benefit. In 1544, the Cardinal presided over the establishment of the Accademia degli Imperfetti in Meldola, the tiny principality of which his uncle Alberto Pio da Carpi had been the first ruler. This academy for the encouragement of cultured persons; the stimulation of culture itself was another of those multitudinous clubs that were formed in cities and towns throughout Italy for the pursuit of intellectual growth. Conclave of 1549–1550 Pope Paul III died on Sunday, 10 November 1549. Cardinal Pio da Carpi was one of the fifty-one cardinals who participated at one point or another in the Conclave which began on 29 November 1549. There was much illness, coming and going, and one death in the Conclave. In the first Scrutiny, which did not take place until 4 December, at which forty-one cardinals were present, Cardinal Reginald Pole, the favorite candidate of the Emperor, received between 24 and 26 votes, only four (or two) votes short of a valid canonical election. The French Ambassador protested that if the election took place without the presence of the French cardinals, who were en route, he would declare the Election invalid. The French were promoting Giovanni Salviati (Bishop of Porto and cousin of Catherine de' Medici, Queen of France) and Ridolfo Pio de Carpi, and were commanded to prevent the election of Cardinal Pole at all costs. Cardinal Carpi received nine votes in the fourteenth Scrutiny on 17 December, just after the majority of the French cardinals had entered the Conclave. But it was his high water mark. The French votes quickly redeployed, seeking a more viable candidate. The last of the French cardinals, the Cardinal de Bourbon, did not reach the Conclave until 14 January 1550, thereby raising the number of participants to 48. The voting had fallen into a stagnant pattern, 21 votes for Pole, 21 votes for Carafa of Naples. Forty-seven cardinals participated in the final vote, which took place on 7 February 1550 and elected Cardinal Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, a member of the Farnese faction. Pope Julius III (Ciocchi del Monte) promoted ('preferred') Cardinal Carpi to the See of Frascati (Tusculum) on 11 December 1553. Cardinal Carpi was 'preferred' to the See of Porto on 29 May 1555. In 1558, King Philip II of Spain bestowed an annual income of 10,000 scudi upon the diocese of Agrigento (which had been worth only 4,000), which was still being