Habemus Papam ?Polarization and Conflict in the Papal States

Francisco Pino and Jordi Vidal-Robert

Working Papers ECARES from ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles

Abstract: We study the effect of divisions within the elite on the probability of internalconflict in the Papal States between 1295 and 1846. We assemble a new databaseusing information on cardinals that participated in conclaves during this period,and construct measures of polarization and fractionalization based on the cardinals’places of birth. The deaths of popes and cardinals provide plausible exogenousvariation in the timing of the conclave and the composition of the Collegeof Cardinals, which we exploit to analyze the causal effect of a divided conclaveon conflict. We find that an increase of one standard deviation in our measure ofpolarization raised the likelihood of internal conflict by between 2 and 3 percentin a given year and by up to 18 percent in a given papacy. The effect is largestin the initial years after the conclave, to gradually vanish over time. Our resultsconfirm that cardinals’ influence on the politics of the Papal States decreased afterreforms introduced between 1586 and 1588. Our measure of religious productivity,however, is negatively and significantly linked to polarization in the post-reformperiod. These reforms were successful in shifting the effect of divisions among theelite of one of the largest and oldest organizations from violent conflict to religiousmatters.

JEL-codes: D72 D74 N33 N43 Z12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 50 p.
Date: 2014-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-his and nep-pol
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Habemus Papam? Polarization and Conflict in the Papal States (2020)
Working Paper: Habemus Papam? Polarization and Conflict in the Papal States (2014)
Working Paper: Habemus Papam? Polarization and Conflict in the Papal States
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