the Cardinal Bishops, gave its holder the right to preside as prior Episcoporum at all meetings of Cardinals during a vacancy of the papal throne (Sede Vacante), as well as the right to be the first to nominate a candidate at a Conclave, and to cast the first vote. For many centuries, votes were cast publicly. Pope Nicholas IV died in Rome on Holy Saturday, April 4, 1292, in the Patriarchal residence at the Liberian Basilica (Santa Maria Maggiore), in the fifth year of his reign. The Church would be without a pope for the next two years, three months, and two days. Conclave Twelve cardinals attended the funeral, according to the Apostolic Subdeacon, Giacopo Caetani Stefaneschi, who was present at the events. There were six Romans, four Italians, and two French. They were divided into two opposing groups, one led by Matteo Rosso Orsini, which sought a new pope who would be compliant to the wishes of King Charles II of Sicily, the other by Giacopo Colonna. Cardinal Latino, as Ordine Pontificum primus (in the words of Giacopo Caetani Stefaneschi), undertook the expected task of summoning the Conclave. According to the rules, it would have opened on August 15 or 16, 1292, at S. Maria Maggiore, where Nicholas IV had died. But his efforts were unsuccessful. Some did assemble at S. Maria Maggiore, but the rest held back. Then he tried to assemble everyone at the papal palace at Santa Sabina, and then at Santa Maria sopra Minerva. The reason for his failure is not far to seek. There was a civil war going on in the streets and neighborhoods of Rome between the Orsini family and their adherents and the Colonna family and theirs. Each faction of the cardinals was unwilling to entrust its safety to the other faction, or to anyone else. There was also the heat and oppressive humidity of a Roman summer to contend with, and that always brought plague of some sort, especially malaria. Instead of coming together, the Cardinals began to disperse. Claiming illness, Cardinal Benedetto Caetani withdrew to his home town of Anagni, in the hills east of Rome. Cardinal Hugues de Billon and three other cardinals retreated to Reate in Tuscany, north of Rome. It was only in September, 1292, after the summer heat had dissipated, that Caetani, Matthew of Acquasparta, and Bianchi returned to the city. But still there was no conclave. It was time to elect new Senators for Rome for the year 1293, but civil disorders made an election impossible. Anarchy prevailed until Easter of 1293, when an effort to achieve a truce by compromise brought Agapito Colonna and Orso Orsini to the Senatorial office. But then Orsini died, and perhaps Colonna as well. Meanwhile, the Cardinals had sought safety outside Rome again. Hugues Billon and Matthew of Acquasparta returned to Riеti ([ˈrjеːti]), and Benedetto Caetani sought refuge at Viterbo. Stefaneschi says that only three cardinals remained in the City. It was not until October that order was restored in Rome, and two neutral citizens, Petrus Stefaneschi (the Subdeacon's father) and Oddo di S. Eustachio, were elected Senators. But the cardinals were no longer in Rome. Many of them were assembled in Perugia, and they decided, after negotiations with the absent cardinals, that the Conclave would begin there on October 18, the Feast of S. Luke the Evangelist. October 18 arrived, and passed, and there was still no Conclave. During that winter, King Charles II of Naples, who was returning to Italy from Provence, visited Perugia and was received by the Cardinals. Two cardinal deacons (according to Stefaneschi)