# 1303 papal conclave

In the 1303 papal conclave, Benedict XI was elected to succeed Boniface VIII as pope.

## Proceedings

Pope Boniface VIII was buried at St. Peter's Basilica on 12 October 1303, in a tomb which he had prepared for himself. The manhandling of Boniface VIII by the forces of France and the Colonna family before his death gave the cardinals second thoughts about electing anyone hostile to the interests of Philip IV of France.
The Conclave took place at the Vatican Palace next to St. Peter's, where Pope Boniface VIII had died on 11 October 1303. The Conclave began with the Mass of the Holy Spirit on 21 October, and voting began the next morning. A Dominican, and the Order's former Master General (1296–1298), Niccolò Boccasini was unanimously elected Pope Benedict XI on the first scrutiny. Niccolò Boccasini and Pedro Rodriguez were the only cardinals, of the seventeen or eighteen, who had stayed with Boniface VIII at Anagni when the papal residence was invaded by the French and the Colonna, and the Pope seized and imprisoned. Benedict's choice of numbering indicates that Antipope Benedict X was considered a legitimate pope at that time. Benedict XI was crowned at the Vatican Basilica on Sunday, 27 October 1303 by Cardinal Matteo Rosso Orsini, the prior Diaconorum.
The new pope, Niccolò Boccasini of Treviso, was Italian but not Roman, and thus considered neutral in the disputes between the Roman clans, and the international struggle between Charles II and Philip IV. Benedict XI refused to excommunicate Philip IV or the Colonna, but also refused to restore to the Colonna their properties that had been seized by Boniface VIII.
Pope Benedict left a detailed account of the conclave that elected him, describing how it closely adhered to the procedures mandated in the papal bull Ubi periculum.

## Cardinal electors

| Elector | Nationality | Cardinalatial order and title | Elevated | Elevator | Other ecclesiastical titles | Notes |
| Giovanni Boccamazza | Rome | Cardinal-bishop of Frascati | 1285, December 22 | Honorius IV | Dean of the College of Cardinals | nephew of Pope Honorius IV |
| Nicola Boccasini | Treviso | Cardinal-Priest of Santa Sabina | 1298, December 4 | Boniface VIII | | |
| Teodorico Ranieri | Orvieto | Cardinal-bishop of Palestrina | 1298, December 4 | Boniface VIII | Camerlengo | |
| Leonardo Patrasso | Guarcino | Cardinal-bishop of Albano | 1300, March 2 | Boniface VIII | | Nephew of Boniface VIII |
| Pedro Rodríguez | Spanish | Cardinal-bishop of Sabina | 1302, December 15 | Boniface VIII | Legate in Sabina | |
| Giovanni Minio da Morrovalle, O.F.M. | Marche | Cardinal-bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina | 1302, December 15 | Boniface VIII | | Former minister general of the Order of Franciscans (1296–1304) |
| Niccolò Alberti, O.P. | Prato | Cardinal-bishop of Ostia e Velletri | 1303, December 18 | Benedict XI | | |
| Robert de Pontigny, O.Cist. | French | Cardinal-priest of S. Pudenziana | 1294, September 18 | Celestine V | Protopriest; Camerlengo of the College of Cardinals | Former Superior General of the Cistercian Order (1294) |
| Gentile Partino, O.F.M. | Guarcino | Cardinal-priest of Ss. Silvestro e Martino ai Monti | 1300, March 2 | Boniface VIII | Grand penitentiary | Nephew of Boniface VIII |
| Walter Winterburn, O.P. | English | Cardinal-priest of S. Sabina | 1304, February 19 | Benedict XI | | |
| Napoleone Orsini Frangipani | Rome | Cardinal-deacon of S. Adriano | 1288, May 16 | Nicholas IV | Archpriest of the Liberian Basilica | Nephew of Pope Nicholas III |
| Landolfo Brancaccio | Neapolitan | Cardinal-deacon of S. Angelo in Pescheria | 1294, September 18 | Celestine V | | |
| Guglielmo de Longhi | Bergamo | Cardinal-deacon of S. Nicola in Carcere Tulliano | 1294, September 18 | Celestine V | | Former Chancellor to Charles II of Naples |
| Francesco Napoleone Orsini | Rome | Cardinal-deacon of S. Lucia in Orthea (Silice) | 1295, December 17 | Boniface VIII | | |
| Francesco Caetani | Anagni | Cardinal-deacon of S. Maria in Cosmedin | 1295, December 17 | Boniface VIII | | Cardinal-nephew |
| Luca Fieschi | Genoese | Cardinal-deacon of S. Maria in Via Lata | 1300, March 2 | Boniface VIII | | Nephew of Adrian V and grand-nephew of Innocent IV |
Two other cardinals, Giacomo and Pietro Colonna (uncle and nephew), had been deposed by Pope Boniface VIII and were thus ineligible to participate in the election.