326

THE GLORY OF CHRISTENDOM

THE NEMESIS OF POWER
327
the Orsini-Colonna rivalry. All the cardinals but the two Colonnas and Boccamazzi left Rome for Rieti, each
segment denouncing the other by letter. There were just enough cardinals in Rieti to elect a Pope, but
Benede_tto Gaetani had now_ made _it_verr clear he. wanted the Papacy for himself, and the Orsini were by
no means ready to support him. Gaetani -angrily left Rieti, thereby depriving the seven cardinals remaining in
Rieti of sufficient numbers to elect. In October the conclave reassembled at Perugia with all eleven living
cardinals present, but the deadlock remained unbroken. 2
In March 1294, the papal interregnum now havin~ lasted almost two years with no sign of when it might
end, Charles II of Naples visited the cardinals at Perugia, urging them to elect a Pope without further delay.
Cardinal Gaetani
replied, firmly telling Charles-who was a much less formidable figure than his domineering father-that the
votes of the cardinals must be free and that he should put no pressure on them. Charles accepted the rebuke
without protest and returned to his royal seat at Naples, but on the way visited a well-known aged hermit
named Peter, who lived alone in a cave on Mount Murrone (for which he was surnamed) above the town of
Sulmona. Peter had inspired the formation of a small religious order, called the Order of St. Damian. Following
his visit with Peter Murrone, Charles II announced that the monastery Peter had personally founded would
receive an annual revenue of ten ounces of gold. 3
Charles may also have spoken to Peter Murrone about the scandal created by the failure of the cardinals
to elect the Pope. Although the aged hermit had never before shown himself inclined to intervene in any way in
the affairs of the world or of the Church in the world, some time that spring he wrote a letter to Cardinal
Malabranca, Bishop of Ostia, warning the cardinals of the punishment of God if they did not promptly do their
duty. At one of the interminable meetings of the conclave, on July 5, 1294 (they were now well into their third
year of such meetings) Cardinal Malabranca read Peter's letter, described his holy life and miracles, and
declared _,th_at he would .vote for Peter Murrone as Pope. Five other cardinals agreed on the spot, and then-
more reluctantly-the two Orsinis, associates of Malabranca, providing the required eight votes. Whether
likewise swept off their feet or simply for appearance's sake, the Colonna faction now joined as well, making
the hermit's election unanimous. °
It was by any measure the strangest election in Papal history, the desperate action of men who had
bound themselves for more than two years in such a web of power-seeking calculation and ambition that they
were helpless to act in any normal way, striking blindly for liberation in an unprecedented move
Ibid., p. 33; Mann, Popes in the Middle Ages, XVIII, 258-259.
g3
Mann, Popes in the Middle Ages, XVIII, 262-263; Boase, Boniface VIII, pp. 36-37. $°Mann, Popes in the Middle
Ages, XVIII, 263-265; Boase, Boniface VIII, pp. 40-41.
which must have seemed a slashing of their self-inflicted bonds by a sword of spiritual fire. For Peter the
hermit of Murrone was m_ore than ei&y years old, and had lived in one or another of his solitary mountain
cells for nearly forty years with only one interruption, a two-year period as abbot of the monastery of Santa
Maria in Faysulis.85 His holiness was evident, his austeries extraordinary:
He brought his body into subjection by hair shirts, knotted leather girdles, and even iron chains.
When his exhausted frame could no longer stand or kneel he lay down on boards in a cramped
position, with a stone or
a block of wood for a pillow, and in the bitter winter on an exposed mountain, with coverings utterly
insufficient to keep out the cold. At no time did he eat more than was barely enough to support life.
Often the bread that he ate was so stale and hard that it had to be broken with a hammer, and during
the four or six "Lents" which, quite apart from everyone, he kept every year, he often ate only twice a
week, and then took nothing but bread and water. 86
His time was spent in prayer, manual work, reading the Bible or other spiritual reading, and providing
spiritual counsel and advice to those who made the arduous trip to his mountain cell to obtain it. His
conversations with these visitors were always on spiritual matters.87 He knew nothing of the ways and affairs of
the world. Despite his _holiness, he was,totally unqualified to be Pope.. Nevertheless, on July 20, an
extraordinary procession wended its way a thousand feet up the steep mountain trail to Peter's cell, led by
Cardinal Peter Colonna (the only cardinal to essay the climb-the others sent bishops as their representatives)
and Charles Martel of Hungary, son of Charles II of Naples and representing him, the elder Charles having the
excuse for not making the climb of a leg lame since boyhood. The bishops, mostly no doubt in well-fed middle
age and not in prime physical condition, struggled up the path as best they could. Behind them came a vast
crowd of priests, nobles, and peasants, sweating profusely in the hot summer sun. At last the leaders reached
the hermit's cave. They officially notified Peter Murrone of his election as Pope. He had already prayed long
and hard about whether to accept, and had been advised by counsellors he trusted that his refusal of the Papacy
would be a defiance of the will of God and would lead to schism. Peter Murrone prostrated himself on the
ground before the notification party in a last appeal to Heaven; then he arose, and accepted the Papacy.'
Despite a plethora of conspiracy theories then and since, neither historical evidence nor human
probability justifies us in seeing in this unforgettable scene anything more than what it shows when viewed
straight on: men stalked by the
85
Mann, Popes of the Middle Ages, XVIII, 265-266, 269, 275. 86Ibid., XVIII, 270.
87 Ibid., XVIII, 271. 88Ibid, XVIII, 280-284.