Chapter Six. The Allocation Of Titles

Abstract

The churches to which each cardinal was attached embedded them in the historical and physical fabric of Rome. There were rules which dictated who was assigned to which kind of church, as well as family and national relationships that were maintained at particular sites. Certain nations and families maintained long connections with particular diaconiae and tituli. They were an important means by which certain groups could maintain some kind of foothold in Rome, where loyalties changed quickly as a result of the regular turnover of popes. Since the thirteenth century, cardinals resident in Rome had been allowed to change the titles to which they were assigned. The evidence demonstrates that the titular churches were most significant to the cardinals in the fifteenth century because of the accommodation they offered. This was the reason behind their transfer from one church to another or their acquisition of additional benefices in the city.Keywords:accommodation; cardinals; pope; Rome; titles; titular church