ict confinement, the cardinals finally agreed, on the 1st
of September 1271, to elect Gregory X., after an interregnum of two
years, nine months and two days.

Laws made by Gregory X.

Taught by experience, the new pope considered what steps could be taken
to prevent the recurrence of such abuses; in 1274, at the council of
Lyons, he promulgated the constitution _Ubi periculum_, the substance of
which was as follows: At the death of the pope, the cardinals who were
present are to await their absent colleagues for ten days; they are then
to meet in one of the papal palaces in a closed conclave; none of them
is to have to wait on him more than one servant, or two at most if he
were ill; in the conclave they are to lead a life in common, not even
having separate cells; they are to have no communication with the outer
world, under pain of excommunication for any who should attempt to
communicate with them; food is to be supplied to the cardinals through a
window which would be under watch; after three days, their meals are to
consist of a single dish only; and after five days, of bread and water,
with a little wine. During the conclave the cardinals are to receive no
ecclesiastical revenue. No account is to be taken of those who are
absent or have left the conclave. Finally, the election is to be the
sole business of the conclave, and the magistrates of the town where it
was held are called upon to see that these provisions be observed.
Adrian V. and John XX. were weak enough to suspend the constitution _Ubi
periculum_; but the abuses at once reappeared; the Holy See was again
vacant for long periods; this further proof was therefore decisive, and
Celestine V., who was elected after a vacancy of more than two years,
took care, before abdicating the pontificate, to revive the constitution
of Gregory X., which was inserted in the Decretals (lib. i. tit. vi.,
_de election._ cap. 3).

Julius II.

Since then the laws relating to the conclave have been observed, even
during the great schism; the only exception was the election of Martin
V., which was performed by the cardinals of the three obediences, to
which the council of Constance added five prelates of each of the six
nations represented in that assembly. The same was the case up to the
16th century. At this period the Italian republics, later Spain, and
finally the other powers, took an intimate interest in the choice of the
holder of what was a considerable pol