Photo Credit By Wikipedia
Zero Biscuit by Mauro Lama
