Reflections, Reflections

From wikipedia, the gentle persuasion applied to cardinals who were taking too long to decide on a Pope was nothing short of starving them to death...

In earlier years, papal elections sometimes suffered prolonged deadlocks. To resolve them, authorities often resorted to the forced seclusion of the cardinal electors. (conclave: from the Latin phrase cum clavi - "with a key"). The method was adopted, for example, in 1216 by the city of Perugia and in 1241 by the city of Rome. After the death of Clement IV in 1268, the city of Viterbo was also forced to resort to the seclusion of cardinals in the episcopal palace. When the cardinals still failed to elect a Pope, the city refused to send in any materials except bread and water. As a result, the cardinals soon elected Gregory X, ending an interregnum of almost three years.

Effective, eh? :-)

To reduce further delays, Gregory X introduced stringent rules relating to the election procedures. Cardinals were to be secluded in a closed area; they were not even accorded separate rooms. No cardinal was allowed to be attended by more than one servant unless ill. Food was to be supplied through a window; after three days of the meeting, the cardinals were to receive only one dish a day; after five days, they were to receive just bread and water. During the conclave, no cardinal was to receive any ecclesiastical revenue. Coralpequena blog says they also exposed them to the cold, by removing the ceiling...

If such means had not been used, I wonder how many years they would have debated the matter...

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