sent to Naples to provide the advice and guidance as to the desires of the feudal overlord of Naples, Pope Innocent VI. During his trip to the south, he visited the great Benedictine abbey of Monte Cassino, where he was saddened to see the state into which it had fallen, both physically and organizationally, both from earthquakes and episcopal neglect. As soon as he became Pope he undertook to repair the situation, and on 31 March 1367 he abolished the diocese of Cassino and restored the monastery to the complete control of its Abbot. Papacy In September 1362, Grimoard was apostolic nuncio in Italy when Pope Innocent VI died. Exactly where he was when the news reached him summoning him to Avignon is unknown. Naples is just a guess; other possibilities are Florence and Lombardy. Pope Innocent VI died on 12 September 1362. The Conclave to elect his successor opened on 22 September, the Feast of Saint Maurice, in the Apostolic Palace in Avignon. Twenty of the twenty-one cardinals were in attendance. Only Cardinal Albornoz remained at his post in Italy. Of the twenty cardinals eighteen were French in origin, six of them Limousin. Ten of the twenty-one cardinals were papal relatives. The influence of the Limousin cardinals was somewhat diminished since their homeland had recently become subject to English occupation, which frightened the thirteen cardinals who were subjects of the King of France. Both Cardinals Hélie de Talleyrand and Guy de Boulogne considered themselves to be electable. Matteo Villani, the Florentine chronicler, says that fifteen cardinals were prepared to elect, or actually elected, Hugues Roger, OSB, a Limousin and the brother of Pope Clement VI, who was Chamberlain of the College of Cardinals. Cardinal Hugues declined the offer. Villani is the only source that reports this version of events. This story, moreover, contradicts the report of Jean de Froissart, who claims that a stalemate developed between Talleyrand and Guy de Boulogne, such that members of neither party could get the required two-thirds of the votes. It was apparently one of the Limousin Cardinals, Guillaume d'Aigrefeuille, who directed the attention of the cardinals to Abbot Guillaume Grimoard. On 28 September, they elected Grimoard as the new Pope. He was not initially informed of the result; instead, he was requested to return immediately to Avignon to "consult" with the Conclave. The cardinals feared the reaction of the Romans to the election