During the Council of Constance and after the abdication of Gregory XII and the deposition of Benedict XIII and John XXIII in order to heal the Western Schism the twenty-three cardinals (from all obediences Roman, Avignon and Pisan) were joined with six representatives from each of the five Catholic nations (England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) to conduct a unique conclave. Finally Oddone Cardinal Colonna was elected Pope Martin V on November 11, 1417 thus ending the Western Schism...
WI this unique Conclave became the norm of future Papal elections with representatives of Catholic powers joining the Cardinals in electing the Pope?
Is this possible? How it affects History?
P.S. it would have had some interesting side effects when Reformation occurs...
Only 23 Cardinals!
Almost 120 electors today, with 200 total.
Let's say that the OTL election of Pope Leo X (1513 -- 1521) ATL was an antipope contest that lasted a year or two. Considering the fact that Leo X, a Medici, rocketed to the papacy in three days and was never really a cleric, it's not unlikely that a power vacuum could have occured between the Medicis and some other rival house with another dubious candidate. All the cardinals are taking bribes, and no one knows who to side with (for reasons of safety or otherwise.) The electors of Germany and representative of the French and English thrones are called in to break up the fight. The electors, under pressure from the non ecclesiastical electors, elect another [Roman] Pope. Let's call him 'Pope Legit' for convenience, since I can't think of a Pope name right now. The royal electors choose Pope Legit from a smaller Italian noble family in order to get someone that's pliable and outside the Medici/Borgia orbit. This choice infuriates the large Italian dynasties, who crown an Antipope from a big Italian family. The Antipope starts the power struggle between the Italian houses anew.
Somewhere in a Saxon town named Wittenberg, a youngish Augustinian named Martin Luther nails his theses to the cathedral door/town BBS, and preaches strange heresies such as the Mass is not a sacrifice, that the clergy should wed. Luther is receptive to allegiances with princes instead of submission to papal control. The deadlock in allegiances between Pope Legit and The Antipope results in nothing more than squabbles over Papal lands and infighting among the endogamous Italian nobles. Luther's doctrine spread throughout Germany, including the southern realms. Luther, and his increasing favor among German nobles, flies under the radar of the two popes. The deadlock between Pope Legit and The Antipope prevent the promulgation of anything like
Exsurge Domine, and the Diet of Worms never convenes.
I suspect that the German nobles, like Charles V, would still have likely convened something like the Diet of Augsburg to "round up" the Lutheran movement and come to some codification like the Book of Concord. In absence of strong Roman control of doctrine and papal control, the Counter-Reformation might not have gotten up to speed as quickly. Hence, a later or non-existent Trent, perhaps a stronger Protestantization of parts of France, Poland, and maybe even parts of northern Italy, and a really good reason for Henry VIII to take control of the monasteries.